July 04, 2019 - Wrangell, AK

I heard several people attempt to hail the Wrangell harbormaster as we motored toward Wrangell.  Nobody ever answered the calls.  I decided to call via cell when we had a signal again.  I did so and got a recording stating the office was closed for the  4th of July.  Hmmm.  Now what.  How are you supposed to get a slip in the marina if the people that give you your slip assignment have the day off?

We approach the north basin and find the guest dock is absolutely full, with people rafting up along other boats.  We are not really interested in doing that so we head for the south basin.  The guest docks appear to be full.  We explore a bit and find some empty end-ties.  We tie up to one and I go wandering the docks trying to find anyone to ask if we can stay here.  There is nobody around! I search the internet and find a better map of the marina that shows the location of the guest slips.  We are in a private slip.  So, no way are we staying where we are.  We untie and move over to the guest dock area and it is packed.  There is a small speedboat though taking up a large chunk of real estate.  In front of that boat is a fishing boat that has a bit of space in front of it.  The owner of the fishing boat is  is onboard.  I yell at him and he comes out.  We chat for a minute as I ask him about the possibility of moving the little boat, and then he could move his boat and we might be able to squeeze in.  He agrees and moves the little boat, and then moves his own boat.  We just fit in the space created by the shuffling of boats.  Great!  Another friendly and super helpful Alaskan.

Getting ready to slide into a newly created spot.  Just moving two boats allowed
us to spend the night.  The place is full., and we got absolutely the last spot.

It's the 4th of July and there is a parade in town.  We are a little late for it however.  But we walk into town (about a mile and a half) and find a logging show going on.  We watch some guys cutting logs while balancing on them.  It looks hard.  The sun is out, there is no wind.  It is getting hot.  Is this Alaska?

We found a logging show to watch.  It was pretty cool.  Actually it was HOT!

A totem pole in front of the Post Office

We were too late for the parade.  The streets were still closed though and a lot
of people were walking around town having a good time.  4th of July.

We had planned to eat dinner out tonight, but there are almost no restaurants here.  The few that exist are closed due to the holiday.  Dinner back on the boat for us.

Alex spots another Hatteras 48LRC, with a green hull.  We go take a walk to check it out.  This boat has new salon and side pilothouse windows.  The boat's hailing port is Wrangell, so it lives here full time.  No wonder I've never seen it before.  It looks to be in very nice condition.

Another Hatteras 48LRC.   For a rare boat, we are seeing a few.

There are also a ton of commercial fishing boats here.  I notice that most of them have Morad (brand) antennas.  I have been switching my boat over to Morad antennas for the past year or so.  They are really great antennas, and in Alaska they are the antenna of choice with the commercial boats.  They are built in Bellingham, WA and I have been to their factory several times and know the owner and one engineer pretty well.  I highly recommend Morad antennas.  :-)

The Morad antenna farms are growing well here
in Alaska!

Our plan was to try and catch some fireworks here.  But with it being a bit of a walk, and the days being so long this time of year, we decide to skip it.  We never did hear any fireworks anyway.  Maybe this small town didn't have an organized display?

Here's a project

A cruise ship shows up overnight.  There were none here yesterday.