Getting To Prince William Sound
Crossing the Gulf of Alaska might sound daunting but think about it like this.
Almost Every boat over 30’ in the harbors of Southcentral Alaska got here on their own bottoms. A few hundred boats, and they all made it.
Your boat can make it here as well... with a little planning and patience.
The Gulf Of Alaska is open ocean, no better, and no worse than any other open ocean that many or most of us enjoy already.
The only real challenge is the two rather long open ocean runs you have to make.
Coming north you will leave protected waters at the western entrance to Cross Sound. Here you will find a unique Alaskan Village called Elfin Cove. This is a must see town. The entire town is built on a boardwalk surrounding a large lagoon where the inner harbor is located.
I am not a fan of the inner harbor. That is because the entrance is extremely narrow and is only passable at high slack tide. The outer “harbor” really consists of a approx 150’ long dock and a fuel dock. The times I have been there I have found a spot on the long dock to tie up. This is very protected but if memory serves it has no power available.
You have to spend a day at Elfin Cove, just wandering around. This is where you wait for the weather for your first part of the gulf.
I like to make the run from Elfin Cove directly to Yakutat. The distance is about 150NM so plan to leave early so that you can make it to Yakutat in daylight if possible. The run is pretty much to the North, making it fairly easy since most of the time the wind and waves will be from the south or east.
Yakutat bay is Huge, and the town has a pretty nice little harbor. The only challenge is that the harbor is a cove over from the main town. We found it easier to take the skiff to town than walk. There is a cab service in Yakutat, and a couple of stores, and resturauants. There is fuel available as well, and you will probably need to fill up.
Yakutat is the jumping off point for your big Gulf Crossing. This is 220 NM with no where to go so watch your weather carefully. This is a much more east to west crossing than you imagine, and much of the time you will be dealing with a beam sea, so really watch your weather. No good will come from getting in a hurry.
On a nice day I like to plan on leaving at dawn. At 8 knots this puts you back in protected waters approx 27 hours later. In a flat day this is a Fantastic trip. Choose wrong on your departure and it can be pure hell, just like any other ocean crossing. No better, no worse.
Once you enter Hinchinbrook Entrance you are home free. You can rest up at either Garden Cove, Or Zycoff Bay and start exploring.
If you need fuel the closest place is Cordova. I am not such a fan of Cordova’s fuel dock but I love the little town. If you need parts I found one of the best supplied marine hardware stores i have ever seen in Cordova. This is the home of the Copper River Red Salmon fishing fleet. These Red Salmon are sought after World Wide.
Next post... if there is interest is how to navigate around Prince William Sound and local weather.
