It's A Small World

We anchored for the night in Deception Cove, a small inlet at the south end
of Wrangell Narrows. We were reading when we heard the huge engines of a
large boat...very close by. When John popped his head out, he was shocked to
see the AQUILA. We met this boat in Samoa. It's a big Alaskan crab fishing
vessel that was doing rat eradication work for the US National Wildlife
Service in the outlying US Pacific islands. John was thrilled to get a tour
of the boat and chat about Alaskan hot spots while we were in Samoa.
So...imagine our surprise, seeing them here, a year later!

We hailed them on the radio, and Kale and Angie invited us for breakfast the
next morning. What a treat. Smoked salmon and havarti omelettes with fruit
salad. Wow. We showed them some of our pics since we met them in Samoa and
heard about their work in the South Pacific, and their current work - they
have a crew of NOAA marine mammal biologists aboard. Their son Tanner is
keeping a blog... www.RVAquila.blogspot.com. We can't wait to get internet -
I'm sure it would be fascinating reading!

Petersburg

We stopped in "Alaska's Little Norway" for the night and really liked this
community - everyone was super friendly. Apparently, just over 3000 people
live here and we were told it was the wealthiest fishing community in
Alaska...that would definitely explain the big, beautiful homes we saw on
the way into the harbour. We took advantage of the laundry, showers,
grocery, seafood store, hardware store, and propane, before we headed out
again the next day, in time for slack tide in Wrangell Narrows.

We're on our way to Port Protection at the North end of Prince of Wales
Island. Home to "Alaska John" whom we met in Majuro. He and Heather are
cruising around here somewhere, and we can't wait to catch up with them and
share stories.

As we were untying from the Petersburg dock, we met a couple who had started
their cruising life many years ago in Majuro. It was fun to compare notes
and hear of their adventures...most noteworthy for us included being
attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden (they shot three of the pirates, and
their buddy boat rammed them)! Unfortunately, their boat was destroyed in
the Baltic Sea when they were hit by a 400+ ft ferry. Yet, they are still
cruising...albeit now in the comfort of a dreamy trawler. Amazing stories -
we wish we could have spent more time chatting with them.

Underway

I've returned from a sad, but wonderful, visit with friends and family in
Vancouver and Kamloops. We've now left Juneau, and are working our way
South. Our destination changes every day, but we'll let you know when we get
somewhere...