After sailing all night to reach our day’s destination, we awoke to rain as we sailed the final few miles to Petersburg. We were all looking forward to this day because of so many options for our guests to participate in. There was everything from hikes to biking, dock and bog walks, and fishing for the kids—the list goes on. The first thing all of us did after docking was to hop into our inflatable boats for a short ride across the narrows to a wonderful boardwalk trail through a bog. Actually, not all of us. Our younger guests joined our Expedition Leader and myself for a more robust romp along a dirt road to give the kids a chance to have a more kid-friendly adventure. We had a few short games to play, some silliness, and most of all, a little more noise than our walks are accustomed to. It was great fun and a very warming to see how all of our younger explorers have bonded over the last week, and to see how much fun they were having together. Afterwards, we headed back on board to have lunch.
The rest of the day was spent exploring this beautiful fishing town in Southeast Alaska. The exploration was done through various walks. The dock tour was held by our undersea specialist Ana, who gave us an in-depth look at the various types of fisheries this town is so dependent on. Some intrepid explorers ventured into the rain to see the town on bicycles, and my group chose to explore the town through our camera lens on a photo tour to document the town through images. I will get back to my excursion, but before that, I must mention probably the most exciting excursion of the day, although most of us on board were not allowed to participate in it: fishing from the dock. As it turns out, anyone under the age of twelve is allowed to fish from the pier without the requisite fishing license. The rules were that the young fishermen needed to wear their life jackets, and were not allowed to receive any assistance from their parents unless their parents held a valid Alaskan fishing license. The children had to bait the hooks themselves, and in the event that they caught any fish, they would need to remove the fish from the hook and release them back into the sea. Fortunately for some of the young anglers, Dockside Mike, our local security man was available to help with the aforementioned tasks. If you are wondering, fish were caught and smiles were had by all.
As I said, I must give a mention to those of our group who joined me on my photographic excursion. Four souls braved the constant rain and suffered through my dockside instruction without even a whisper of discontent. For their efforts, I hope they images they made are all prize winners. Good job photographers!
By early evening, all were back on board, drying out our clothing, and preparing for one of the highlights of the trip: “All You Can Eat Crab Night”. A Petersburg day tradition that is as delicious as it is fun.
