Alaska 6/7/2013

We are in Petersburg for a few days while we wait for better weather in Sumner and Clarence Straits, thats where we have been Halibut fishing. The population of Petersburg is around 3,500 and I think that includes the surrounding area as well. It only takes about 20 minutes to walk through town, there are about 32 miles of paved and gravel roads that service Mitkof Island. There is a grocery store with a department store on the second floor, a couple of bars, two hardware stores, 3-4 restaurants, and several art gallery type stores. There is a larger grocery store about a half mile up the hill but its too far to pack supplies. There are several canneries adjacent to the marinas and I'm sure there are other businesses nearby that I haven't seen. Petersburg has three marinas that are home to mostly commercial fishing boats and there are lots of them here. Everyone is friendly and seem very proud of their community. They have one block of the main street under construction but they keep access to the businesses open.

We finally figured out the Halibut fishing and have caught 20 in all. We only have about a three hour window between tides that we can fish, then the water is moving too fast. The largest Halibut weighed 73 lbs., three 50 lbs., several 35 lbs, and the majority are in the 20 lb. Range, the limit is two each per day. We fillet our catch at the end of each day, double wrap it in plastic wrap, then wrap it in freezer paper in about 2 lb. Packages. We keep it on board in our small freezer or an ice chest until we come to town for fuel, then we take it up to Coastal Storage where it is frozen until Danny takes it home next week. We have 170 lbs. of fillets in storage now and plan to have one more trip before he leaves.

We have found a few nice anchorages, one on the north side of Zarembo Island in a cove by Northerly

and Southerly Islands and another in Exchange Cove on Prince of Wales Island, both are close to fishing in Clarence Strait. An evening at anchor always starts with a large meal followed by a cocktail. Entertainment is a few rousing games of cribbage followed by a movie. It doesn't get dark until after 10:00 PM and starts getting light again at 4:00 AM. Bedtime is usuall between 9:00 and 10:00 and we fall asleep quickly, something about a boat gently rocking at anchor is soothing.

Danny and I have had a great time fishing. The weather has been pretty good and we got out a lot more than we thought we would, we have a lot of fish. We didn't fish for Salmon because we get Salmon at home so Halibut will be on the menu for quite some time.

My Toni flies in four days from now, I miss her and it will be nice to have my regular first mate back on board, less fishing and more cruising. We will continue to post as we have internet and new experiences.