Fourth of July 07/18/2025

 

This is where Gus “hides” when he feels that a departure is going to take place. That’s a port in the back cabin where we sleep. As soon as the engine starts up though, he prefers to roost on his cushion in the cockpit.

Gus is wearing his harness in this photo, but he doesn't always have it on. He knows when we are underway, he is not allowed out, he can be down below in the boat, or in the cockpit, no wandering the decks. If he gets a wild hair, and insists on being out, he gets a leash attached to him, which will remind him of his manners. 

We moved from one side of Sokolof Island to the other, in order to see the July 3rd fireworks. Wrangell does them on the night of the 3rd, because they use the cruise ship dock for set up, and lighting. Then the crew can enjoy the 4th with their families, and the cruise ship dock is used for the boat races on the 4th. Clear as mud? Good.

Wrangell is about 6 miles away, and we had a good view.

Dusk, and lights of the community are coming on.

Not a great photo, but you get the idea, we had a good view of the fireworks, and none of the crowds, bugs, or remaining smoke haze.

The next day, we arrived Wrangell, added more fresh veggies to the larder, picked up our new part, had some good dinners with friends, both local and transient, and headed back out.

 As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.

Off the Dock

 

Captain Ron quotes

As most boat owners know, this is a true statement. 

After Bill completed his battery install, and rewire project, we did what we call “cruise at the dock”. This means turning off the shore power cord, and utilizing all of our electrical needs on the battery system alone. Everything performed flawlessly, of course, even after multiple times of cruising at the dock. We left our slip feeling confident that our new system would sustain us, and result in a large savings in diesel fuel for the generator. 

Murphy loves a commotion, so one of our brand new components failed, and we headed for a nearby anchorage to assess, and look for fixes/alternatives. Bill saw the issue, and after talking to the company, they decided to send us a new part. This means hanging close to Wrangell, so we can head into the post office, pick up the shipment, and do the installation at the dock. It means turning off ALL the power, and that’s not something we want to do out at anchor.  Murphy and all…..

Passing by Sokolof, there were about 30 eagles lining the bank, feasting on something.

We decided to anchor in a small bay on the west side of Sokolof, weather in the foreseeable future is benign, and we could wait until we hear about what day to expect our new part to arrive. This puts us close to Wrangell, so the commute in will be short, but also we get the quiet of being off of the dock.

As you cruise into the bay, taking a wide turn is the best option, going around this rock, Bill remarked that he bet there was different colors of bottom paint on it. This photo is at low tide.

This photo is heading into high tide. Hmm you say, where’s the rock?

It’s on the chart.  See that asterisk, that’s the mark for that rock, go around.

It was interesting to see these two deer wandering the shore line on this island. They must have swam here from somewhere nearby. That buoy is a crab pot marker, not ours, this bay seems to be a spot for the commercial crabbers. 

Back in Wrangell, the quarry that is across the street from our harbor is in full production mode. Seven days a week they are mining rock and crushing it into gravel, we are glad to be away from the sound and grit that coats everything.

 As always, we enjoy hearing from you, either here in comments or on our Facebook Denali Rose Sailboat page.