Today Mother Goose had Christmas in July! Well not quite, but we did make our way through Wrangell Narrows, a narrow channel festooned with the red and green buoys that lend it the nickname “Christmas tree alley”. All crews navigated the twisty turny route with ease and shortly the fleet was out of the narrows and crossing Blake channel headed to Wrangell. By late afternoon the sun had come out and all boat were moored in Heritage Harbor. To enjoy the sunny afternoon Inception and Grand Adventure’s crew went to explore petroglyph beach. The ebbing tide revealed a number of ancient Tlingit designs dotted along the beach; a face here, concentric circles there. The petroglyphs are steeped in mystery. The group speculated that they were markers of mourning, or maybe celebration? The true age and meaning of the designs are lost to time, but the powerful testament to human creation remains. A beachcomber’s delight, the waves hid and revealed treasures in amongst the kelp and barnacles all along the beach. Our crews and the neighborhood dogs alike scoured the beach for finds and came away with a coveted stick or in the case of Abby, from Grand Adventure, a pretty collection of shells. As the sun dipped close to the ocean our crews began the walk back to town, thoughtful and sun soaked from our afternoon adventure. That evening Inception dined at the Stikine Inn Restaurant. Meanwhile Eldean rejoiced in being up to their elbows in freshly caught crab. Deceptions crew had the pleasure of having Discovery’s crew, Hal, Sandy, Craig, and Ruthann over for a steak dinner. It’s a testament to the deliciousness of the food that any got eaten; between Hal’s meet-the-neighbors stories and Craig’s boat stories the Discovery crew had us all in stiches. Thank you for your fabulous company Discovery!