Wrangell

We're in Wrangell, where once again, I'm at the laundromat--laundromats are usually warm and have power outlets--a good place to email and blog. Also, one of our group had all of her GOOD laundry stolen down in BC, so now we watch our belongings like hawks! When we left Ketchikan, we spent one night in a beautiful area called Dora Bay. We visited and potlucked with two residents, Darlene and Floyd, who've built a small home there. Darlene is the "net control" for the ham group in Alaska and she seems to very much enjoy meeting her hams in person--even we non-hams were welcome, as she's been tracking us too. On the way in and out we watched humpback whales feeding and engaging in some very active tail slapping. I was happy they were about a half mile off! Floyd says that sometimes he and Darlene can hear the whales breathing at night off the small reef where their cabin is located. Next we visited the community of Meyers Chuck; about 20 cabins, but only around 5 residents in the winter. Our friends, Rich and MJ, came very close to purchasing property there a few years ago. They were able to take us on trails that visiting boaters would not normally get to. The residents were repairing the dock with huge red cedar logs that had been washed up on the beach and a portable saw mill. They were also worrying about a grizzly that had been coming around recently. Speaking of bears, we've still had very few sightings. I'm eager to see some bears up close (from the boat, of course, while they do their thing on a nearby beach). Speaking of logs, two of us have wood stoves on the boats and we go "logging" on the beaches. We are burning lovely, dry, aromatic yellow and red cedar, plus hemlock and spruce--no fir up here. Before arriving in Wrangell, we stayed in a cove with great crabbing. Our friend, Jerry, got 27 crabs--nearly all legal size--in ONE pull! The limit here is three, so most recovered their freedom in short order. We're planning a swim (community pool) and a walk to see some petroglyphs today. Weather permitting, we're off to Petersburg tomorrow. After that I think we'll slowly work our way to Sitka. We need to make some itinery decisions soon, because we need to turn south early in July. We are hoping for some better weather; we've had only a few days of sun in the last two weeks. On the plus side, even when rainy, there are USUALLY some sun breaks and the temperature ranges from the low 40's to high 50's. Kurt and I are still wearing longjohns whenever we're out on the water. I'm sorry for the dearth of photos, but the internet connections are rarely robust enough to handle the upload. Kurt, of course, is taking some very good, high resolution pictures which we'll share when we return. I'll try some when I've posted this.