Wrangell Lay Day

This morning marked a milestone: for the first time this trip, I didn’t have to microwave the butter to make it spreadable. Sunshine, blue skies, and temps heading for the high 70s—welcome to summer, Southeast Alaska-style.

You can’t plan for everything

Of course, with Wrangell still under a boil-water advisory, the restaurants remain closed. So, we fired up the dinghy and zipped over to Reliance Harbor for easier access to town. Today’s mission: provisioning. With the dinghy tied just steps from the grocery store, it was a one-trip haul—no long trek back to Heritage Harbor required.

After checking in with the harbormaster, we noticed a cruise ship tour group gathered at Chief Shakes House. We drifted over, played tourist for a while, and listened to a fantastic presentation by a young guide who shared rich insights into Tlingit culture and totem carving.

the cruiseship roald AMUNDSEN JUST JUSR OFF WRANGELL

One fun takeaway: traditional totem colors were made with seal oil and natural ingredients—charcoal for black, crushed shells for white, berries for blues and purples, blood and salmon eggs for reds, oxidized copper for teal, and even lichen, moss, or urine for yellow. It was fascinating and made us appreciate the artistry even more.

We wandered through town and crossed paths with our friends from Time to Play, swapping cruising stories before the heat sent us retreating back to OceanFlyer.

It was over 80°F in the saloon when we returned—our lovely big windows turning the space into a floating greenhouse. We fired up the reverse-cycle AC, which thankfully brought the temps down fast.

Heritage Harbor was quiet, with plenty of space on the transient docks. A calm evening ahead after a surprisingly warm and enlightening day in Wrangell.