Happy Independence Day!

Petersburg –

A quick note to amend my last posting upon arrival in Petersburg. I neglected to mention that we were boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard just prior to reaching the Wrangell Narrows entry buoy for a “safety inspection.” The two young fellows who stepped aboard went strait to work using the familiar vessel safety inspection. No doubt they were looking for other things too, but what a pleasant experience. Having sailed Puget Sound and now SE Alaska for twenty five years, this experience was a first, and I commended the squad of four guys. They inspect 5-10 boats during a 5-hour watch on pretty much a daily basis. Good.

Only in Petersburg – if you see just one thing in this post, check out the two log-rolling clips at the end!

Last night late we enjoyed Petersburg Fourth of July fireworks, and today we did our first laundry in a month during which time we watched both laps of the Petersburg parade along Main Street.

One big Halibut, left. Second lap of the parade (small town, big parade!), right

Parade video – 1 Parade video – 2

T-Rex – too funny!

Thereafter, we hiked the coastline of Petersburg east to airport road, came over “airport hill”, and returned to town for a brief grocery and liquor store stops on our way back to the boat. Petersburg seems to be a bird mecca. If Haines is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet capitol, Petersburg is the capitol for the Orange-crowned Warbler. Neither heard nor seen was the Townsend’s Warbler which we saw on our last visit. The list of birds seen is long:

Bird Notes: Lincoln’s sparrow, Song Sparrow, Cedar waxwing, Swainson’s thrush, Hermit thrush, Varied thrush, and American Robin (Yay!), Pine Siskin, Flicker, Kingfisher, Greater Yellowlegs (saw it), Western Flycatcher, Pacific Wren, Dark-eyed Junco, Barn Swallow, Tree Swallow, Pigeon Guillemot, Bonaparte’s Gulls – oodles (lots of Herring at this end of Wrangell Narrows), and Bald Eagles.

This evening, we watched a log-rolling competition!

Mens Final – they are brothers!

Overall Final – watch to the end!

Tomorrow we head for Leconte Glacier close to the Stikine River Delta and Wrangell (Dry Passage – which we will not take!) thence the Baird Glacier of Thomas Bay opposite Petersburg, Hobart Bay, Taku Harbor, and finally Auke Bay to prepare for our guests arriving 15 July.