2017-04-20 Faraway goes to Wrangell

Anyone who follows this blog knows that I had the boat in a yard on Lake Union from September 2015 through April 2016.  So knowing that, one might ask what maintenance could the boat still need?

Well, I'll tell you.  Each spring there is a list of ongoing maintenance tasks that really need to be done, if you're going to keep the boat in tip top and safe running condition. 

Some of these tasks I could do myself, but since I was recovering from double hernia surgery for all of April, I decided to run the boat to Wrangell and let the Wrangell Boat Shop handle these spring tasks. 

Since I am now what some people call a senior citizen I don't feel comfortable taking the boat very far by myself.  So I needed a reliable crewman to help me run the boat up to Wrangell.

My friend Bob Hammer agreed to help me on this trip.
Bob grew up in Petersburg and has been fishing commercially and sport fishing all his life.
We've played ball together for decades, and he has gone out with me many times on my previous boat, the Forever, and also many times on my current boat, the Faraway.

It's about 85 - 95 miles from Ketchikan to Wrangell, depending on which route is taken.
That can be covered in one long day at the helm, but where's the fun in that?

Here's the first leg of the trip, to Meyers Chuck.
It's about 32 miles from town so we could have easily kept going.
But Bob's mother grew up in Meyers Chuck, and he had not been there in some time, and I always enjoy stopping there, so we made that our first stop.

Bob seems to know everyone.
As soon as we tied up to the State of Alaska float there an old guy came up to us and asked us some questions.  Sure enough, he knew Bob's mother, and most of her close relatives from there in Meyers Chuck.

Other than that old guy and one woman we saw on the dock, the place looked and felt like a ghost town.  We walked the path which leads right through most people's yards, and saw no people and no smoke coming out of the chimneys.

Bob went over the hill where we heard some activity and met with some guys who were clearing a building site.  I think it was just early in the season and most of the residents weren't back there yet for the summer season.

Here are some shots from our time in Meyers Chuck.

Faraway at the dock at Meyers Chuck

They say this used to be the school

Bob and I tried to figure out what this is

The Hall Way or the Hi Way, Cute!

They open the gallery only by appointment

Bob stands by the big spider web

Slide at the playground

Could this be the door to nowhere?

Sawmill

3 boats pulled up onto the grass

Bob tried out the rope swing

We spent a pleasant afternoon and evening in Meyers Chuck, taking a couple of walks, and just enjoying the serenity found there.

After a dinner of roasted chicken (brought from town) and instant mashed potatoes, we watched the movie "Inside Man," and then hit the bunks for a restful night's sleep.

We were up early and pulled out about 7:30 AM.
Our destination for the day was Santa Anna Inlet, which is inside Deer Island, on the way towards Anan Creek.

This chart shows the route from Meyers Chuck to Anan Bay, but we actually stopped for the night just about where the green boat symbol shows.

I've anchored in Santa Anna Inlet many times, and know it to be a safe, secure, and picturesque anchorage.  This time of year I did not expect to see many, if any, boats in the area.

We anchored up in Santa Anna Inlet at about 12:30 PM.
Once again, we had a lot of daylight available, and we could have kept going all the way to Wrangell.
But the boat did not need to be there until Sunday evening, so we had plenty of time to linger along the way and enjoy the journey.

Here are some shots from Santa Anna Inlet.

I went out in the raft and set 2 crab pots

Faraway at anchor in Santa Anna Inlet

Nordhavn "Sweet T"

I took a short nap in the afternoon and when I woke up a neighbor had come in and anchored.  Bob and I went over in the raft and visited briefly with them.  They had wintered in Petersburg and were now southbound, headed for a trip around Behm Canal, in the Misty Fiords National Monument.

Dinner was spaghetti this evening.
And after that we watched a couple of episodes of "Rawhide," with Clint Eastwood as star.

Saturday morning we were up about 6:30 AM.
We pulled the crab pots - empty, unfortunately.
We pulled the anchor and left the inlet about 8:30 AM.

I wanted to make a brief stop in Anan Bay, to see if there had been any visible changes to the Anan Creek Bear Observatory.  This is a world famous bear observatory and I and my family have been there many times.

It is too early in the season for there to be fish in the river, and therefore there are no bears, but I still wanted to get a few pictures of the area.

This is where the USFS employees live during the season

The float out front is for cabin guests to use

A better shot of the USFS float house with cabin in background

From here we made our way up what we call the "back side" of Wrangell Island.
With this route we actually rounded the northern tip of the island and then went down a short way on the western side and into the Reliance Harbor.

We had some time to kill in Wrangell since we arrived Saturday afternoon and we did not need to move the boat around to the Wrangell Boat Shop dock until mid afternoon on Sunday.

Here are some pictures taken around Wrangell.

Faraway in Reliance Harbor in Wrangell

The smaller marine ways on the right is where we were headed

I took a walk around Shakes Island

Interesting sign at the harbor

A 300+ ton vessel which was just hauled

Lots of boats in Wrangell

Faraway sits at the Wrangell Boat Shop dock

Mission accomplished.

Bob and I had a quiet evening at the dock there.
We took the ferry back down to Ketchikan, a 6 hour run.
Unfortunately it left at 5:15 AM and we had to check in by 4 AM.