Wrangell will serve as endpoint for Salty Dog Rally

Between 30 and 50 yachts will depart Seattle sometime in June and arrive in Wrangell June 17.

The yachts will participate in the annual Salty Dog Rally, sponsored by Boating Puget Sound, a website dedicated to yachting in the Seattle area. Once they arrive, yachters will be welcomed by local Tlingit drummers and dancers and be feted in a gala dinner with the mayor. Borough officials estimate between 60 and 150 people will participate, though they won’t have official numbers until registration for the event concludes in April.

Members of the Wrangell Convention and Visitors Bureau board as well as the Economic Development committee have known about the Rally since the January 2013 Seattle Boat Show, but have withheld confirming details to the public in order to work up a list of activities yachters and their families will participate in when they arrive.

Additional legs of the journey will travel to Petersburg and Juneau.

The schedule of events is designed to allow participants to opt out of some events and participate in others, and flexibility may be crucial to allowing yachters weary from a multi-day trek along the coast of British Columbia.

Other planned activities include a bird walk, a golf tournament, a barbecue dinner, and tours of the city. The list of activities is drawn for a rough schedule provided to the Sentinel, but officials caution an exact schedule for the event – and many other details – may be subject to change.

“There’s a lot still to do, but that’s roughly sort of the schedule,” said borough economic development officer Carol Rushmore. “It’s always subject to change.”

The event is good news for local businesses, which will play host not only to the yachters themselves, but also to the families of yachters, who often fly up to the official endpoint to meet the yachts as they come in, Rushmore said.

“If you have people flying in, if you have people even in the boats, they’re going to be paying harbor fees, they’re going to be paying hotel fees, they’re going to be eating in the restaurants, they’re going to be taking tours, absolutely it’s an economic boost,” she said.

Leslie Cummings, a member of the WCVB board, said she saw the rally as a valuable opportunity.

“I think we’re going to have to work together as a team,” she said. “I think it’s a great way to showcase our amazing community.”

Officials hope visitors will take a positive impression of Wrangell and spread it far and wide, including a by-then installed 300-ton boat lift at the Marine Services Center, and aspects of Native Alaskan culture provided by the Wrangell Cooperative Association.

Cummings mentioned the Chief Shakes rededication as a comparative event, though attendance at the Salty Dog Rally will likely be much smaller.

“We’re excited,” she said. “It’s all potential.”