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colbysmith



Joined: 02 Oct 2011
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:56 pm    Post subject: 2019 Inside Passage Reply with quote

Ok, I know we are just in the second day of 2017, so 2018 is a year off. LOL. However, I am giving some serious consideration to an Inland Passage cruise during the summer of 2018. And I suspect a little more planning needs to go into such a cruise. Thus, starting this thread now. Don't know if it will even happen. But if it does, maybe there are others that would be interested in joining with their boats. Thought also this would just be a good thread to start sharing ideas, information, suggestions for such a cruise. Things like where to even start, where to end, time frames, etc. I'm suspecting this isn't one I can do in the usual week or two. In fact, I suspect it would take at least a month, and that's just one way. So my first thoughts are consider at least a month, and then figure out how to ship the boat back. Or plan two months. Or maybe 3. Likely June-August being the ideal months. Also, likely my wife wouldn't be able to take that much vacation at one time, so what airports are available for her to fly in and out of along the passage. Anyway, just going to sit back and see what others say, and continue to contemplate the feasibility of doing this on occasion between 2017 travels! Smile Colby

Note on edit: The trip has been reset for 2019. You can see the update here on page 7 of this thread. Thanks.
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colbysmith



Joined: 02 Oct 2011
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just some other links here on C-Brats that provide some good information:

http://www.starpath.com/insidepassage/

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=16718

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?p=78209&sid=3aea491975cf625c47b38ee987e0f682

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=17331

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=16686
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NewMoon



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Colby,

If you could swing it, I would certainly suggest more than a month. Even with two or three months, we find that picking either BC or SE Alaska is preferable to trying to see the whole Inside Passage. Too many miles, too many beautiful places you have to pass by, not enough time to enjoy being there.

To do just SE Alaska, tow to Prince Rupert - Ketchikan is 83 nm from there. We have often done that, and met our first guest crew in Ketchikan.

There are many places to rendezvous from Puget Sound on up to Port Hardy, but few on the BC north coast between there and Ketchikan. Bella Bella and Prince Rupert have decent airports. Not to dis BC, but we generally find meeting up in SE Alaska to be more convenient. Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Gustavus, and Sitka have jet service, and are easy meeting points. Smaller planes or float planes can take you from one of those airports to Hoonah, Haines, Skagway, Craig, and many even smaller places.

Our guest crew usually spends at least two weeks. Three's better. Vagaries of weather make one-week trips either limited in scope, or chancy.

Depending on your priorities (fishing? glaciers? etc) and time available, I could help you noodle through a zillion different route plans that we have done at one time or another. Holler if you'd like to talk.

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colbysmith



Joined: 02 Oct 2011
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Richard. Almost sounds like just taking a month or two in SE Alaska would be great. Mostly just looking to cruise and enjoy the scenery. This past September we went on our first Alaskan Cruise with Princess Tours. Departed Vancover, and after 7 days ended up in Whittier, then another 5 days on land. I was based in the Coast Guard in Kodiak for a year some time ago, and enjoyed flying around the state. Have also driven the ALCAN twice. Would be nice to throw a crab ring in the water now and then, and maybe do some fishing for Salmon. But any fishing would be secondary. BTW, I'd love to see some of your "Route plans", just for ideas. Colby

Last edited by colbysmith on Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:43 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Salmon Fisher



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the links, it is interesting to read about Sam Landsman's first trip up on his 22. Now, just a short 6 years later, he is an expert after at least 5 trips up and back! He also has his new website:
www.slowboat.com
in which he has webinars on the trip.
Very interesting, my first trip up will probably be towing to Prince Rupert and then cruising to SE AK that way.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying reading about planning. For us to go to Desolation or Broughtons, we would probably go on BC ferry to Nanaimo and then tow to Campbell River for Desolation or tow to Port Hardy for Broughtons.

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thataway



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 6:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would agree that do a Prince Rupert Launch. Do a "Loop" Trip. Yes, doing a lot of homework helps. There are several good guide books, just read those for starters. Get one of the large maps and mark out. Read the different Brats adventures. When I see you next, I can share the material form 5 trips to SE.

Flight in--best to Juneau--and you can make a week or two weeks loop out of there. Ketchikan would be my second "fly" place. Sitka would be my 3rd choice of fly in places. We have had several "guests" get a sea plane and drop off near our boat, either pickup with the dinghy or a float dock.

Experience in small boat is far different than cruise liner--and much better!

If buying one book, get the Exploring SE Akaska

The current edition of Wagoner guide is essential. A set of tide and current tables (App will do). And at least the I pad Navionics, plus the Garmin/active Captain app., More recently Active Captain has a number of good entries by locals, and frequent cruisers.

We spent a month in the C Dory25--but had four 6 months trips under our belts in the Cal 46.

I would make the lower part of the Inland passage a separate summer. Again you can do a loop--taking several months. I would even consider several summers.
For example inner aspects on the way up, l then out to the Queen Charolettes and around them, back down to the outside of Vancouver Island. We spent a month in the Queen Charolette Islands alone...

I think there is a lifetime of adventures, and you still might not see everything--some of the best cruising in the world.

Have fun.

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ssobol



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I first saw the title of this post I thought someone was describing some new place to voyage.
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hardee



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PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Colby,

Dozens of (probably), different ways to do that trip. Some start right from the Friday Harbor CBGT in mid May. Coming from as far away as you are, and if you are planning on doing the whole trip on the water, that could make sense.

Another option would be to tow up Vancouver Island and launch from the north end if you want the open water crossing experiences, and skip the traffic in Desolation and western Broughtons. I would highly recommend Telegraph Cove on the Building 29 side for a good launch, secure parking (pay but safe and checked), and a ramp with a dock and a washdown deck. Easy access to provisioning in Campbell River on the way up, and fuel and a free camp spot at Mid Island Co-op at Sayward Junction, or it is just a hop and skip past the turn off to TC on to Port McNiel.

Keep in mind that during the summer time, the BC ferries have traditionally had price reductions for oversize/over-length loads on certain days and hours. Up to about a 50% savings so it is worth going that route on their chosen days.

The towing to Prince Rupert also seems a very logical way to go to SE AK. Saves a very big chunk of boat running time up the BC coast and will give more time in the real SE AK.

I have not been up there in my boat, but have been up to the North End of Vancouver Island the last two years. There are places in the Broughtons you can go where you don't see other boats. You can find remote, but sometimes you have to go to the ends of some long inlets. Remote has been my goal, so going farther north has not been a huge draw for me. Single handing, I still like to be where I could back to some service within a day or so.

Enjoy your planning and your trip.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon


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Hunkydory



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PostPosted: Tue Jan 03, 2017 3:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Colby,

Another option, is the one we prefer & that's to trailer up to Skagway & head south instead of trailering to Prince Rupert & cruising north. We made the cruise north from Prince Rupert in 2004 & so know personally both are good, but Skagway's less congestion, easy long term safe truck & trailer storage & being nearer to the SE Alaska waters we prefer to cruise, makes the longer rode trip, which we also enjoy, the better of the options for us.

Every couple of years we debate & even have done several times, the planning necessary to do the complete cruise of the Inland Passage up & back from the Seattle area, but every time so far, the quicker, less expensive option to the areas we love that are north of Petersburg, Alaska have prevailed.

I won't go into detail here as to what places we most prefer, as that has been covered thoroughly in my individual write ups of all the cruises, we have made in SE Alaska, but will gladly share with you all the information I can, if asked specific questions here, by PM or telephone. If like you, I had never before cruised SE Alaska & yet was making plans to do so, then by happenstance, I ran across the equivilant of the write ups of the cruises we have made there, I would think it a gold mine of information. There is much valuable information to be gained by studying the standard cruising guides, but these though excellent are not geared for a 22 foot cruising boat, so reading all the threads in the Grand Adventure Forum having to do with the Inland Passage & SE Alaska are some of the best planning information to be found.

This summer we are making plans for a rode trip to Newfoundland, but we do plan on being back to SE Alaska, most likely by launching again out of Skagway in 2018, so hope to see you there.

Jay

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colbysmith



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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2017 5:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Jay, Just back to daydreaming about 2018 again. lol. (Even though I'm getting excited for the c-dory gatherings and cruise on the St. John's River and on the California Delta, and hopefully some personal time on the Trent Severn, all this summer.) Just coming back to this thread and wondering if you put in at Skagway, did you go any further north, or did you cruise all the way down to Prince Rupert? Quite a bit of threads to read thru regarding cruising in Alaska, but what kind of itenerary did you follow from Skagway, and where were some of your favorite places to pull in to? Colby
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Hunkydory



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Colby, As you probably know, there isn't a water way going north from Skagway, the furthest north town on the Inland Passage, unless one goes south from there & out Cross Sound to the Pacific. From Cross Sound it's near 400 miles of open ocean to Cordova in Prince William Sound with only the port of Yakatat, 150 miles north of Cross Sound in between. We have not done so, but have considered going north the 45 miles from Cross Sound to Lituya Bay, the site of the largest megatsunami ever recorded, 1720 feet high, which occurred in 1958. So far the 45 miles of isolated open water with the small bay opening, that has to be timed perfectly with slack tide in a 22 foot boat seems perhaps a step to high.

From Prince Rupert, we have gone as far north as Juneau & from Skagway as far South as Petersburg. Our one month trip in 2003 was a combination of the Yukon River & Lakes in British Columbia & Yukon Territory with only about a week on the ocean out of Skagway. That year our first in a CD22, we made it down the Lynn Canal past Juneau & tried to go up the Taku River. In 2004 it was another month long trip this time launching out of Prince Rupert & going as far north as Juneau. In 2007, we launched again out of Skagway for a month & it was our first trip exploring the outside wilderness waters of Chichagof Island. Our trips in 2010, 2012, 2015 & 2016 were all between 2 & 3 months & all out of Skagway. All of our cruises were made solo except for 2015, when we made most of it with Brent & Dixie with them in their 25.5 CD Tomcat. We have have now cruised for just under 11000 miles between Prince Rupert & Skagway with the majority of those miles north of Petersburg. We prefer the SE Alaska waters from Fredrick Sound north, which includes the Islands of Admiralty, Baranof, Chichagof & Yacobi & the mainland side of Stephens Passage, which includes, Fords Terror & Tracy & Endicott arms of Holkum Bay with their tidal glaciers. Sitka is our favorite large town & Pelican, small. In these waters of SE Alaska when away from the larger town & to a degree even there, the working boats will out number the pleasure cruisers & unlike much of BC, houses & lodges along the shorelines away from towns a rarity.

Our itinerary was always to explore & see the more remote areas with time around towns & the main passages between them, only mainly used, when needed for renewing supplies, though we both enjoy also learning of the history of this area & seeing the life style of the more remote towns. Perhaps it is a chicken or the egg kinda of thing, but I have spent many hours on the phone going through details with others, who were making cruise plans for SE Alaska & found it easiest to provide what was desired if most came after they read, both the cruising guides & write ups, so a base of knowledge of the area was established first. This link, which is also shared at the bottom of my C-Brat post, shows on a detailed map the tracks & anchorages of most of our 2015 & 2016 cruises out of Skagway. https://share.delorme.com/JuliusByers

These are the links to all our SE Alaska written reports.

2003- http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=7717

2004- http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=3243

2007- http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=6392

2010- http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=13945

2012- http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=17853

2015- http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=23008

2016- http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=24092

Favorite towns Pelican, Elfin Cove, Hoonah, Port Alexander & Sitka. Favorite bays. Gut, Red Bluff, Takatz, Warm Springs, Gambier, Pleasant & Holkham. Favorite areas. The combination of Icy Strait, Cross Sound & Lisianski Strait & Inlet, West Coast of Chichagof Island, East coast of Baranof Island, lower half of Admiralty Island, Port Fredrick & Hoonah Sound. Favorite hot springs is Baranof Hot Springs in Warm Springs Bay & White Sulfur Hot Springs on west side of Chichagof Island.

Hope this helps, at least some places to consider.

Jay
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colbysmith



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Jay. Definitely gives me more to think about. I haven't really taken much of a look at the area yet. (Still doing a lot of planning for this summer's trips.) My plans for the Inland Passage were to have two months available for exploring. Listening to others, decided it best to just do the north part or south part (as in SE ALaska, or BC.) After doing the Alaska Cruise on Princess Cruises this past September, and from past USCG experience flying the C130 out of Kodiak, figure SE Alaska would be my preference. I was assuming I could do the entire area between Skagway and Prince Rupert with those two months. I think my wife would have to join me for 2 or 3 weeks each of the two months. (She's still working.) While I enjoy scenery, I also enjoy taking in some of the towns. So I think I would be more prone to use marinas at night, with only anchoring in very protected waters part of the time. I'll have to sit down with the charts sometime soon and look at your blogs and see where some of those towns fall. I could see an itenerary that takes us to various towns along with some anchorages in between. Wondering about cruising into Glacier Bay as well. Colby
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NewMoon



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Colby,

If you send me your email address, I could send you our list of SE AK anchorages we've developed over 15 trips. With charts and the Douglass cruising guide, could keep you busy reading for a while. We've stayed in most, but not all, of these anchorages, and all the towns/marinas mentioned. Page numbers are from the Douglass Exploring series cruising guides.

When we started cruising the PNW we would study charts and cruising guides together, and write down anchorages we thought would be useful. With experience, we added brief comments on some, when we thought there was something worth remembering that was not necessarily in the cruising guide. Anchorages without comments may be ones we have not yet used, or ones where no additional comment seemed necessary.

They are listed roughly in the sequence you might come upon them as you travel. When we're deciding where to go next, we often look at the lists rather than hauling out the cruising guide. Makes it easy to select the day's destination, and to have in mind a few places along the way where we might bail out, if weather begins to be a problem.


PS: I'm still working on notes about various routes we've taken.

You mentioned Glacier Bay. If you haven't yet seen the section in my book about GB, here it is (pretty much still accurate, I think):


For many cruisers a visit to Glacier Bay is a lifetime goal. Sitting right in front of a tidewater glacier in your own little boat, watching 100-200 foot chunks of ice calving into the sea, is an experience never to be forgotten. And critter-watching is super.

Chart: http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/17318.shtml

Cruising Glacier Bay is no trivial undertaking. It is a very big place, and with its huge snow-covered mountains has some of the most challenging weather in Southeast. Distances are great, anchorages are few, and there are several restrictions.

Only 25 boats are allowed in Glacier Bay at a time, and you need an entry permit. Many cruisers make reservations ahead of time, and then find that weather or other difficulties make their schedule unworkable. From our experience, the best way to get a permit may be waiting to call Park HQ at Bartlett Cove until you’re close by (say at Hoonah or in Icy Strait), and the forecast for the next few days looks reasonable. For best odds, call right at 6 AM (they’re open 6 AM - 10:30 PM) on either (907) 697-2627 or VHF 12. Chances are fairly good that a cancellation has freed up a permit, and you can take advantage of it if you’re nearby and ready. If no permit is available, ask again later – they don’t mind.

You’ll need a minimum of two days in Glacier Bay to make it to and from the Margerie Glacier. The Margerie, at the top of Glacier Bay some 60 miles from the entrance, is a spectacular and active calving glacier. You can get fairly close to its face, some 200-300 feet high. On the way north, the Lamplugh and Johns Hopkins glaciers are spectacular as well. With a third or fourth day, you could see quite a bit more, at a less frantic pace, and have better odds of dealing with uncooperative weather.

To start your Glacier Bay excursion, stop in at Park HQ and attend an orientation on do’s and don’ts. As of 2008 the lecture was given only at pre-scheduled times, so you’ll want to plan your first day accordingly. You might try entering the park very early, calling Bartlett Cove to check in when you cross the boundary. Tie up at the float, and catch the 8AM orientation (bring your National Geographic map of the Bay so you can see details). With good weather, you should be able to make it a good part of the way north, to an anchorage at North Sandy Cove, Blue Mouse Cove, or in front of the glacier in Reid Inlet.

Parts of the bay are considered whale waters, where boat speed is limited to 13 knots. Even with a fast boat, you’ll find that first day pretty full, getting through the entry process and on to an anchorage, unless you anchor right there in Bartlett Cove (the float’s limited to a three-hour stay, except for dinghies). If you do anchor in Bartlett Cove, be aware that it’s open to the west, and can get pretty lumpy in a west wind. You could also anchor at Fingers Bay without traveling too far – but remember to enter very carefully.

From North Sandy, Blue Mouse, or Reid, you could head north the next morning, spend 2-4 hours at the Margerie Glacier, and come back south to anchor again. As you slowly approach the glacier through fields of bergy bits, keep a sharp lookout for small ones called “growlers”, only a foot or a few feet long, and often nearly clear. These weigh more than you might guess, and can give your boat or your prop quite a thump. The smaller ones make great ice for the cooler.

If you get back to Bartlett Cove for your last evening, and are out of permit days, the following morning you can call and obtain a “transit permit” to leave the park that day.

If the weather sounds intimidating, or you’re able to get only one or two permit days, a nice way to see Glacier Bay is the Fairweather Express tour boat, operated by the park lodge.
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thataway



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Colby,
We have made 5 trips to Alaska--4 in the slow Cal 46, lasting from April to Oct. In those 4 trips we always went from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan, as a point to check in to AK. Coming back, we checked into Canada at Prince Rupert. There is no other practical option.

Trailering the C Dory, to Prince Rupert and then checking into AK at Ketchikan seemed to be the shortest trailering distance, and maximizing the time on the water in AK. for us. That trip was only a month--and it was revisiting most of places we had enjoyed before. There is no way anyone can "do" Alaska in a month--even in a fast boat. That trip included one of our favorite settlements and coves: Myer's Chuck, and Thorne Bay, favorite fishing holes at Pybus cove after Petersberg, then up to Ford's Terror, then to Juneau. As I recollect, we went on to Hoonah, then up the arms of Dundas, to Elfin Cove, Pelican, then outside, as Jay has gone several times (not sure I would suggest this for a first time AK trip, however--we had done it before in the Cal--and taken almost a month in this area.)--to Sitka, back up thru Nevis and Peril Strait, hitting a few coves including Takatz Bay, and Baranof Warm Springs, on Chatham Strait, to Red Bluff Bay, Then up to Kake, thru Rocky pass, and down the outside of Prince of Wales, eventually back to Prince Rupert.

The point is that there are so many great places--we always made it a loop--but for us--Prince Rupert was the entry point to Canada, even when we went to the queen Charlottes.--considerably out of the way....I would put Glacier Bay on the list of places for the first timer, but many feel that Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm is in some ways a better experience...

I cannot argue with Jay, that some of the best scenery is up North, and there can be loops made with just the Northern part--and many great places to be seen. I still think Ford's Terror is one of our favorite places. Spent a week there one time--only one other boat came in for one night..(But there are challenges!--range of the C Dory, deep anchoring, and the entrance. (which can be fun, once you lean it).

Get the guide books and read about all of the different places, and then plan the 5 to 6 summers that it will take to really "do"--the full extent of the inland passage.
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NewMoon



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2017 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A few notes on various ways to wander around SE Alaska:

In our trailer cruisers, we like to start by launching in Prince Rupert, head through Venn Passage and then NW past Green Island to the NE corner of Dundas Island. If weather is deteriorating, we might stop for the night in Brundige Inlet. If not, we cross into AK waters, and usually stop for the night in Foggy Bay. The key to a peaceful crossing of the Dixon Entrance is avoiding wind against tidal current. Ebbs there can be very strong, and opposed by a west wind they can kick up really unpleasant waves.

Then on to Ketchikan to check in with US Customs, and load up with fuel, supplies, groceries, etc. Restrictions on which food items can be brought across the border have convinced us not to take much fresh food with us through BC, and Ketchikan’s Safeway is a good place to stock up for food and alcohol. Easy walk from Bar Harbor marina.

From Ketchikan we might head for Meyers Chuck, and then on through Zimovia Strait and Wrangell Narrows to Petersburg (one of our favorite towns). Along the way we might stop at Anan Creek (if the salmon are running, maybe early July or later) where we can watch (close up) black and brown bears catching salmon as they try to make it up a rocky falls.

Another interesting route in the southern half on SE AK is to work our way from Ketchikan up and around the top of Prince of Wales Island to the west, turn south at Point Baker, sneak into El Capitan Passage through Dry Pass, and on down to Craig and Hydaburg. Craig’s a neat small town, more like AK in the older days - unaffected by cruise ships - and very good fishing in the neighborhood. The west side of PofW is little traveled by cruisers. We’re quite fond of that whole area.

Heading north and west from Petersburg, we have to choose whether to go up Stephens Passage toward Juneau, or continue SW in Frederick Sound, around the south end of Admiralty Island. The gorgeous fjord and glaciers of the Tracy Arm are in Holkham Bay along Stephens, and also Ford’s Terror and the Dawes glacier in Holkham's Endicott Arm. Taku Harbor is a nice stop south of Juneau.

Heading further west in Frederick Sound, we could turn south and poke through Rocky Pass (careful!) and on down to Craig that way, or continue over to Chatham Strait and the east side of Baranof Island. There we’d find Warm Springs Bay (Baranof) and several other lovely coves, both north and south of Frederick Sound.

Turning north in Chatham Strait, we could go through Peril Strait to Sitka (another fave – a very nice larger town, with lots of history), or we could continue north in Chatham to meet the eastern end of Icy Strait.

Heading for Sitka, before making the turn to the SW in Peril Strait, we often continue NW into Hoonah Sound, where the shrimping and crabbing are great, and brown bears sometimes with three cubs appear. Few cruisers make it to one of our favorite anchorages at Half Tide Neck.

As Jay has mentioned, another out-there route is from Salisbury Sound up the west side of Chichagof Island toward Cross Sound. Very remote, neat anchorages, fine fishing, no cruise ships, very few cruisers. When you get to Lisianski Strait, you can turn in there and stop at Pelican, or go outside of Yakobi Island and come into Cross Sound that way. Dynamite salmon fishing on the outside of Yakobi.

South from Sitka on the Baranof Island west coast many inlets offer anchorage. Like the west side of Chichagof, the west side of Baranof is exposed to weather.

Cross Sound is often exposed as well. At its eastern edge there’s anchorage down in Port Althorp (brown bears), and Elfin Cove, a neat little community that offers a bombproof cove with state floats to tie up to on the inside, if the outside float is full. The Inian Islands divide Cross Sound from Icy Strait, and offer a very nice anchorage at Mosquito Pass cove, another fave that few cruisers find. Near the open water, and also near the rocks where zillions of sea lions hang out, but very well protected. Just north is Dundas Bay, part of Glacier Bay National Park, but with far less traffic, and minus the Glacier Bay restrictions.

On the south side of Icy Strait, Idaho Inlet is a good anchorage if you’re careful about the rapidly sloping shelf where the river deposits. Sea otters like Idaho Inlet (and many other places more toward the outside). East of Idaho Inlet is Mud Bay, a somewhat open anchorage, but scenic, and good if wind is from the south. Further east is Point Adolphus, just SE of the entrance to Glacier Bay, known for whale watching.

SE of Pt Adolphus is Port Frederick, and the town of Hoonah, where Tlingits living in Glacier Bay resettled when Glacier Bay filled with ice hundreds of years ago. Down in Port Frederick is Neka Bay, a pretty anchorage that is home to an astounding number of Dungeness crabs. Early summer crabbing there is often very good, like 4-6 (we once caught 11) big keepers in one pot, if the commercial folks haven’t yet wiped out most of the year’s population. There are often many hundreds of crab floats in Neka Bay, but you can set one or two if you look around carefully. Tidal current here is strong – often more influence than wind, turning you around when the tide changes.

On the north side of Icy Strait, east of Glacier Bay and Gustavus, there are good stops at the Excursion Inlet cannery float, and Swanson Harbor.

Following southern Lynn Canal north from Pt Couverden, you can round Pt Retreat and head down toward Auke Bay, a big marina in the Juneau Area. Downtown Juneau is about 10 miles away by road, but maybe 33 nm around Douglas Island by water. Harris Harbor there is the transient stop.

If you make it all the way up windy Lynn Canal toward Skagway, you might want to visit Haines. Less of a tourist trap, and many native artists creating carvings and such at the old army fort.

You can do any of these places in any number of loops, in various directions. We often loop around two or three times in a summer.

You do need to know what your fuel range is – there are some fairly long stretches between fuel stops. You can get to most places you'd want to go in a small boat if you can COMFORTABLY (with a good reserve to handle weather changes etc) go 140 nautical miles on a tank. If you have 200-300 NM range you have a lot more flexibility in your routes, but I don't think there's anywhere much more than 140 NM from a fuel stop. Many are a lot closer together than that.

One place which would take significantly longer range to get to is the fancy glaciers up at the end of the Tracy Arm, the entrance of which (assume at Tracy Arm Cove, the anchorage just inside Holkham Bay) is about 55 NM south from downtown Juneau, or 70 NM from Auke Bay. The run up to the glaciers from Tracy Arm Cove is 26 NM each way. So you'd need about 160-190 NM range, depending on where you start and end up.

Some of the other longest runs between fuel stops:

Petersburg-Juneau (downtown): 120 NM

Petersburg-Sitka: 153 NM, but you could stop for fuel at Angoon (some days) or Tenakee Springs (by going out of your way)

Auke Bay-Sitka (via Peril Strait): 131 NM

Hoonah-Sitka (via Peril Strait): 126NM

Glacier Bay, Bartlett Cove-Margerie Glacier and back: minimum about 130 NM, depending on where you anchor overnight.
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