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| Petersburg |
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cove seemed like a reasonable place to spend a few days but we felt like moving
on the next day. The original intention was to head to the north coast of
Prince of Wales Island and Red Bay. having heard the forecast for the next few
days we decided to change our minds. The Low pressure systems we promising
25-30 knots with higher gusts on the outside of Prince of Wales so we looked to
revise our plan. Jude read in one of the guides that Petersburg has a Norwegian
festival in the third week of May. Guess what – it’s the third week in May so
off we set for Petersburg. We crossed Sumner strait and entered the south end
of South Wrangell Narrows. These Narrows are one of the main shipping routes
north and at their narrows about 300ft wide. It is used by tug boats and large
cruise ships as well us us small pleasure boats. There are nearly 60 channel
markers along its length and in some places its only 25ft deep (at low tide)
all I could think about was I hope I don’t meet the Carnival Princess cruise
ship coming the other way. All was fine, we saw one tug boat coming the other
way and managed to avoid its path by pulling off to the side. We followed a
40ft wooded ketch, the Agean, down the channel and waved as we went past them a
few miles south of Petersburg.
As
we approached Petersburg we could hear laughter coming from the town,
presumably from the festivities that had started the day before, it lifted our
spirits from the slightly nerve wracking navigation of the narrows. We called
up the port authority on the VHF and were assigned a slip in the north harbor
fishing fleet section. A good choice as it is the one that has showers. The
harbour master sounded like a character and we were keen to meet him. We tied
up to the ramshackled dock (due to be replaced soon apparently) next to the
fish cannery and made our way to pay our dues to the harbour master. He was
indeed a character. Norwegian decent and very relaxed. Jude and I went for a
quick look around town while Katya stayed on the boat and we managed to sneak a
cheeky beer in before returning. Petersburg is a great town. People very friendly,
a good supermarket, chandlers and a video rental shop and restaurants. Yes we
decided to stay two nights - its
probably going to be the last town or civilization we visit before arriving in
Juneau which is over three weeks away.
Petersburg
The
following morning we all went for a walk, going through town and out the
otherside. The town certainly has a Norwegian flavor and many of its town folk
originate from Norway. It is primarily a fishing town and the cannery which
opens seasonally swells the population to double its non seasonal size. Unlike
Ketchiken the large cruise ships do not stop here and have therefore not spoilt
the place (in my view). I suppose one could argue that having the cruise ships
stop off in Petersburg could be a good thing for the town bringing in the
tourist dollar but probably sacrificing some of the community structures and
history of the place. I don’t think anybody likes tourist towns, they are
soulless places.
We
all went back to the boat and Jude took the opportunity of having shore power
to get the vacuum cleaner out. This is always a sign for me to make a sharp
exit - Jude does not like having me
around when vacuuming and I certainly don’t like being around when the vacuum
is going, so Katya and I went for another walk. We met some of the local people,
watched a local game of softball and bought some fruit and veg for the boat
before posting some letters and renting some videos (TC - we managed to rent Apocalypto for Katya –
she enjoyed it and did not have nightmares) before heading back to the boat. In
the evening Jude and I went out to sample some of the local nightlife, we
opened the door to the first pub we came to and were immediately offered some a
couple of kilos of fresh prawns! We quickly took them back to the boat before
returning to have a drink and perhaps a couple of others at another bar.
Thirsty work cruising you know and we do like to support the local community.
Yes well somebody has to do it.
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