Wrangell again and boat prep for summer cruising

Dear friends and family,

I am back writing and blogging, now from Southeast Alaska.

I have been up here for five weeks now with an especially bigger amount of boat maintenance to do this year. I hadn’t hauled out the boat for four and a half years, so it seemed time to haul her, check everything out from land, paint the bottom, put on new zincs and even get a hull thickness survey from a certified surveyor to get insurance other than liability.

All those above listed jobs are behind me now and things came out well. I was even able to get insurance on the hull, which I have not had for the last three years. The skill level here is pretty high, the biggest challenge is that there are not enough skilled people to serve the demand. 

My individual challenge is living on the boat on the hard, where I couldn’t use running water or the head, so had to climb down the wet ladder several times per day. One day the ladder rungs were iced up, just to make things interesting. Funny though how after a few days, it can seem normal. 

It was challenging since in the first month here, we had exactly one day that didn’t have rain at least part of the day. I only needed a few hours of dry to get the bottom paint on and the weather cooperated-just.

Back at the marina, I did a few more maintenance jobs as it has been nine years since the rebuild after the fire, so time to replace and maintain more. I sure appreciate YouTube videos to help me through these tasks. 

This past Sunday, the first clear blue sky day, brought different sounds out in mix. There was the buzz of weed eaters, mixed with the calls of the ravens. At the marina there was even more deep rumbles of pressure washing trying to drown out the high pitched whistles of the eagles. It seemed everyone was outside enjoying the sun and attending to the chores that have been delayed due to weather. No bad moods that day or the next, before the rain restarted. 

It might seem frustrating to be here, you would think, but every day it rains I remember that this is one big reason why it is not crowded here, so I feel fine with it. It is also normal and necessary to get out and do your thing in the rain. I bike and walk outside in the rain daily in my rainproof outfit.

A week ago, during a steady rain, I biked to town wearing my bright yellow raincoat for visibility and because it is very waterproof. I met friends for lunch at Zac’s restaurant and as I walked in an older woman said to me “You surely are not from here”. 

I asked why she thought that and she said “notice, you are the only one wearing a raincoat, everyone else is wearing just a jacket”. 

I looked around and confirmed what she said was true and wanted to tell her that I bicycled here in the rain whereas everyone else drove there, but kept it to myself. 

I have the boat loaded to the gills with food, most of it barged up from Seattle where I loaded up from Costco. Food in the grocery store is pretty expensive up here, so best to buy and ship the dry goods. I think I might have overdone it with the dry and canned goods, but if I don’t consume them this year, I can do next year as they will all keep. 

I have been part of several discussions this spring about what could happen if SHF (shit hits fan) in the economy of the US. We here depend on the barge to bring fresh food as very little is grown here. There are two local farms supplying some fresh greens, but not nearly enough to feed this community of about 2000 people. 

It is expected that even though there is quite a political divide here, that everyone would band together to share what is needed to survive, regardless of the political leanings. I guess there would not be a shortage of protein, with the abundant shrimp, crabs and fish near here and the expertise of the community to gather them. I really love this small community. 

Power here is hydroelectric so we would have that, but the diesel to run those fishing boats gets barged up here. 

No shortage of discussion about how to weather the current cuts from DOGE or the proposed budget in Congress and both effects on this community, which would be huge. One for instance is a 50% proposed cut to Essential Air Service (EAS) that subsidizes Alaska Airlines to serve Wrangell, even though without they could not make this run profitable. No affordable air travel in and out of here share could change things!

This week we had the (recently) annual Blessing of the Fleet at the Mariners Memorial right here where I moor in Heritage Harbor. There are poems by a high schooler and my favorite, which is the Wrangell Song composed by high schoolers and sung by the same. It speaks of the great beauty here and the quiet and the peace of Wrangell. Of course, there is the list of names announced of mariners who have passed in the last year and the eight bell toll to honor them. 

The boat is just about ready to sail. More on that next blog.

In the meantime, I send all of you love,

Charley