Wrangell, AK - Round One

We sailed and motored from Thorne Bay for two days to arrive in Wrangell on a Saturday. Winding through the sounds and narrows, we were flanked on both sides by the highest mountains we had seen since the BC coast. Luckily the sky was clear and blue. Wrangell is just 60 miles from Thorne Bay but it feels very different. About 2300 hardy Alaskans make their home here. It is one SE Alaska's largest yards and they can haul massive fishing and research vessels out of the water on a 300 ton lift. To put that in perspective, Iolair does just fine on the 60 ton lift, and we have been hauled on a 40 ton lift before.  Iolair comes in around 17 tons, but the 7 foot keel and 62 foot mast and the stays make the bigger lift easier all around. 

On the hard we had the bottom painted, we cleaned and waxed the hull, and being close to town we loaded up on supplies - from groceries to wood to peat moss to wine, of course! From our slip in Heritage Harbor it's about 1.5 miles to town, but without transport, it's hard to get heavier supplies back to the boat. 

Wrangell supports an active commercial fishing fleet. They have most of the slips but there are a handful of sailboats and trawlers that use the harbor as a homebase for their adventures. We loved Thorne Bay but it was a challenge without a car. This will be better, and it still has a small-town feel. Some cruise ships (1000 passengers or so) stop here during the summer months. 

After 3 days in the yard, going up and down a scissor lift to get on the boat, we are happily back in our slip. Our neighbor boat belongs to a couple we met last year on Prince of Wales. Before we could even get off the boat some fellow sailors offered us their car to go to town. Close by there is a great park for Jay, and a historic old graveyard full of pioneers, native Tlingit, and unknown sailors and soldiers. Many died between 1870 and 1920. There are countless unmarked graves. 

In a few days we'll head north to Petersburg, the first stop on our 3-month loop. In late July, we will come back and spend a month here to get Iolair ready for winter.  Juneau, about 150 miles north of here, got 21 feet of snow last winter.  Hoonah, another little native community, saw 30 feet of snow. So Iolair will be tucked under a plastic shrink wrap cover.