Wrangell Narrows is the shortest route from Wrangell to Petersburg. The entrance is shown above. The passage has been dredged and features roughly sixty aids to navigation which mark the rocks and shoals you want to avoid. It is a common suggestion to make a list of all markers and check them off as you pass them, especially if it is your first time through the narrows. So we made a list and decided to call it Buoy Bingo. It wasn't exactly like bingo but it had a nice ring to it. Playing Buoy Bingo kept Matt and I on our toes, but in the end it was probably the most fun bit of navigating we have done.
It is a bit hard to make out, but all those things in the water are buoys and markers. The greatest challenge was figuring out the sequence, since perspective (as in which are closer) wasn't always obvious. Without binoculars this would have really sucked.
One of the logistics to transiting the narrows is to enter from either the north or south end at the last hour or two of the flood, depending on the average speed of your boat. That way you ride the flood in, and then once you reach the midway point, the tidal currents change and you ride the ebb out. The above photo was taken at about the mid point, and we are meeting all the south bound boats. Some sections of the narrows are also, yes, rather narrow. The largest cruise boats don't go through, but the Alaskan ferries and smaller cruise ships do use the narrows. So, another part of the game is to monitor VHF and AIS to know who's coming, and to plan to pull over if you need to to let the larger boats by. We met the ferry Matanuska, who was southbound, in one of the narrowest parts, but we were able to time the meeting at a place where we could safely pull out of the channel.
Here's Matt checking off another buoy. One of us would be at the helm while the other helped keep track of the markers and kept up a narration of what was coming up next. All the navigation aids are distinctly numbered, and with the chart we always knew exactly where we were at. We each had our own pair of binoculars.
Here's the almost finished buoy bingo sheet. That's our idea of fun.
Wrangell Narrows is the shortest route from Wrangell to Petersburg. The entrance is shown above. The passage has been dredged and features roughly sixty aids to navigation which mark the rocks and shoals you want to avoid. It is a common suggestion to make a list of all markers and check them off as you pass them, especially if it is your first time through the narrows. So we made a list and decided to call it Buoy Bingo. It wasn't exactly like bingo but it had a nice ring to it. Playing Buoy Bingo kept Matt and I on our toes, but in the end it was probably the most fun bit of navigating we have done.
It is a bit hard to make out, but all those things in the water are buoys and markers. The greatest challenge was figuring out the sequence, since perspective (as in which are closer) wasn't always obvious. Without binoculars this would have really sucked.
One of the logistics to transiting the narrows is to enter from either the north or south end at the last hour or two of the flood, depending on the average speed of your boat. That way you ride the flood in, and then once you reach the midway point, the tidal currents change and you ride the ebb out. The above photo was taken at about the mid point, and we are meeting all the south bound boats. Some sections of the narrows are also, yes, rather narrow. The largest cruise boats don't go through, but the Alaskan ferries and smaller cruise ships do use the narrows. So, another part of the game is to monitor VHF and AIS to know who's coming, and to plan to pull over if you need to to let the larger boats by. We met the ferry Matanuska, who was southbound, in one of the narrowest parts, but we were able to time the meeting at a place where we could safely pull out of the channel.
Here's Matt checking off another buoy. One of us would be at the helm while the other helped keep track of the markers and kept up a narration of what was coming up next. All the navigation aids are distinctly numbered, and with the chart we always knew exactly where we were at. We each had our own pair of binoculars.
Here's the almost finished buoy bingo sheet. That's our idea of fun.
3 comments:
Wow, that's amazing! I think that would have been fun, too. I love checking stuff off lists ...
I hope someone yelled "BINGO!" when you reached the northern entrance and crossed off the last buoy. Not to worry, the weather here in Seattle doesn't look any better than what you're getting. Go North, keep going North!
Fun meeting you near Baird Glacier via early morning kayak paddle out of Scenery Cove. I look forward to following your adventures this winter in upper Lynn Canal!
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