Day 39 - Gone Fishin' ; Rod

We wound our way through the Wrangell Narrows today. twenty miles of mostly 20-25' depth.  We found it reasonably easy to follow the navigational aids like breadcrumbs through the forest.  Several range markers along the way provided guidance through the longer stretches - we steered the boat to align markers on the far shore and stay centered in the channel.  The biggest challenge wasn't the depth (even though we entered the narrows near low tide), the width of the narrows (150' for some stretches), or the navigation (while exercising due caution); the crux was dodging skiffs full of fishermen, standing in their boats, who were focused on their fishing, and not so much where their boats were drifting as they wandered around in the middle of the channel.

There was a lot of salmon in the narrows.  We went through at the right time apparently because we saw a lot of them jumping out of the water and several being reeled in by the fishers.  Frederic made a valiant effort to land one by trolling a lure, but the salmon were unimpressed.

Exiting the narrows we slid past Petersburg checking our emails without stopping.  From there we crossed Frederic Sound and did some whale watching on our way into Read Island Cove for the night.  It's a beautiful cove, picturesque and secluded, if a bit tight.  There's barely enough room for one boat to swing.

Photos by Frederic

Lavanya and Jason have made awesome dinner meals the last couple of nights since boarding in Wrangell, arms loaded with fresh vegetables.