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After four days in Petersburg, we headed out on June 14 with plans to rendezvous with John & Kathleen (MV Laysan, sistership to Alpenglow) in four days at Tracy Arm Cove.  Until then, we were going to hit some anchorages we had never stayed in…

After four days in Petersburg, we headed out on June 14 with plans to rendezvous with John & Kathleen (MV Laysan, sistership to Alpenglow) in four days at Tracy Arm Cove.  Until then, we were going to hit some anchorages we had never stayed in…

After the grind getting to Ketchikan, there was unanimous agreement to spend four nights at the dock. We had no big projects but we’ve gotten pretty good at letting little tasks expand to fill the time available for them.

One daily task was playing with Drake since it had been two weeks since he got to go to ashore at all. The most convenient place we’ve found near the Bar Harbor Marina where we were moored is a lovely neighborhood park about 3/4 mile away. We’d also take Drake on walks with us when we went shopping.  At the local hardware and outdoors equipment store, Drake comes in with us and gets to meet people and often gets a treat.  He has learned that people standing behind counters (pretty much any counter) often have biscuits that they’ll give him if he stands on his hind legs and puts his front paws and muzzle as high as he can on the counter.

One trip Drake was excluded from was a bus ride to Saxman about 4 miles SE of the marina. The motivation was to visit the Three Bears Alaska store we’ve seen from the boat as we come into Ketchikan along Tongass Narrows.  It is a warehouse style store like Costco and actually does carry quite a number of Kirkland brand (Costco’s house brand) products.  It even sells bona fide Costco rotisserie chickens (but at Alaskan prices).  We had already provisioned at the two grocery stores near the marina so we didn’t actually buy anything.  While in Saxman, we visited the lovely totem park lovely totem park there.

On Wednesday,June 4, we got an early start in order to maximize the northbound flood current and calm conditions in Clarence Strait. After about 30 miles we headed east into Ernest Sound. As we neared our anchorage for the night, Santa Anna Inlet, we dropped prawn pots in locations that had been productive in the past. 

The next morning we pulled the pots but we were a bit underwhelmed with the catch.  The commercial prawn season started on May 15 and only recently ended.  That may have decreased our catch or it could have been the prawns were simply somewhere else.  We dropped our pots outside Thoms Place, our anchorage for the night.

The next day, when the prawn pots were pulled, we were pleasantly surprised. We considered resetting in the same location and spending another night at Thoms Place but decided not to be greedy and moved on to another nearby anchorage.  Once again, we dropped our prawn pots before heading into our anchorage for the night in Fools Inlet.

The next morning’s pot pull was the biggest disappointment so far with blanks in all three pots.  Even though Fools Inlet has produced good results in the past, we accept that sometimes the “prawn gods” do not reward our efforts. We put away our prawn gear and headed to Berg Bay.  Two other boats were anchored there but we found room near the head of the bay.  We spent two nights at Berg Bay and actually had the whole bay to ourselves the second night when the other two boats left as did the group that was staying at the USFS cabin on shore at the head of the bay. Drake got a brief play session in Berg Bay when we went to shore and played in the clearing in front of the cabin.

We chose our last anchorage before heading into Petersburg, Roosevelt Harbor, especially for Drake.  In Roosevelt Harbor on Zarembo Island the USFS has a dock connected to shore.  The ramp had been damaged in a storm during the winter of 2022-23 but we were pretty confident the ramp had been repaired sometime in late 2023 or early 2024.  As we approached the harbor we could see the new ramp connecting to the floating dock but it was only after we were anchored that we saw that the connection from the top of the ramp to shore had been severed by a tree dropping across the elevated section, presumably during the last winter.  Fortunately, there is reasonable beach access so we dropped the dinghy and provided Drake with two ball play sessions.

After our last play session on shore, we retrieved the dinghy on board and on June 10, we departed Roosevelt Harbor, transited Wrangell Narrows and docked at the South Harbor in Petersburg.  We were fortunate to get a slip next to our friends John & Kathleen Douglas, who own Laysan, a sistership to our Alpenglow.

John & Kathleen lease a slip in Petersburg and, while they return to their home in Hawaii at the end of the cruising season, Laysan spends its winter in Petersburg.  John had some residual tasks to complete to get everything shipshape for the season so we had a front row seat to his very efficient replacement of the radar dome and mast mounted wind sensor on Laysan.  In the evening we gather on one of our boats for pū-pū (i.e., appetizers), and catch up on things and make plans for the cruising season.

Our plans from here are to leave on Saturday, June 14, and try some new (to us) anchorages then meet up with the Douglas’s in a few days. They are waiting for guests to arrive and will leave a couple of days after us. We will part ways with the Douglas’s when we head towards Sitka while the Douglas’s drop their guests off in Juneau.

After the grind getting to Ketchikan, there was unanimous agreement to spend four nights at the dock. We had no big projects but we’ve gotten pretty good at letting little tasks expand to fill the time available for them.

One daily task was playing with Drake since it had been two weeks since he got to go to ashore at all. The most convenient place we’ve found near the Bar Harbor Marina where we were moored is a lovely neighborhood park about 3/4 mile away. We’d also take Drake on walks with us when we went shopping.  At the local hardware and outdoors equipment store, Drake comes in with us and gets to meet people and often gets a treat.  He has learned that people standing behind counters (pretty much any counter) often have biscuits that they’ll give him if he stands on his hind legs and puts his front paws and muzzle as high as he can on the counter.

One trip Drake was excluded from was a bus ride to Saxman about 4 miles SE of the marina. The motivation was to visit the Three Bears Alaska store we’ve seen from the boat as we come into Ketchikan along Tongass Narrows.  It is a warehouse style store like Costco and actually does carry quite a number of Kirkland brand (Costco’s house brand) products.  It even sells bona fide Costco rotisserie chickens (but at Alaskan prices).  We had already provisioned at the two grocery stores near the marina so we didn’t actually buy anything.  While in Saxman, we visited the lovely totem park lovely totem park there.

On Wednesday,June 4, we got an early start in order to maximize the northbound flood current and calm conditions in Clarence Strait. After about 30 miles we headed east into Ernest Sound. As we neared our anchorage for the night, Santa Anna Inlet, we dropped prawn pots in locations that had been productive in the past. 

The next morning we pulled the pots but we were a bit underwhelmed with the catch.  The commercial prawn season started on May 15 and only recently ended.  That may have decreased our catch or it could have been the prawns were simply somewhere else.  We dropped our pots outside Thoms Place, our anchorage for the night.

The next day, when the prawn pots were pulled, we were pleasantly surprised. We considered resetting in the same location and spending another night at Thoms Place but decided not to be greedy and moved on to another nearby anchorage.  Once again, we dropped our prawn pots before heading into our anchorage for the night in Fools Inlet.

The next morning’s pot pull was the biggest disappointment so far with blanks in all three pots.  Even though Fools Inlet has produced good results in the past, we accept that sometimes the “prawn gods” do not reward our efforts. We put away our prawn gear and headed to Berg Bay.  Two other boats were anchored there but we found room near the head of the bay.  We spent two nights at Berg Bay and actually had the whole bay to ourselves the second night when the other two boats left as did the group that was staying at the USFS cabin on shore at the head of the bay. Drake got a brief play session in Berg Bay when we went to shore and played in the clearing in front of the cabin.

We chose our last anchorage before heading into Petersburg, Roosevelt Harbor, especially for Drake.  In Roosevelt Harbor on Zarembo Island the USFS has a dock connected to shore.  The ramp had been damaged in a storm during the winter of 2022-23 but we were pretty confident the ramp had been repaired sometime in late 2023 or early 2024.  As we approached the harbor we could see the new ramp connecting to the floating dock but it was only after we were anchored that we saw that the connection from the top of the ramp to shore had been severed by a tree dropping across the elevated section, presumably during the last winter.  Fortunately, there is reasonable beach access so we dropped the dinghy and provided Drake with two ball play sessions.

After our last play session on shore, we retrieved the dinghy on board and on June 10, we departed Roosevelt Harbor, transited Wrangell Narrows and docked at the South Harbor in Petersburg.  We were fortunate to get a slip next to our friends John & Kathleen Douglas, who own Laysan, a sistership to our Alpenglow.

John & Kathleen lease a slip in Petersburg and, while they return to their home in Hawaii at the end of the cruising season, Laysan spends its winter in Petersburg.  John had some residual tasks to complete to get everything shipshape for the season so we had a front row seat to his very efficient replacement of the radar dome and mast mounted wind sensor on Laysan.  In the evening we gather on one of our boats for pū-pū (i.e., appetizers), and catch up on things and make plans for the cruising season.

Our plans from here are to leave on Saturday, June 14, and try some new (to us) anchorages then meet up with the Douglas’s in a few days. They are waiting for guests to arrive and will leave a couple of days after us. We will part ways with the Douglas’s when we head towards Sitka while the Douglas’s drop their guests off in Juneau.

Our 2025 cruising season hasn’t gone as we planned or hoped.  First some background and then a recounting of our trip so far.
Towards the end of last year’s cruising season, we decided that it was time to replace our still functioning but very hea…

Our 2024 cruise bore a remarkable similarity to 2023.  While we left a week later, we still managed to attend the Little Norway Festival in Petersburg, Alaska in the middle of May.  In both years we spent about 60% of our nights anchored and 40% on the docks. The miles covered were similar (3,091 in 2024 versus 3,025 in 2023).  The shortened trip was largely due to the 13 days in August for the haul out in Port Townsend.

Year	# of Days	At Anchor	At a Dock	On a Buoy	Distance Traveled	Engine Hours	Gen. Hours	Time Idling
2010	129	57	66	5	3,221	517.1	40.4
2011	115	81	33		3,465	577.4	31.3
2013	151	99	50	1	3,667	630.0	53.3
2014	141	86	48	6	4,052	720.8	34.8	48.5
2015	104	67	31	5	3,580	629.2	28.7	42.4
2016	141	99	39	2	3,979	700.0	51.9	68.6
2017	140	91	46	2	3,817	656.5	62.2	51.1
2018	112	71	40		3,170	528.6	33.9	38.2
2019	118	82	35		3,816	649.5	16.3	56.6
2020	63	42	12	6	2,527	399.7	32.8	11.5
2021	110	81	26	2	3,317	554.0	66.0	27.5
2022	139	88	47	3	3,584	613.6	19.5	42.9
2023	139	84	54		3,024	510.4	36.0	33.7
2024	122	73	48		3,091	529.8	24.8	26.9
	1,724	1,101	575	32	48,310	8216.6	531.9	447.9

Below is a map of our stops in the 2024 cruising season. Clicking on one of the “dropped pins” will pull up some information about the stop. At the top right of the map is an icon which will open a separate window that may be easier to navigate.

The map below shows all of the places we have stopped overnight during all our cruises. It is similar in style to our yearly cruise maps except that when the marker for a particular spot is selected, the data for the spot is the total number of times we’ve stayed and in which years.

Our 2024 cruise bore a remarkable resemblance to 2023.  While we left a week later, we still managed to attend the Little Norway Festival in Petersburg, Alaska in the middle of May.  In both years we spent about 60% of our nights anchored and 40% on the docks. The miles covered were similar (3,091 in 2024 versus 3,025 in 2023).  The shortened trip was largely due to the 13 days in August for the haul out in Port Townsend.

Year	# of Days	At Anchor	At a Dock	On a Buoy	Distance Traveled	Engine Hours	Gen. Hours	Time Idling
2010	129	57	66	5	3,221	517.1	40.4
2011	115	81	33		3,465	577.4	31.3
2013	151	99	50	1	3,667	630.0	53.3
2014	141	86	48	6	4,052	720.8	34.8	48.5
2015	104	67	31	5	3,580	629.2	28.7	42.4
2016	141	99	39	2	3,979	700.0	51.9	68.6
2017	140	91	46	2	3,817	656.5	62.2	51.1
2018	112	71	40		3,170	528.6	33.9	38.2
2019	118	82	35		3,816	649.5	16.3	56.6
2020	63	42	12	6	2,527	399.7	32.8	11.5
2021	110	81	26	2	3,317	554.0	66.0	27.5
2022	139	88	47	3	3,584	613.6	19.5	42.9
2023	139	84	54		3,024	510.4	36.0	33.7
2024	122	73	48		3,091	529.8	24.8	26.9
	1,724	1,101	575	32	48,310	8216.6	531.9	447.9

As a footnote to the table above, if you add up the nightly stops (at anchor, at a dock or on a buoy), the total, 1,708, is 16 short of the total number of days, 1,724. The difference is the 14 days at the end of the trip when I don’t count the night we return to our homeport and two days in 2020 during Covid when we did an overnight passage and did not stop.

Below is a map of our stops in the 2024 cruising season. Clicking on one of the “dropped pins” will pull up some information about the stop. At the top right of the map is an icon which will open a separate window that may be easier to navigate.

The map below shows all of the places we have stopped overnight during all our cruises through 2024. It is similar in style to our yearly cruise map except that when the marker for a particular spot is selected, the data for the spot is the total number of times we’ve stayed and in which years.

Getting hauled out and having your boat worked on is always stressful. Since we have no land-based living accommodations in the area, we continue to “live” on the boat while it sits on stands in the boatyard. That means we can’t spill any water overboard, black (most certainly!) or even grey. We do have holding tanks for both kinds, but they are not so large that they can be used for much more than a week of “normal” use. Consequently, we try to put nothing in the holding tanks. That means no cooking beyond boiling water and using on shore toilet & shower facilities.

Boatyards are usually dusty because of the sanding and grinding, either on your boat or other boats in the yard. There can be lots of foot traffic from the coming and going of the workers doing the work. Each new foot brings a little more dust on board.

On our work list for the folks at the Port Townsend Shipwrights Coop (PTSC) were routine maintenance items (e.g., bottom paint, new sacrificial anodes), repairing failed/failing items (e.g., the anchor windlass), and upgrading components. We spent 11 days out of the water, being hauled out on Monday, 8/19 and launching on Thursday, 8/29. We spent the night after launching in Port Townsend before departing on Friday, 8/30.

The last several years we have spent 1 – 2 weeks at the end of our cruising season in the San Juans. While it is still crowded compared to SE Alaska, September, after Labor Day, isn’t quite as crowded as in July and August. Setting realistic expectations is the key. If you expect to share the anchorage with 40 other boats, you shouldn’t be upset if it turns to be true. And if there are only 35 boats, you’re ahead of the game.

The nice thing about San Juan Islands is how compact they are. Twenty-five miles is probably the furthest you’d have to travel to get from any two anchorages on any of the islands. With good shore access at the many parks, it encourages a slow pace. As a result, Drake gets frequent walks and ball play when we visit. This year we stopped at Reid Harbor (Stuart Island), Garrison Bay (San Juan Islalnd), Griffin Bay (San Juan Island), Deer Harbor (Orcas Island), Fisherman’s Bay (Lopez Island) and, Echo Bay (Sucia Island). We used Hunter Bay (Lopez Island) as our last stop before crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca and slogging down Admiralty Inlet on the way to our home port in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island.

We arrived Eagle Harbor in the early afternoon on Sunday, September 15. In total, we were gone 135 days but I am going to attribute13 days as time in the boatyard and not count them. Of the 121 nights out on the cruise, 73 were at anchor while 48 days were on docks. We put on 3,091 miles in 503 cruising hours (we had an additional 27 engine hours trolling or idling while fishing (mostly deploying or retrieving prawn pots).

Getting hauled out and having your boat worked on is always stressful. Since we have no land-based living accommodations in the area, we continue to “live” on the boat while it sits on stands in the boatyard. That means we can’t spill any water overboard, black (most certainly!) or even grey. We do have holding tanks for both kinds, but they are not so large that they can be used for much more than a week of “normal” use. Consequently, we try to put nothing in the holding tanks. That means no cooking beyond boiling water and using on shore toilet & shower facilities.

Boatyards are usually dusty because of the sanding and grinding, either on your boat or other boats in the yard. There can be lots of foot traffic from the coming and going of the workers doing the work. Each new foot brings a little more dust on board.

On our work list for the folks at the Port Townsend Shipwrights Coop (PTSC) were routine maintenance items (e.g., bottom paint, new sacrificial anodes), repairing failed/failing items (e.g., the anchor windlass), and upgrading components. We spent 11 days out of the water, being hauled out on Monday, 8/19 and launching on Thursday, 8/29. We spent the night after launching in Port Townsend before departing on Friday, 8/30.

The last several years we have spent 1 – 2 weeks at the end of our cruising season in the San Juans. While it is still crowded compared to SE Alaska, September, after Labor Day, isn’t quite as crowded as in July and August. Setting realistic expectations is the key. If you expect to share the anchorage with 40 other boats, you shouldn’t be upset if it turns to be true. And if there are only 35 boats, you’re ahead of the game.

The nice thing about San Juan Islands is how compact they are. Twenty-five miles is probably the furthest you’d have to travel to get from any two anchorages on any of the islands. With good shore access at the many parks, it encourages a slow pace. As a result, Drake gets frequent walks and ball play when we visit. This year we stopped at Reid Harbor (Stuart Island), Garrison Bay (San Juan Islalnd), Griffin Bay (San Juan Island), Deer Harbor (Orcas Island), Fisherman’s Bay (Lopez Island) and, Echo Bay (Sucia Island). We used Hunter Bay (Lopez Island) as our last stop before crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca and slogging down Admiralty Inlet on the way to our home port in Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island.

We arrived Eagle Harbor in the early afternoon on Sunday, September 15. In total, we were gone 135 days but I am going to attribute13 days as time in the boatyard and not count them. Of the 121 nights out on the cruise, 73 were at anchor while 48 days were on docks. We put on 3,091 miles in 503 cruising hours (we had an additional 27 engine hours trolling or idling while fishing (mostly deploying or retrieving prawn pots).