Wrangell Narrows

The distance between Wrangell and Petersburg is a whopping 40 miles by boat. For most folks in the lower 48 that's a trip across town. By boat in SE Alaska that's a day of fairly complex navigation.  To get from one to the other you go through the Wrangell Narrows. When you look at a marine chart there is a much more direct route over the Stakine river delta, but direct route requires a boat with an extremely shallow draft and a jet drive engine without a propellor. Iolair and almost all barges, fishing boats and cruising boat have to go through Wrangell narrows.  

Wrangell Narrows is like a small 20 mile highway with strong currents that can stop your boat, or if the current is with you almost double your speed. So, travelling through them is all about timing the tides. Kel has become very good at reading the tables of dates, current speeds at specific spots, adjusting the times to a specific location, and then knowing exactly when she needs Iolair to be at a specific spot. In Wrangell Narrows, we need to be at the entrance 1.5 hours before high tide slack water. We get a nice boost on a flood current for 10 miles, then the water goes slack about halfway through the narrows. You can feel the flood turn to an ebb current, and then we get a nice 10 mile push out of the top half of the narrows.  Petersburg is right at the top.

So all this means you have one good moment each day to do it. We have to leave Wrangell with enough time to get to the entrance at the right time. Then you steer through the narrows with barges, ferries and other large boats for 2 more hours. The biggest cruise ships cannot navigate through the narrows, saving Petersburg from the massive influx of tourists, but we watched a big tug pulling barge full of containers making one-mile circles waiting for the right time to run the narrows. 

Not an easy, jump in the car, run across town to the best bakery in SE Alaska. But anything for a great croissant after a month-long bakery drought. 

P.S. Jay does sleep once in a while.