When the gale was over, I motored out of Wrangell thru calm, protected waters at first. The wind picked up again in the afternoon, as expected, and I anchored off the beach in Union Bay for a couple of days, waiting for what would be a strong headwind to die down. Where I anchored was quite near a protected anchorage (Vixen Harbor), but simply anchoring off the beach, while much more exposed to wind, meant it was easy both to anchor and to leave when I wanted (no concern about what state the tide was in).
Due to the moon being unusually close to earth last week, the tides have been very high, so have floated a lot of logs off the shore, making it more important to look at the water ahead (to avoid running into logs) than normal. Issuma would not be holed if it hit a log, but branches could certainly get entangled in the propellers or rudders.
When the strong headwinds died down, I got up at 0200 to catch the favorable tide and motored and motorsailed down Clarence Strait in pleasant conditions to Ketchikan.
Ketchikan is a very spread-out town. It is pretty much all built along the long harbor. People are very friendly and whenever you want to walk across a road, traffic in both directions immediately stops. I’m waiting out another gale in Ketchikan now.
Ketchikan. That’s where Ralf of Imvubu stopped last year. Most likely the last big Alaska place to stop. Next it might be Prince Rupert with known facility and unknown locals behavior off the streets.
Wow…that looks so beautiful.
Victor, thanks. Ketchikan is the last town to stop in Alaska. Ralf stopped here on his way south last autumn, and Ariel IV wintered here.
Thanks, its really beautiful on nice days.