View Poll Results: Want to cruise beyond SE Alaska?
Oh yea, sign me up! 16 32.00%
I want to, but kinda spooked 5 10.00%
I'm interested to learn more. 21 42.00%
I never considered it 7 14.00%
No way, are you crazy? Sounds miserable! 2 4.00%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 50. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 12-10-2020, 12:54 PM   #1
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Interest in cruising the rest of Alaska?

If you're interested in cruising farther than SE Alaska, we could start a thread here, and I'd be glad to do a live FB broadcast (no charge). I've spent 34 years (28 as Capt.) Driving a big trawler over entire state. All seasons, to the end of the Aleutians and 400 miles above the Arctic Circle. I had to make the N. Pacific crossing year round, Seattle to the Aleutians or Kodiak and back, more times than I can count. It's worth the effort to learn, to get familiar as there is no place like it...:-)
So, let me know, I will contribute what I know if it helps. I am used to doing live stuff as a public speaker.

If you have questions, fire away..:-)
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Old 12-10-2020, 01:21 PM   #2
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Interested but do not think it will happen.

Used to troll salmon in BC.
Have read Joe Upton's book "Alaska Blues" many times (128 counted) over the years, figure 145 to 150. Pick it up to refresh memory of something and wind up reading it right through again.

Give you ideas?

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Old 12-10-2020, 02:28 PM   #3
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I'm interested but sure I don't have the boat for it. Too many big windows and not enough fuel range. But just because I can't help myself from dreaming about it:
  • Routes and hidey holes
  • Passages that are too long to make on a 12 - 15 hr run at 7 - 8 kts
  • Weather, seasonally and what to look out for
  • Good sources of weather forecasts and info
  • Opportunities to refuel beyond SE Ak
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Old 12-10-2020, 02:51 PM   #4
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My comments are the same as Portage's. While I'm somewhat tantalized by going to Prince William Sound, SE AK is just so much easier in all respects. My crew also wouldn't buy into 300 miles of Gulf of Alaska running to get there, including at night. On this site, Alaska Prof, Kevin Sanders, and others either transit to or do their cruising in points beyond SE AK. I would enjoy reading about ventures to the northwest, including Kodiak Island and the Aleutians. If you established such a thread, I'd welcome it.
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Old 12-10-2020, 03:14 PM   #5
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Yes, I'd love to participate. We spend a month in PWS a couple of years ago, and plan to return, but might not make it this summer. We will see.
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Old 12-10-2020, 03:34 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Ken E. View Post
On this site, Alaska Prof, Kevin Sanders, and others either transit to or do their cruising in points beyond SE AK. I would enjoy reading about ventures to the northwest, including Kodiak Island and the Aleutians. If you established such a thread, I'd welcome it.

Once was enough...actually, just a bit more than enough, even in "mild" weather. I recall reaching Hinchinbrook Entrance at midnight on the second night and thinking, "Thank God I'll never have to do that again". ...and then realizing I'll have to do it again in a month.
44 hours westbound and 56 eastbound (overnighted in Yakutat).


We were moored for a couple nights in Cordova next to a guy who had bought his boat in Seward and was trying to get it home to Seattle. Had turned back before Kayak Island twice. Weeks later we saw him in Shearwater. He was very proud of having made it on the fifth try.


Having said that, Prince William Sound is truly the jewel, and if I can find a bareboat charter, I'd certainly love to do a couple more weeks. Or perhaps just the "26-Glacier Tour" out of Whittier.
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Old 12-10-2020, 03:57 PM   #7
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Attachment 111187

Great start! It's like storybook destination. There are challenges and monsters you have to conquer to see the magic. There are locations you'll avoid most anytime, we can go over this. I'll say right off, my experience has been on 115' to 129' steel trawlers and crab boats. Our method of travel is point to point, 24/7 we only hide out if it's just impassable. But I'm retired now, and look forward to poking along and checking out the sights.

Alaska has a big scary reputation for good reason. But stuff that happened 50 years ago becomes rather legendary. So many improvements in our boats and electronics help tremendously. Well equipped, informed Mainers can unlock the amazing northern world. It's what boating is all about.
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Old 12-10-2020, 04:04 PM   #8
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Have read Joe Upton's book "Alaska Blues" many times (128 counted) over the years, figure 145 to 150. Pick it up to refresh memory of something and wind up reading it right through again.

Joe wrote that over 50 years ago. A great book, from an era thats really disappeared.
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Old 12-10-2020, 04:07 PM   #9
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Have read Joe Upton's book "Alaska Blues" many times...

My inspiration also. Keep my copy on the boat; recommend it to guests.
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Old 12-10-2020, 04:10 PM   #10
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Fun fact: as you travel west from Kodiak, the trees turn to shrubs, then disappears altogether by the time you reach the Aleutians. Emerad green carpet, summer time in the Aleutians.

Fun fact: Dutch Harbor AK. is 500 miles west of Kauai. The last Island in the chain Attu is as far west as New Zealand.

Looking south here, the warm Pacific Ocean current hits the cold Bering Sea waters. Fog dominates the south side of the islands in summer.
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Old 12-10-2020, 04:20 PM   #11
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Trawlercap,
I worked in mines and the cannery at False Pass in the 60’s. Nick Bez days.
The nines were gold at Nyac and platinum near Goodnews Bay.
It’s the wild west.

AP and trawlercap another thumbs up for Alaska Blues. I loved the dog “barking the fish aboard”. My dad published the book I believe.
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Old 12-10-2020, 05:55 PM   #12
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You could always walk the coast from Seattle to the Aleutian's, carrying a teeny-tiny rubber raft in your packsack for channel crossings (they did it in 12 months, 4,000 miles by foot, raft & ski)

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Old 12-10-2020, 05:58 PM   #13
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Don't mean to steal the thunder in this thread by any means, but for an idea of yacht cruising past Cape Spencer to whet one's appetite, Tony Fleming and crew went as far as Dutch Harbor in 2015 with stops in-between, available on their Youtube channel. Here's the short version, there are much longer versions on his channel.

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Old 12-10-2020, 06:12 PM   #14
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Don't mean to steal the thunder in this thread by any means, but for an idea of yacht cruising past Cape Spencer to whet one's appetite, Tony Fleming and crew went as far as Dutch Harbor in 2015 with stops in-between, available on their Youtube channel. Here's the short version, there are much longer versions...]
Great clip. Thanks for posting it.
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Old 12-10-2020, 06:14 PM   #15
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One of the reasons I put that hiking video link in, is because sometimes when contemplating a journey that's so huge & daunting that it makes your stomach flip around, it's beneficial to read about people who have done even crazier trips.
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Old 12-10-2020, 06:22 PM   #16
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One of the reasons I put that hiking video link in, is because sometimes when contemplating a journey that's so huge & daunting that it makes your stomach flip around, it's beneficial to read about people who have done even crazier trips.
Alpacka rafts are a great piece of equipment. When I lived up there I took mine some amazing places. Tough and light.

Double-ended, too, though I can say it can still swap ends, on occasion
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Old 12-10-2020, 08:19 PM   #17
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Count us in! We are currently Cruising SE Alaska this winter and having a great time. The plan is to head to Prince William Sound in the spring / early summer, then back south again early September, so we can be in San Diego by November and on to the Sea of Cortez for next winter.

Would love to connect up with others wanting to go beyond SE next summer.

Can always reach us here, via email at CruisingSeaVenture@gmail.com or through our YouTube Channel - Cruising Sea Venture.

Thanks for getting the ball rolling.

Jim and Rosy Addington
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Old 12-10-2020, 09:35 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by AlaskaProf View Post
Once was enough...actually, just a bit more than enough, even in "mild" weather. I recall reaching Hinchinbrook Entrance at midnight on the second night and thinking, "Thank God I'll never have to do that again". ...and then realizing I'll have to do it again in a month.
44 hours westbound and 56 eastbound (overnighted in Yakutat).


We were moored for a couple nights in Cordova next to a guy who had bought his boat in Seward and was trying to get it home to Seattle. Had turned back before Kayak Island twice. Weeks later we saw him in Shearwater. He was very proud of having made it on the fifth try.


Having said that, Prince William Sound is truly the jewel, and if I can find a bareboat charter, I'd certainly love to do a couple more weeks. Or perhaps just the "26-Glacier Tour" out of Whittier.
PWS was my play ground. We loved it, not on ASD, but in our 24ft riverboat. Maybe some day we will return.
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Old 12-10-2020, 09:42 PM   #19
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Attachment 111189

Fun fact: as you travel west from Kodiak, the trees turn to shrubs, then disappears altogether by the time you reach the Aleutians. Emerad green carpet, summer time in the Aleutians.

Fun fact: Dutch Harbor AK. is 500 miles west of Kauai. The last Island in the chain Attu is as far west as New Zealand.

Looking south here, the warm Pacific Ocean current hits the cold Bering Sea waters. Fog dominates the south side of the islands in summer.
Another fun fact. Alaska is the farthest state north, the farthest west and eastern state in USA.
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Old 12-10-2020, 10:17 PM   #20
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I have spent the last two decades exploring Prince William Sound Alaska.

Imagine a place...

That is approx. 10,000 square miles

Yet virtually nobody lives there. This is true wilderness cruising.

Do you like crowded anchorages... You won’t like it here.

Do you like Glaciers... We have more glaciers than the rest of the planet combined I think.

How about Whales? We see whales, and killer whales pretty much every day.

Do you like Sea Otters? I like them and we see them every day.

How about fishing? We limit out on Halibut every day.

This is not an easy place to get to, but for those that are up to the challenge you will not be disappointed.

You only have to cross the Gulf Of Alaska. 220 NM from Yakutat to Hinchinbrook Entrance. At 8 knots that’s 27 hours.

To quote Robert Service from The Spell Of The Yukon

There is a land where the mountains are nameless,
and the rivers all run god knows where.

There are lives that are erring and aimless,
and deaths that just hang by a hair.

There are hardships that nobody recons,
there are valleys unpeopled and still.

The land oh it beckons and beckons,
and I have to go back and I will.”


This is my playground. This is where I call home.
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