Akaska Cruising Guide

T

tomtom1941

New member
I'm planning to order the Waggoner Cruising Guide for Washington and BC. Does anyone have a suggestion for the best guide for Alaska.

Particularly interested in marinas in Alaska where I might stay for a week or longer and places to park the truck and trailer.

TomTom
 
The best all around guide to Alaska, is "Exploring SE Alaska, by Don Douglass and Reanne Hemmingway Douglas. This is a very detailed guide. (They also put out a large scale chart for planning). For harbor details, Charlie's Charts of Alaska, give the best actual harbor detail.
Rather than Waggner's guide, consider Northwest Boat travel, which includes SE Alaska.

As for trailering--you are best going to Prince Rupert and parking there. You need to have a secure place to leave the truck and trailer in a locked compound. (The fellow I used, has a lot out by the fuel depot outside of town).

Marinas, are for the most part state or city owned. There is a large amount of turnover, and often there is hot slipping, since local boat's slips are assigned to visitors--or end ties are used.

Cities would be Ketchekan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Sitka. There are also slips available at Hoona, Elfin cove, and many of the smaller villages, have floats, but generally they frown on some one tying up there for weeks.

Unless you are taking the truck and trailer on a ferry, I would not consider taking the rig to Alaska. You can drive on Prince of Whales Island, but that is fairly limiting--best to put in a Prince Rubert and boat the rest of the way.

If you are willing to pay postage, I would loan you my Douglas Guide, Charllie's charts and a 2009 NorthWest Boating. My Wagoneer and Milepost are a few years older, but for the most part still valid. I left a nunber of cruising guides with Paul Priest of Sequim for C Brats to use, covering the san Juans, Gulf Islands, and Vancouver Island to the Broughtons. Contact Paul to see about borrowing those books (about a dozen or so).
 
Agree with Bob on his guide choices and would add to it "Marine Atlas" Volume 2, Port Hardy to skagway, published by Bayless Enterprises, Inc.

Prince Rupert is ideal for trailering to and then starting cruise north though personally between there and Skagway I prefer Skagway and going south. Have been both ways.

The best route planning map of the area between Prince Rupert, Canada and Skagway, Alaska that I have found is The Inside Passage", Route Planning Map, North Portion published by FineEdge.com Anacortas, Washington. They also make the best cruising-planning map that I could find of the Prince William Sound, Alaska.
 
Last summer I found that the indoor parking I had always used in Prince Rupert, at the Philpott-Evitt Do-It Center, was no longer being offered.

North Coast Pacific Mini-Storage offers indoor parking for truck and trailer. Worked well for me in 2009.

http://northcoaststorage.com/


Jay, what sort of parking/storage for truck/trailer is there in Skagway?
 
Richard,

The Skagway Marina Harbormaster let us store our truck and trailer in the Marina's fenced and locked storage yard for $50 a month.

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Know several have expressed concerns about the run up and down The Lynn Canal if launching out of Skagway or Haines. I look forward to its beauty every run and think the Dixon Entrance to be a much fiercer dragon. Of course the road trip to Skagway is much longer with some wilderness stretches where a vehicle break down towing a boat could be a problem, but most anywhere on the boat exploring the Inland Passage is going to be worse if a serious mishap or break down occurs.

Richard's post reminded me about his cruise book "Cruising in a Big Way" which would be an excellent guide choice along with the others mentioned. His would be especially useful for someone with a small boat like our C-Dory's who are making their first extended cruise in this area.
 
Richard, trailer and truck storage is available in Skagway at the City lot near Skagway harbor. The harbor master is Matt (907) 983-2628.

It is getting kind of late in the year to get ferry reservations. They do book up quickly in and around the summer. You can drive to either Skagway or Prince Rupert.

There is no problem with Lynn Canal, with the same precautions as anywhere in AK. Skagway is about 65 miles from Auke Bay (Juneau), from there you could head toward Cross Sound (Elfin Cove, Pelican), or head down toward Tenakee. It would be easy to fish/cruise the entire season in either north or south SE Alaska.

I concur with the guides mentioned. If you trailer up the Alcan then the Milepost is valuable. There are quite a few large lakes in Canada as well.

If you are traveling by ferry you could book with layovers at the various stops and then reboard and go to the next.
 
tomtom1941":6cfdyvp2 said:
I'm planning to order the Waggoner Cruising Guide for Washington and BC. Does anyone have a suggestion for the best guide for Alaska.

Particularly interested in marinas in Alaska where I might stay for a week or longer and places to park the truck and trailer.

TomTom
Click to expand...

What's a marina?

But seriously,

Most coastal towns have a boat harbor, larger towns or cities will have a Harbor Master. During the summer in South Central Alaska most harbors are full to over flowing with boats. Best bet is to call ahead and talk with the Harbor Masters office in the city you plan on visiting. What will most likely occur is you will be assigned transient docking, and this could change daily depending of the harbor.

I only know of a couple of private marines around the state, and they are not set up for travelers; the slips are purchased outright. I have never spent a night tied to dock other than on a commercial fishing boat, we prefer to spend the night swinging on the hook in some secluded cove or bay.

Not that familiar with South East Alaska’s harbors, but most lickly they will have a friendly Harbor Masters office who can tell you best place to park or tie up, how much it will cost, etc, etc,..

If you make it to Anchorage PM or email me, I have room on the street where you can park for a few days while you take in the sights around Anchorage.

BTY, been knocking around these parts for close to 44 years.
 
Other than getting the guides mentioned, I would Google search on the names of the towns in SE Alaska with the word 'harbor' in the search. Like 'Skagway harbor' . You can then build your own 'cruising guide'.

As mentioned, most of the docking facilities are operated by the municipalitys and have transient moorage available on a 'first come' basis. If a town doesn't have a dedicated guest float, they will put you in a local's slip while he is out of town. There are many fishing boats in SE that are often out fishing during the summer, so their slips are available. The Ketchikan harbor master told me he has never turned anyone away in the summer.

If all berths are full, then you might have to raft up to another boat on the dock. This can be common in some crowded harbors. While power is usually available, sometimes its not. Bring a long cord, perhaps a 50 to 100ft 12-3 120 volt extension cord and any adapters you might need to connect to your 30amp boat cord.
Also, bring your own drinking water safe hose, perhaps 50 ft.

Most harbors have good water, but beware of Craig!
Carry enough fenders to have good sized fenders on both sides of your boat.
 
To add to Larry's post, we carried a particulate (not chlorine carbon filter) filter to remove any particles in the water--cheap and easy to make.

We never called ahead for a slip in SE Alaska in the 5 summers we have cruised that area. A few times we had to use the floating breakwater in Auke Bay, but the rest of the time, we got slips. Sometimes the slips we were assigned were full, and we had to radio back to the harbor master and get a re-assignment.

As for rafting in the Cal 46 we rafted in the commercial harbor a number of times. We found the fishermen to be very friendly--and often they would slip the lines and tie us to the dock when they left early in
AM without disturbing our sleep.

Anchoring is not always practical in the areas of the larger towns. The smaller boats seem to demand more frequent visits to grocery stores and replentishing the water (and fuel).
 
Yes I do have what he left here after his last trip. The Dr Bob library of PNW to Alaska info.

E-mail as Paul suggests or a PM on this works well too.

Harvey
SleeepyC :moon
 
Prince Rupert is a good jumping off place to leave a truck and trailer. I have left my rig at the propane place and in the lot across from the native fuel station (Ben Palmer, I believe) coming into town. When crossing the border be sure to tell the officals that you are going to fish in Prince Rupert, don't mention your going to Alaska (some weird rules about leaving your rig in Canada). I meet some boaters a couple years back that were warned not to leave a rig in Canada and boat into AK. Under threat of a $10,000 fine they went all the way to Scagway. I just say that I'm going fishing and leave it at that.

I traveled around in my 22 CD for years and never had problems mooring. The past three years I have been traveling in a 26 ft Allweather. Boats our size can always fit in, you would run into problems if you are 32 ft and up. I left my boat for ten days last summer to attend a wedding. Just ask the harbormaster and leave your contact info on the window. I left a twelve pack and a thank you note in his truck and my stock rose the rest of the summer.

Two notes on crossing the Dixon. First, don't run in front of the US side while a big ebb is running. You don't want to do this in the afternoon with the wind and swell coming the other way - I have and paid. Second, coming back leave Ketchikan the evening before and run out to Hassler Harbor about 12 miles the direction you go anyway. Little guys like us can anchor behind the island and the explosives barge has been gone for a few years. The next morning you will miss the cruise ship parade in Tongass Narrows and you'll be on the Dixon at daybreak and in Rupert in plenty of time for happy hour. You'll have a good look at the conditions within ten minutes of leaving the anchorage.

Enjoy! I love Southeast so much that I leave my boat in Craig so that I can spend more time boating SE.

Shawn
 
A fourth option as a jumping off place in SE Alaska after Prince Rupert, Skagway and Haines is Stewart/Hyder. These are sister cities at the head of Portland canal (a fjord). Stewart is the Canadian side, and Hyder in Alaska. Not sure if there is any advantage to it, but it is an option most people overlook. If you could find a secure spot to park your rig in Hyder, (I've never been, so I don't know) that would eliminate any problems from the Canadians about leaving it in Canada. I think it's about 75 miles down Portland Canal to Skagway. I've always wanted to visit the place.

That Allweather is a great little boat. Wish they still made them.

Jim
 
I find the $10,000 fine story hard to believe though I don't doubt Shawn was told it. If true would be the only reason for me to think of launching out of Hyder. Hyder is a extremely small town with no boat launch that we saw. I think you could find a place to store vehicle in Stewart and know they have a good launch, but you sure haven't beat the possibility of fine if true. Also the distance down the Portland Canal is about 95 miles and a total of 155 to Ketchikan and that's with taking the Pierce Canal shortcut verses approximately 95 from Prince Rupert to Ketchikan. Also the Portland Canal can be an extremely windy channel with even fewer spots to seek refuge for small boats than the Lynn Canal. The only positive that I could come up with on choosing the Portland Canal for a trip north is not having to cross its mouth during the Dixon crossing which can be its roughest section. After looking over Stewart and Hyder on a trip north in 2001 towing a RIB we considered it for our launch for our 2004 C-Dory Cruise and after thorough review opted for Prince Rupert instead.

We have learned to just say "headed to Alaska" when making a Canada Border crossing to its northwest. The only serious grilling we have endured was during a 2002 trip north with plans for exploring lakes and rivers in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Brought the shotgun along for bears and in its registration process was harangued for over 30 minutes over what would happen to us if we used the shotgun in self defence against humans and a general diatribe on the evils of the U.S.

On a road trip north do highly recommend Stewart/Hyder for a visit.

Jay
 
One more thought: You could trailer to Prince Rupert and load the trailer/truck on the ferry to another port, like Skagway, and then boat in one direction. Arrangements could probably be made to take the truck/trailer off at the destination port.
 
Ihave been to Hyder/Stewart by RV--and it is a great destination. I just camped on the river and watched the bears. But, I didn't see any place where it looked secure to leave the boat. It is further to trailer the boat than Prince Rupert--and I personally chose Prince Rupert as a launching place last summer.

We told the Canadian Customs we were going to Prince Rupert, and lanuch there to go to Alaksa--no problem at all. This was last summer!

The ferry trip ONE WAY from Prince Rupert to Skagway with 2 adults, and a 50 foot rig (which many trucks and C Dory 22 add up to (consider the trailer tongue, and outboard hanging over the end)--comes to about $2300+. Round trip I believe is double this--and limited sailings, plus reservations would be essential for this long a rig. This price did not include a cabin on the ferry--and that would add a few hundred more dollars. I would rather spend much less than this on fuel, and enjoy the ride in the C Dory!
 
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