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COMMENTS: Larry’s up. I don’t care, I’m going to sleep in but first thing early, we got a knock on the door from Canadians. They wanted know if we were going to go see the Petroglyphs at low tide. Larry told them we were going to do it in evening at the next low tide. I told Larry he should go on the glacier tour. I was tired and just wanted to take a day off and stay put on the boat with Ziggy for one day. (We had been going and going and it was all catching up to me. It just seemed like a good place for me to rest. I also didn’t think I had the energy to be bounced around in a little open speed boat for six hours.) He tried all morning to make arrangements for a tour for the day but they were booked. The tour company tried to get some takers for the River Tour but no luck.
So instead, Larry and I took Ziggy for a walk. We saw Shakes Island, the remains of the old Indian village, with a long house and totems. There are several interesting totems and Indian grave markers. One was the Shakes Chief who was murdered on that very spot. Several ornery ravens that hung out on the island and squawked at you and followed you around as if you were trespassing on their land. .
We walked along the waterfront. We wanted to find the petroglyphs. We passed several cute little houses, a little rundown, but unique. One was decorated with floats they found that washed up along the shore. The plants and weeds here seem to grow sky high. I guess it’s because of all the sunlight they get. It was quite a walk to the point where the petroglyphs are but well worth it. There is a huge stair and ramp built down to beach with signage explaining about the petroglyphs. The shore was covered with unusual black shale rock formations. In the few coves of sandy beaches are many shells, remains of left over middens, and mixed in with the shells are pieces of old China and porcelain, lots of old bottles and its share of plenty of new beer bottles too. It was fun to poke through all the shells to see what treasure you could find from days gone by. There were two old wrecked boats abandoned along the rocky shore, old wooden fishing boats. I guess they wrecked on the shore and couldn’t save them so just let them rot there. It’s such a strange sight.
The view of the strait was amazing. It’s a wide expanse of several different bodies of water that converge here. It a beautiful sight and off in the distance are tall rugged snow covered mountains. We watched a tug pulling its tow across this wide expanse. It looked so small against this huge landscape like a small toy. Ziggy was having a ball running and exploring along the shore. We met some older people along the shore poking around like us. They said they were traveling up the Alaska coast line on the ferry system in their motor home. What a fun time they must be having. MARMOT WITH BOTTLENECK On the way back to town we stopped in little store and bought (2) umbrellas with Alaska written across them. It was designed after their state flag, dark blue with yellow stars. We talked to the clerk about the local tours. They do extended fishing and hunting charters but don’t take people to the glaciers. As Larry was talking to them, I looked around the old dusty shop as they had lots of interesting old things on display. They had animal skins, bear, beaver, otter, wolverine and others that I didn’t recognize. I couldn’t believe this one old photo of some hunters holding up proudly four bear skins. I’ve never seen a place like this or really thought about people still hunting and killing bear. The most interesting stuffed animal was a little marmot high up on the shelf. He was interesting because he had the neck ring of a glass bottle stuck around his neck. Apparently he stuck his head in a bottle at one time and couldn’t get it out and it broke, leaving only the neck of the bottle that he wore the rest of his little life. Who knows, maybe it was a joke by the taxidermist but it sure was amazing. INVITATION TO DINNER FROM THE CANADIANS We bumped into the Canadians again by the grocery store. They invited us for dinner. One thing I can say is they are persistent. I said OK –though I was so tired, I just wanted to rest and do nothing for a day but how could we not accept as we were rafted right next to them? I didn’t want to tell them how tired I was, how would they understand? Also, it was very nice of them to invite us and really when you think of it, I wouldn’t have to cook or entertain, as they were the ones inviting us and doing all the work. So we accepted. When we got back to the boat and trying to be polite, I asked her if there was something I could bring and she said some appetizers would be great. She also said she invited the people on Hapgood to come also and she said she told to bring a salad. I wondered to myself how Margie who was out all day on a tour was going to have time to make a salad and how she was going to come up with the ingredient for a salad up here in this wilderness. To me salad ingredients are hard to come by and precious when you have them. I wondered if she was going to be tired to and feel like making a salad when she got back after their day long excursion. These women up here sure have more energy than I do, that’s for sure. OK, OK, so I’m tired but I can get some kind of appetizer together. No big deal. A little later the Canadian knocked on my door and said she didn’t think there was enough room on their boat for all of us so she said we will have to have dinner on our boat if that’s OK and cocktails on theirs. OK, now I’m getting pissed. I’m thoroughly exhausted and just wanted to rest on the boat. Now I’ve got people coming to dinner. How did this happen? I don’t want to be rude and how would they know how tired I am, so what can I do? Well, I start cleaning the boat as we’d been non-stop cruising and with Ziggy and non stop dog hairs the place was a mess. So I vacuumed and cleaned most of the afternoon and then fixed an appetizer or two but not without having to see if I could find something at the local store which meant a trip to the store. You think I was tired before, now I’m really exhausted. Finally it’s getting late and I see the Hapgoods have arrived from their 6 hour Stikine River tour. (I wonder if she is exhausted too and now has to figure out a salad.) The Canadians wanted to try to go on River Tour again tomorrow so asked Larry if he would call the tour operator again on his cell phone. Larry’s having no luck but they keep bugging him to call this person and that person. I’m wondering, when did Larry become their concierge? One of the tour operators sent a guy down to our boat to talk to us. He tried to talk them (Larry and the Canadians) into going on the glacier tour tomorrow but he had a little side trip he had to do. He wanted to drop off a park service ranger somewhere up the river first and then pick him back up on the way back at the end of the day. But oh no – the Canadians didn’t want to do that! They want to go straight to the glacier and back and want to have the same tour person that the Hapgoods are using today, whose name was Barbara. Well, glad I’m not going and have to deal with that. It’s finally time for cocktails. We saw that the Hapgoods had arrived aboard the Canadian boat so we grabbed a bottle of wine, our appetizers and stepped over to their boat. We brought our own drinks and glasses which we’ve learned is the custom when cruising up here as no one wants to be washing a lot of extra dishes as water is a valuable commodity on everyone’s boat. We had a nice chat with everyone and had a great time. I didn’t think the Canadian’s boat was that small after all and it was nice and cozy with nicely designed wood details. They had some beautiful Chinese carved wood doors that led into the master stateroom and there was lots of teak wood inside. On the outside were nice curved wood rails that wrapped around a wood mast. We were having a fine time and then it was time for dinner. Jane, the Canadian hostess, that invited us all for dinner, stood up and said it’s time to go next door to Knotty Dog for dinner. So the hostess with the mostest, brought no dishes, silverware, glasses, wine, napkins, and well, she brought nothing for her dinner party except for her dinner casserole, which by the way was frigidly cold as she handed it to me and asked if I wouldn’t mind heating it up my micro wave and to also put her brownies in the frig! Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but heck, their boat is the one plugged in to power not mine. SHIP OF FOOLS So, now I know where that saying came from, “ship of fools”. So like a couple of fools, we found ourselves suddenly entertaining a dinner party, complete with setting the table with dishes, silverware, placemats, napkins, glasses, etc. etc. and then heating the host’s main dish, Thai chicken curry and rice in the micro wave, and then even serving the dinner and salads. Boy did I get sucked in on this one. The next big shocker was that the hosts didn’t bring anything to drink for their guests, so how could Larry and I have our wine with dinner without offering wine to the rest? So out came our wine too for their dinner party. It was actually absolutely hilarious when you look back on it. If the Hapgoods hadn’t been innocent participants of this bogus dinner party I think I would’ve have said something but we didn’t want to be inhospitable to them as surely they didn’t know what the heck was going on. After dinner we offered some coffee and port, which they all accepted, except Jane, the hostess, who requested a fresh pot of tea with “cream and sugar please”. After the last drink of port wine and the last sip of tea, with cream and sugar, it was finally getting late and the Canadians stood up and said they were tired and needed to hit the sack. So before you know it, everyone got up and said their “goodbyes” and soon we found ourselves left with all the dirty dishes and glasses to clean up! Amazing. We spent the next hour washing the dishes and putting things away in total shock. We couldn’t quite figure out whether she was an extremely clever woman or whether she was completely naïve but one thing is for sure we are a “ship of fools”. And all I wanted to do today was take a nap and do absolutely nothing. The final straw though, which you will enjoy, was that just as we were finishing up the dishes, we glanced over to their boat as their light went on and we saw her in their salon walking around in her silk negligee getting a glass of milk or something and gave us a cute little wave as she stepped back down into her master stateroom for a nights sleep..
DATE: Tuesday, June
12th COMMENTS: Another lucky beautiful day! Well, Larry, Zig and I head towards town to take Zig out for a walk and get some fresh produce. We heard, through the locals, that a woman comes in on the ferry on Tuesdays bringing fresh produce from Washington State. She sets up a produce stand in the center of town and that’s how the locals get their fresh produce.
We easily found the produce stand as there was a small crowd quickly gathering and getting in line. The produce lady had great stuff but somewhat limited to our standards at home. But what a jack pot though after all these weeks of old limp carrots, cabbage and yellowing stale broccoli. We bought fresh oranges, lemons, grapefruit, avocados, green beans, and corn. Darn, no lettuce though. We stopped for some coffee at the Stikine Inn and sat outside by the little store owned by Barbara Swartz. She’s the tour guide that Richard and Margie, from M/V Hapgood, took to see the glacier. She is also a fabulous artist and will paint an image of your boat right on a nautical chart for a reasonable price. Richard and Margie bought one and Barbara said she would mail it back home to them once it was complete. Pretty neat.
(Look close at the pictuire & see if you can find the Dog & Cat) We walked back through town and stopped in at the local True Value Hardware which resembles nothing like a True Value Hardware as we know it at home. This place is more like a small old fashioned hardware store. Something caught my eye though right away and it was a bicycle on display out front for $129. I asked if they by chance had two and they said they had another one but would need to put it together. They said they could have it ready in a couple hours. Sold! So we bought two bikes. They were wonderfully friendly people. So we brought the one bike that was already assembled back to the boat while the other one was being put together. Larry and the Canadians left shortly there after for their six hour trip to see Le Conte Glacier. I still was tired and was going to get my way finally and that was just to stay on the boat with Ziggy and do nothing for one day. Although I did go back and pick up the other bike and on the way back took it for a little ride around town. What a great thing to have this bike. Now we could see so much more than we would if we were merely walking! While I was out I checked both hardware stores for a water boiler (for tea) and electric blankets. I did find an electric blanket (“blanket with a brain” it said on the label”). I hope it’s smarter than the idiotic one we have at home. While riding around I noticed three laundromats in town: One was called “The Laundry Mat”, another “The Laundramat” and the third was in “Grandma’s Barbershop”. I wonder what the proper spelling is for laundromat. I glanced in at a couple of old tattered bars in town and wondered if any old Klondikers had ever stepped through those doors. Probably. Wrangell is so much like a little frontier town and the more you’re here the more you like it. I saw John from M/V Voracity. He is cruising Alaska in his sailboat by himself and had just arrived but was out on the public docks. The last time we saw him was in Port Hardy. I was glad to see he was alright. When I got back to the boat, M/V Kluane was rafted up to us. It was so great to see them again. I told Barbara the funny story about the dinner last night and we laughed so hard about it.
GLACIER TOUR By late afternoon, Larry and the Canadians were back from their tour of the glacier. He said he had a great time and the guide said it was the most beautiful day she’d ever seen on the trip. Larry got some fantastic pictures. They were very lucky to have a beautiful sunny day to see it.
I made a pot roast in the pressure cooker for dinner and we sat out on the back and had some red wine with Kluane. We really enjoy this wonderful couple as they have great spirit and a great sense of humor. The Canadians were gone so must have gone to the Inn for dinner I guess.
The Canadians were up to their old tricks again today. She was fussing about all morning. Finally she said that they wanted to move their boat. Their excuse was they wanted to get fuel. Well, by now, not only were we rafted to them, but Kluane was rafted to us, and an old fishing boat, was rafted to Kluane, and another small boat to them. I couldn’t believe that they wanted all of these boats to move so they could go get some fuel. You’d think they’d wait until they were leaving or better yet, get it before they docked originally. I just decided not to pay any attention to it when she said that as to me it was just one more thing with them and really not my decision. I’m not the captain so I’m staying out of it but I sure had an opinion about it, that’s for sure.
I think it was driving the Canadians crazy as it meant of course that everyone had to climb across their boat to get to the dock. They were having a hissy fit about it but there was nothing they could do as we all had to get to the dock and that was the only way we could. He would stand out on the back of his boat telling everyone where they could step and where they couldn’t step on his boat. Each time I took Zig out, I had to carry him in my arms so he didn’t step on their deck, and we all had to climb down the back end of his boat, using these little foot pads mounted to the back, much like climbing up and down a ladder but with no hand rails. It was terribly difficult to do with anything in your arms like Ziggy or groceries. Once down “the steps” you landed on his swim step and you could only step on certain spots on the swim step because he was repairing something back there. Then the swim step was so low to the dock that I would have to throw Zig up on the dock and then climb upon the dock myself in would ever manner I could muster. It would have been much easier for everybody if they would’ve allow all of us walk around their gangway and step off onto the dock the normal way, (the way that they got on and off their boat). It was terrible having to climb over their boat like that and down right dangerous actually. Sooooo, when she started fussing about moving their boat and giving me that silly excuse about having to get fuel, I just didn’t pay any attention to her as I figured their real objective was to be on the outside of this rafting situation because they didn’t like having people climbing on their boat. They finally just gave up on the idea when we all just ignored it. The old wooden fishing boat that was rafted on the outside had a whole family aboard, including an old couple that looked like they stepped out of a time machine from the 1800’s. The men are tall skinny, old fashioned, quiet and shy. The women looked like they have had a hard life. The one woman looked like she was eighty. You wonder what their life has been like living up here. It looks like it has been difficult. They were so nice and considerate though when they crossed the boats, trying to be so quiet and I felt so bad for the older people having to go through all that silly climbing on and off the Canadian boat. The people we’ve met that live up here in Alaska are very special people. They are so friendly and nice. The guys really have the “Alaska look” which I think of as big, rough and tough. The most of them wear jeans, flannel shirts with T-shirts underneath, baseball caps on their heads and have big wooly beards. Most are dirty from doing some kind of hard work. They do work hard up here, as there’s no pussy footing around her. They are the most fun loving real people I’ve ever met. You just have to like them. When we were standing in line at the produce line we had conversations with several of the locals. They are very interested in who you are and where you live and are generous with local information. One lady who looked like she had native blood shared with me all the best places to get things and where to go to see things. She said you could “get good smoked salmon at BJ’s up the hill from City Market”. She said “It’s cheaper and right from factory.”
After we bought our produce, we had lunch at a little temporary food stand that they just set up. There were two booths set up for the two girls in town running for 4th of July Queen. The locals said each year whoever runs, they and their families work for a whole month raising money for the town’s 4th of July Celebration. This year two girls were competing. One family sells tickets to for the celebration and the other girl and her family makes and sells food at these food stands each day for a month to also raise money for the celebration costs. We had shish kebob and fry bread. I just had a few bites of the fry bread as it was deep fried and not worth the calories but very tasty. We also bought a couple tickets for the celebration though we wouldn’t be here of course. JUST DESERTS When we came back to the boat, I noticed the little glued piece of swim step that we all weren’t allowed to step on, on the Canadians boat, had fallen off and was missing. For 2 days now I’ve been walking over that dam piece so it wouldn’t break off but I think maybe the people from the fishing boat didn’t know about it and stepped on it and broke it off. Well, if the Canadian would’ve let everyone walk on their gangway to get on and off, that wouldn’t have happened. I couldn’t help but have a chuckle over it.
DATE: Wednesday,
June 13th COMMENTS: Couldn’t sleep much last night. The refrigerator was making noise, just running and running We finally turned it off at 2:30 AM to shut it up. Then I heard a funny dripping noise. Nope, it wasn’t the refrigerator defrosting but was a big hunk of glacier ice melting on the upper deck that Larry had brought back from his glacier tour. Oh those Canadians are at it again. Now they say they want to leave very early in the morning. That meant we would all have leave early to unraft and let them out. I kept waking up in the middle of the night thinking I had to get up extra early to take Zig to shore before we all left because once we leave, we will just head out to our next destination as the docking at Wrangell is just too much trouble. We wouldn’t want to redock and take the chance that others would raft up to us again and then to merely turn around a little while later and leave. These Canadians are a real pain in the you know what. So early in the AM, around 6:00, I took Zig out. The Canadians were determined to leave at 7:00 AM. He had to Larry the night before that he “expected to leave by then” and as usual with them it was up to Larry to let the others know. So, when the time came we all unhooked and left early. Poor Jerry came very close to hitting some other boats because the wind came up just as we were all scrambling around unrafting. It was quite an experience all five of us unrafting and heading out in the harbor at the same time. It must have been a funny sight. We saw M/V Oleana coming into the harbor and heading to the fuel dock as we left. SO LONG WRANGELL So long Wrangell, what a funny place. Everything is centered around boating. There are fishing vessels everywhere loaded with crab pot ready to go when the opening day arrives. There are some classic old fishing boats too and some hideous derelict looking boats as well. It’s a real mixed bag here.
There’s a tidal grid right next to Shakes Island and at high tide they quick as a flash prop a boat up on it and as the tide goes out the boat will sit out of the water on the wood platform above the newly exposed mud flats and then the work begins. The guys have only the time between the tides to scrape and paint or do whatever repairs they need to do to the newly exposed bottoms of these boats. They work nonstop until the tide floods again and magically take the boats away.
Wrangell is a busy place, boats constantly coming and going every which way. I’d like to compare it to a kind of an American version of Bangkok. Even the crab boats look like oriental junks with so much stuff loaded on them. You wonder how they balance and stay afloat as they tip back and forth to each side as they leave the harbor way overloaded. It’s a constant sound of boat engines and motors running from early morning to late at night.
Last night at 2:30 AM the sky was so bright almost like daylight.
As we left Wrangell we saw MV Intrepid leave too. I wonder if they are headed the same direction. They had a good head start on us. As we came out into Stikine Strait we had a moment of confusion because the scale of chart changed. The scale was so large we got a bit disoriented for a few moments. The islands were the size of pepper spots on our charts but when we looked at them from our pilot house they were huge to our viewing eye. Intrepid headed off in a direction of 270 degrees, much different from our course of 235 degrees and we were all going the same place, Wrangell Narrows. So it threw us off for a moment wondering where the heck they were going as there was nothing that we know of in the direction they were going. We could see up ahead a smallish cruise ship being towed into Wrangell by a tug. It was called Universe Explorer. Even though it was small on the scale of most cruise ships, I can’t imagine that huge of a ship dropping into Wrangell. What will they see? There’s nothing there for that many people.
The current from Stikine River is so strong that we are crabbing ¾ degrees sideways to go the direction we want. That’s the first time I’ve heard the term crabbing. It describes what we were doing pretty well. 56.26.74N-132.32.83W 11:05 AM: We made our turn around Vank Island. We can’t find the marker though (FL2.65-5 M) on Sarembo Island. Roosevelt Harbor is to our port. We spot Hapgood over in that direction. 11:45 AM: Larry says we have an hour or so until we reach the Narrows. We pass quite a bit of branch debris but nothing big. 56.27.40N-132.38.52 W Water has that milky green color. It’s glacier water from Le Conte. WRANGELL NARROWS It’s funny now because all the boats nearby are converging as there’s only one way to go now as we enter the Narrows. We’ve got Hapgood, a Nordhavn, to our port mid-quarter, 2 sailboats ahead (Ghost), Intrepid (the Grand Banks) ahead, Up Spirit’s II, (the Canadians) near the entrance. It feels like a race as everyone is juggling and hurrying for position to enter Wrangell Narrows.
The trip today was a good weight reducer as those Wrangell Narrows take your full attention and concentration with no breaks. Both Jerry and Barbara on Kluane said they both have lost at least 5 lbs. since they left Sidney. Larry sure has lots some pounds. (Note: When we got home from Alaska that summer Larry had actually lost 40 pounds!) 56.29.45N-132.52.59W We went through Wrangell Narrows with out any mishaps. It requires constant attention and checking of the markers for at least an hour or more. There are lots of fishermen in small boats and skiffs that get in your way as you are trying to line up what feels like non stop range markers. You must stay in the channel and follow marker after marker to stay out of the rocky shallow waters and be alert to stay in position as the currents tug and pull at you. We were lucky not to have any opposing traffic.
It sounded like Intrepid would be arriving at port quite a bit ahead of them. Even so, Up Spirits II called in far in advance, about an hour ahead to get a slip assignment. We could hear them on the radio and they were assigned the North Harbor. We were assigned the South Harbor and fortunately it is away from the Cannery (which Patience said is good – Patience is another cruiser we met earlier on this journey who has been up here several times) and with the fishing fleet. Patience said the water gets really awful near the cannery and gets into your engine cooling filters and clogs them up. We got settled in and got the new blue bikes out and headed down the dock to check in with Harbor Master and to see the town.
The town is situated in a wonderful setting. It isn’t surrounded by the typical steep mountains on all sides. It’s set in a much lower landscape that feels much like a village by a river. In the distance are the most magnificent snow covered mountains. The snow looks so rich and thick like icing on the top of a cake. One of the mountains is called Devil’s Thumb which has the strangest treeless and snow less stone projection which of course looks very much like a thumb. The landscape to me seems very much like Colorado when we came through Wrangell Narrows. The Narrows was much like a wandering stream with rustic lodges along its shores. Petersburg is very picturesque and quaint, kind of like a Swiss Mountain village but on a flat plain. Many of the buildings have that Swiss Chalet look and are decorated with rosmaling, and window boxes overflowing with flowers. The harbor on the other hand is another matter. The fishing fleet is impressive and powerful. They have a huge fleet which dominates the whole town. These boats are huge and impressive unlike anything we have seen anywhere. They are a matter of great pride for the locals and are immaculately painted and cared for and the names painted across their bows are imaginative and fun to look at. Our first impressions of Petersburg were good. It was quaint, clean, and old fashioned in a good way and they are very proud of their Norwegian heritage and very hardworking.
We checked in at the harbor master’s office located at the North Harbor. There were benches and flower pots decorating the porch outside. The interior walls are covered with wonderful old photos of fishermen, boats and anything historical about the area. They are great photos. When we checked in there were two old characters sitting inside on a bench. They must spend everyday there on that bench just passing time and watching what goes on. I imagine they are probably some old retired fishermen now spending their retirement days still near the docks. They were full of information for us and any newcomer, kind of like the unofficial greeters. They answered all our questions that we directed at the harbor master before he could answer. Questions such as where the laundry was, the restaurants, grocery, marine hardware etc. It was funny but they gave us lots of local information. The harbor is anchored by a large green colored building which is the cannery and everything revolves around that. It’s the economic hub of the village. After checking in we immediately headed for the Alaskafe because the two old salts said we could get a real latte and cappuccino. Mmmm they tasted so good, probably the best we’ve ever had, or maybe so because we haven’t had one in so long. We got a piece of fresh blueberry coffee cake too and a cup of wonderful homemade gazpacho with sliced avocado on top! Imagine that. It was great! The owner said they are open 3 nights a week for dinner. So we decided to come back that night and give it a try. It’s a small cubby hole of a place located on a second floor on top of the fish market on the main street. Just go up the side outside stairs of the building and it’s towards the back. There’s no kitchen, just a microwave, hot plate and refrigerator but they put out some pretty darn good food from the looks of it.
DATE: June 13-20,
2002 COMMENTS: When we first arrived at Petersburg, we made our docking without a hitch as luckily I guess we arrived near slack tide. I was previously worried about it as we were twice warned from other boaters on our travels northward about the difficulties of docking here. M/V Patience told us that when they come, they always get their dock assignment and then go do something until the current was right to dock. The sailor we met in Port Hardy said he had a dickens of a time docking the boat here and hates it, but he also was handling his boat by himself. (Just imagine that guy sailing up here by himself and heading way north near Valdez!) We were assigned to the South Harbor which is primarily for the fishing fleet. I actually was glad to be in with the fishing fleet after the experience with the crazy Canadians even though it seemed like all the pleasure cruisers were in the other harbor as here we got a taste of real Alaska and its people not just the cruisers like us. The town itself is small, clean, orderly and very functional. There are no frills here. It reminds me a bit of Austria too as the town was originally settled by Norwegians and they have remained and populated. The townsfolk like to decorate their houses and were beginning to set out their window boxes filled with flowers and lots of their windows had shutters decorated with Norwegian rosemaling.
The buildings on the waterfront are built on wooden piers and connected by an old wooden planked road that links the South Harbor to the original part of the docks called Sing Ling alley. The dock is still supporting some of the original turn of the century buildings with their western false fronts. There is the Tonka Fish Market with gourmet Alaskan fish export items, a wonderful kid’s toy store filled with Viking themed toys, a small deli called Else that for some reason has a good reputation for food but that we found really awful. Another building that looked unoccupied but old that had the name “ENGE 1906” in old style lettering and flanked below by some hand painted ravens above the door. Enge was the name of an early settler who used to run a movie theatre here along with other concessions in town and had the reputation for getting frequently so drunk that he couldn’t run the movie right side up. There’s a cute little old turn of the century Victorian house off the docks that has been converted into a great little book store with a wonderful collection of books on Alaska and whatever subject that might strike your fancy for a good read on those wet cold days.
FISHERMEN MEMORIAL The Norway Building, which is a two story white clap board structure, is the largest building on the waterfront except for the big cannery. It has a big planked deck next to it which serves as a memorial to the many fisherman and fishing vessels lost in the treacherous Alaskan waters. The fishermen lost are dedicated with a mounted bronze plaque listing their names, dates of birth and death, the names of their vessels (F/V), and a small description like “Pioneering Fisherman”. Some dated back to the mid 1800’s. They also have a bronze sculpture of a fisherman from the turn of the century pulling in his fishing line by hand (hard work). Several large planter boxes decorate filled with tulips and a mixture of flowers grace the dock also. It’s an impressive thought provoking memorial.
Northern Lights is the local coffee shop that is nearby and it overlooks the harbor and cannery. It’s always busy and has consistently terrible slow service but the food is pretty good (at least breakfast). It’s your typical hash browns, eggs, meat, etc. Lots of omelets, and benedicts. We were there for Father’s Day and it was filled with locals and families taking their dads out for breakfast. All the cruisers like to eat there too. ALASKAFE FOR DINNER That night we went back to the little Alaskafe for dinner and “no reservations required” as they said “just come between 6-8:30.” Some people were on to the “no wait” and cleverly were there well before opening time. It’s a slow process because there really is no kitchen as they cook the food in toaster ovens and on electric skillets so what comes out is slow but very carefully and lovingly presented. Portions and plates differ between tables too. I figured it must be dependent upon what they’ve got left in the kitchen as I noticed the first group got big salads and ours were smaller and the first group got a different kind of rice than we did. It’s like being at someone’s home I guess. I think they ran out of the first batch of rice and had to make another for us, a bit of improvising going on in that kitchen. It was comical to watch, but the food was delicious, fresh and very creative.
I talked to the owner and told her how much I enjoyed the food and her menu choices. The food was so refreshingly healthy and fresh after your typical Alaskan hearty rib clinging fare that we’d been experiencing. I found out that she’s from Sacramento and came for a visit and decided to stay. She’d only been here since November. She said she tries to have some fresh fish for people cruising through. I told her I was so hungry for fish this whole trip as we aren’t fishing people and they don’t seem to sell much of it in the restaurants and stores. I guess they figure if you are up here in Alaska you most likely can catch your own fish and what they want to eat is a big honking piece of steak. She told me I could get about the freshest fish in Alaska down below her café from the fish supplier. She said we could buy all sorts of fresh and frozen fish there. We had a great stay in Petersburg and got to know the locals while we were there and they are a great bunch of people. We also just enjoyed sitting back and watching the activity on the docks.
The fishermen were waiting for “the openings”. The first opening will be for crabbing and then the real fun starts, the fishing opening. In the meantime the fishermen were all busy sanding, drilling, painting, and washing their boats from dawn until dusk. They are a hard working serious bunch and take pride in their boats. The boats are fabulous. They love their boat names too and their accent stripes etc. We loved the names: Viking Spirit, The Norsemen, Defiant, Spicy Lady, The Protector, The Voyager, etc. Some of the boats are old and sure must have a history. You can see it in their strength and you can see it in their wounds too. It’s a visible tale of their travels.
These guys work from the early hours of the morning to late taking advantage of the few days of sun up here to paint. One fisherman across the way says it’s the same every spring, "we all work as hard as we can and especially if the sun comes out we all paint." He said last year they had one day to paint so they worked 22 hours straight to take advantage of it. We talked to the fisherman next door who was working on his engine. He said the crabbers will be going out in a couple days and then the seiners would go out. He said there’s no money in the work any more because the fisheries are putting them out of business. He said they can’t get any money for the fish now and that people don’t care about quality, just the price. I find this a trait of most of our society today. We have too many Costco’s, Wal-Mart’s, and everything’s the same from a cookie cutter, cheap price, cheap quality and nothing unique. It was true what he said because when those scheduled “opening” days arrived, the crabbers left in mass and then the seiners left in mass a few days later and suddenly the place was pretty much empty and quiet except for the few that stayed for whatever reason I don’t know. Maybe they couldn’t afford to go out anymore like the fisherman said or some said they were protesting the fish prices and holding out on the fishing to raise the price of things. I wish I knew. The fishermen pretty much keep to their own kind.
We rode our new trusty new blue bikes around town and decided to ride out to Sandy Beach to check out the petroglyphs and the ancient Indian fishing traps. It was about a 5 mile ride total. They have one main road that they call Mitikof Hwy. It goes only North and South along the waters edge. The southern part goes alongside Wrangell Narrows and the other end goes North up to a point where you can look out on Frederick Sound. We rode down the path to the camp ground at Sandy Beach. There were these neat 3 sided shelters at the beach with wonderful old stone fireplaces for people to us when the weather turned cold. We walked out onto the low tide beach and off to the left in front of some houses and saw the petroglyphs. We searched for the ancient fish traps but the tide was too far in by now to see them. I talked to someone later and they said it’s difficult to see them now as only small traces of them are left.
TENT CITY We left the camp and decided to take a dirt trail back to town by the airport. As we were heading up the hill to the left we saw what is called Tent City. We turned in to check it out. It’s like a camp ground scattered with wooden platforms. Some had some flimsy posts constructed with tarps strapped to them creating flimsy tents. There was a center area that had porta potties and BBQs. A group was sitting in the open air there watching a jimmy rigged TV set with antennas. It appeared to be like a kind of a tramp camp at least the living conditions were not pleasant. When the fishing season starts and the canneries get going this place is packed with cannery workers they bring up from South America. We heard from one of the locals that there is a character that manages the camp and controls use liquor and drugs and runs a tight ship of the place. AIRPORT We rode by the side of the airport which is virtually a step above a dirt strip with a couple one room structures that can house a small plane or two. We continued on and headed down a hill to town and passed the main grocery store. The grocery store is big and pretty well stocked. The produce is somewhat limited but you’re able to get what you need. It’s set up for the fishing fleet and we saw boxes of food being packed and delivered to the docks. They have a phone with a direction line from the docks for who ever needs a pick up to come to the store. They will pack and deliver you and your purchases back to the docks also. But - do beware, because both times the crazy young high school driver has tipped our boxes in the travel. The boxers do a terrific job boxing all your purchases perfectly using every square inch of the boxes and delicately packing the soft things and the cold things in there proper places. If only we could find some box boys like that back home. There are two grocery stores in Petersburg, this one and a smaller one closer to the docks. Across the street from the little grocery store in town is a hardware store that has practically anything you need. GLACIER LAUNDRY During our stay we had our laundry done at the Glacier Laundry. It was the most expensive yet on the trip. They charged $50 which is double what every other place charged. It’s really not much but we just thought it was curious why they charged so much more. I must say though if you are insistent on your laundry looking sparkling white and colors true you better plan on doing your own on you summer journey as our white are grey and our colors are dismal. THE LOCAL VIDEO
STORE We stopped in the local video store frequently and rented and watched all the latest videos that they had. They keep a cash $30 deposit that you had to remember to go back and get when you left Petersburg. It’s all cash, no credit cards. They also keep no records of your movie rental or your deposits interestingly enough. It’s all on trust and works out just fine. INTERNET CAFÉ We used the internet
café a lot and met the resident dog who was always there.
We visited the small visitor center too and got lots of information about the area. In general we had a great time in Petersburg. There are only a few tourist shops which I like as you got the feel for a real town in Alaska not the typical cruise ship stop. The town’s primarily customers are their locals not tourists but they are very friendly to all who visit and we feel like we’ve made some friends here. They’re genuine people and take great pride in their town. It’s a place you could stay.
More Photos of Petersburg
Our Friends Bill & Bonnie join us for
the next leg.
On to Tracy Arn & Juneau (Part 9) or knottydog.com
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TEMP:
PETROGLYPHS
PRODUCE DAY
BIKES!
RAFTING
FOURTH OF JULY
QUEEN
One “Alaskan” sailor
came in one afternoon. He reminded me of a character out of the movie
“Water World”. He motored by in the most hideous boat you could imagine.
It looked somewhat like a cross between a hand made submarine and a
trawler and a sailboat all packed into one, with only two metal port holes
to look out of. The guy was the most enormous, not fat, but just big and
muscular guy I’ve ever seen. He was so big and rough that he was scary.
He was rough and tough and I was even afraid to walk by him as we passed
each other on the dock. He had a huge bellowing voice that could be heard
all through the harbor. He must have been a sweet guy though even with
his rough exterior as his constant companion was his little itsy bitsy
miniature dachshund in his little red collar who followed him everywhere.
So we slowed down for
a moment and double checked our position and direction and confirmed we
were going where we wanted to go and continued on. Guess the Grand Banks
is headed to another destination or maybe they want to do some fishing but
we are headed right. 
Oh great, we finally
caught up with the Canadians again right near Petersburg. First she came
out on the back of the boat and was waving and acting goofy, dancing on
the back of the boat and then he came out leaving the boat to run on its
own auto pilot and he began taking pictures of us and waving the Canadian
flag. Larry was getting irritated because he wanted to pass them but
their boat was in the center of the channel and in the way. We had heard
Intrepid on the radio hailing them quite awhile back but we
couldn’t hear the actual transmission as it was breaking up a bit but we
got the jest of it. It sounded like they wanted to pass them too. 
PETERSBURG
HARBOR MASTER’S
OFFICE
THE WATERFRONT
BUILDINGS
We were lucky to see
the town folk that celebrating some occasion in their traditional
Norwegian costumes. The children and adults both were dressed in their
traditional blue and white costumes with flowered embroidery matching
their decorative shutters. They love their flowers and decorations.
ACTIVITY ON THE
DOCKS
PETROGLYPHS
