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Among the communities in SE Alaska, Sitka is one of the most popular. In population, it ranks 3rd, behind Juneau and Ketchikan, so most services are available. Its harbor only has one dock capable of a cruise ship and that is a couple of miles north of town so even when a cruise ship is in, it doesn’t feel overwhelmed. Tourism other than cruise ships is high as it is a sport fishing destination and a community with a rich history going back to the Russian ownership of Alaska. The commercial fishing industry is quite vibrant so it has an economic base besides tourism.

We know of several pleasure craft that spend 3 to 4 weeks in the Sitka area using it as a base from which to go fishing for a few days then to return for reprovisioning. We thought we’d try a reduced version of that concept this year.

We headed out on Wednesday, June 8, towards the popular fishing area on the north side of Biorka Island, about 15 miles SW of Sitka. As we approached, the wind and seas picked up and we couldn’t see anybody fishing We decided to fish a more protected nearby area but no bites and no evidence of fish on the fish finder. We spent the night in Herring Bay, an anchorage on an island about 8 miles away.

The next day, we reached the fishing area earlier and there were other boats present. The conditions were better than the day before but still “lumpy” with a 15 knot southerly wind coming over the island and a westerly swell coming in from the ocean. Despite the conditions, Marcia was able to hook and land a nice king salmon.

That evening we gave Annie-cat a subcutaneous infusion of lactated Ringer’s solution using the new setup Marcia obtained from a Sitka veterinary office. Rather than needing to restrain Annie while we gave her injections, the solution is infused through a smaller gauge needle attached to a drip bag as she naps on the helm chair.

We hoped to repeat the fishing performance on Friday, June 10, as we went out to Biorka again. Unfortunately, despite excellent sea conditions, the fish were absent. We anchored for the night in deGroff Bay on Krestof Island, an anchorage new to us.

For Saturday, we traveled to the fishing area near Kalinin Bay on the north side of Kruzof Island. We were too late for the morning bite so we anchored for a few hours waiting for the afternoon bite. Marcia took the opportunity to make cinnamon rolls while we waited. Once again, no salmon were hooked.

On Sunday morning we were out bright and early. As we were finishing up the final pass before leaving, Marcia hooked a fish which turned out to be 33″ ling cod. While not the salmon was looking for, it was a nice fish with plenty of meat on it.

As we were crossing Sitka Sound intent on trying some more fishing the winds kicked up similar to the week before. Soon we were bashing through 25 knot winds and steep 3 to 4 foot seas. We altered our course and headed towards the secure anchorage of Samsing Cove.

All was calm by Monday morning as we pulled back into Eliasen Harbor in Sitka, just a few steps away from the slip we had vacated five days earlier.

Our stay in Petersburg ended up being longer and more fretful than expected. Shortly before arriving, we noticed that one of our cats, Annie, was not eating and had developed a wobbly gait in the hind quarter.

Both cats, now 14 years old, in their pre-departure checkup were diagnosed via their blood tests as having kidney disease, a common condition in cats. We immediately switched them to food specifically intended for cats with kidney disease. It happened so abruptly before our departure that we weren’t able to unpack the 400+ cans of Fancy Feast that had been their staple for the last several years.

Upon our arrival in Petersburg on Wednesday, May 25, Marcia contacted the office of the local veterinarian. The vet was out-of-town but the vet tech in the office offered to stop by our boat and do a quick exam of Annie. After evaluating her and consulting with the vet via phone, we had an appointment the next morning for them to do a subcutaneous infusion of fluids since Annie was clearly dehydrated.

Since we were without a car, the vet tech offered to pick us up at the dock where we moored to save us a taxi ride or trying to walk carrying Annie the half-mile to the vet’s office. Within 24 hours of the subcutaneous infusion (Sub-Q for short) of Lactated Ringer’s solution, Annie’s condition improved dramatically.

Unfortunately, the improvement was short-lived and by Sunday afternoon (5/29) when we had an appointment with the vet (he had arrived from Seattle on the mid-day flight), we were concerned that we were going to have to euthanize Annie. After the examination, we had a consultation with the vet and decided to continue regular Sub-Q infusions and see whether we could improve and stabilize her condition. We left the office with the necessary supplies for us to perform the Sub-Q infusions ourselves.

The next day we headed out of town for a short trip south of Petersburg to Ideal Cove. Rain was forecast so we intended to be at anchor, perform an infusion and see whether this was something we could do in the long term for Annie.

On Wednesday, we returned to Petersburg for another appointment with the vet. Annie was significantly improved, so we stocked up on the necessary supplies for continuing infusions. Fortunately the destination for the next leg of our trip, Sitka, has two veterinary offices so we knew we could get more care and supplies for Annie there.

The conditions were good as we left Petersburg on Thursday, June 2, but forecast to deteriorate the next day. We decided to head for an anchorage that we know is secure in a storm, Ell Cove on Baranof Island. While winds are diminished within the cove, we’ve learned that their direction is often radically different from the winds outside as they are bouncing off the steep slopes that nearly ring the cove.

The front arrived late on Friday and was relatively brief but pretty strong. It was in this blow that a cruise ship in Ketchikan while docking got away from the ship’s master and crunched both the dock and the cruise ship.

After our second night in Ell Cove, conditions began to improve and we made our way to Douglass Bay in Hoonah Sound, dropping prawn traps on the way in. We retrieved them the next morning with a good haul of prawns, our best of the season.

We could have made Sitka that day but it would have been in the afternoon. We prefer coming into a town in the morning so that we have a chance to get a jump start on chores the same day. So we aimed for a cove on the SE corner of the Magoun Islands, about nine miles from Sitka. The winds were calm as we exited Sergius Narrows and transited Neva Strait but shortly after entering Krestof Sound they began to pick up. Soon it was blowing southerly 25-30 knots. Fortunately, Krestof Sound is not large and the short fetch meant only small waves. Our anchorage on the SE corner did allow considerable wind to enter but the bottom is good holding and we just hung at the end of our anchor chain once the anchor set.

We docked in Sitka about 9 AM on Monday, June 6 and Marcia immediately contacted the local veterinary offices to see about getting more Sub-Q supplies for Annie-cat. Annie was clearly better from the Sub-Q infusions but the method we were using with the supplies from the Petersburg vet required restraining Annie while two injections were made using a large gauge needle. The process was nearly as hard on us as it was on Annie. Marcia wanted to investigate using infusion bags of the Ringer’s and a smaller gauge needle with only one stick.

We hope to accomplish our chores in two days and head out for some fishing near Sitka.

The theme on this leg of our cruise was bears. In all three stops along Behm Canal, Yes Bay, Fitzgibbon Cove and Walker Cove, we saw brown bears on the beach grazing on grass or plowing the tide flats for morsels.

In Walker Cove we were able to snag the USFS provided mooring buoy and get great views of a mother and her cub on the beach.  We really got our money’s worth when a male bear came onto the other end of the beach and proceeded to chase the other two off.

While in Walker Cove, we were joined on the buoy by Seaducktress, a trawler from the same boatyard in China as ours.  The weather was stunning so we had happy hour on our flybridge and watched the nature show taking place around us.

While paddling in Yes Bay, as we were returning to the boat from a kayak paddle, we saw a bear on the beach a little over a quarter mile away.  As I was watching, we saw it approach the shore then enter the water.  Soon it was just a head bobbing along in the bay.  We reboarded our boat and watched the bear swim across the bay, passing about 150 yards off of our stern.

We did some crabbing and prawning along the way and were successful enough to put a number of meals on the table.  Our crabbing was hampered by the refusal of the outboard on our dinghy to start after having worked fine a number of times already this cruise.  The problem was resolved while we visited our friends Pete and Brenda who have a cabin on a bay 10 miles NE of Ketchikan.  Pete successfully diagnosed the problem as old gas and fixed it by replacing all of the old gas from the system with fresh.

Our prawning has been mediocre compared to last year.  We haven’t had any stellar hauls of prawns and have been plagued by small Dungeness crabs climbing into the pots and scaring the prawns off.  We even had a small octopus in one of our pots take a ride to the surface when we hauled it up.

From here we’ll work our way to Sitka stopping at some of our favorite spots. Besides the crab and prawn traps, Marcia will probably be dropping a hook in the water to try her luck fishing.

We arrived at Bar Harbor at 10 AM yesterday after getting an early start from Foggy Bay.  Since we were arriving from Canada, we obtained permission while still in BC from the CBP (Customs & Border Patrol) to anchor in Foggy Bay before clearing customs in Ketchikan. 

For the first time, we experienced the seas created by significant outflow winds.  The winds are the result of a high pressure in the interior and a lower pressure offshore.  The winds funnel down the channels, the Skeena and Portland Inlet, towards the sea.  We had 3 foot moderate chop for the 30 plus miles from the outlet of the Skeena south of Prince Rupert, the length of Chatham Sound, until we cleared the NE corner of Dundas Island where Portland Inlet meets Dixon Entrance.  The winds were steady in the 15 to 25 range with occasional gusts to 30 knots.  The salt spray added to the crust of salt we had accumulated along the way.

Once past Dundas, the seas were quite good and we enjoyed a smooth ride into Foggy Bay where we were the only boat anchored for the night.  The sun was so bright we had to draw the blinds on many windows to keep the interior of the boat from getting any warmer than it did (upper 70’s).

Once in Ketchikan, we started tackling our chore list in order to get out of town quickly.  The weather forecast had a strong front moving in Monday night through at least Tuesday so we wanted to leave ahead of it on Monday morning.

Later Saturday night our cousin boat Shearwater (David Cohn) arrived having left Prince Rupert that morning.  On Sunday another Diesel Duck, Seaducktress, owned by Peter Geerlofs joined us making a flock of Seahorse Marine Diesel Ducks at Bar Harbor.

From here we’ll do a partial loop around Revillagigedo Island via Behm Canal visiting some of our favorite anchorages and dropping the crab and prawn traps when we can.  We hope start enjoying some fresh Alaskan seafood as we do.  After that we’ll start heading towards Sitka via Petersburg.

Most of the significant navigational challenges along the Inside Passage (i.e., Strait of Georgia, Cape Caution, Dixon Entrance) are solved the same way. You wait for the weather to settle down, either the wind or wave height (often both since wind is the main driver of wave height), and go for it.

Halfway up Vancouver Island, however, is a challenge that requires putting together multiple factors. Coming down from the northend of Vancouver Island is Johnstone Straight. Coming up from the southend is the Strait of Georgia. Where they meet are a multitude of islands between the Vancouver Island and the mainland joined by several fiord like inlets that penetrate the mainland. There is a lot of water sloshing through here creating a dozen or so named rapids with tidal currents that will change from as high as 13 knots (about 15 miles per hour) in one direction to 13 knots in the opposite direction over a period of six hours.

The winds play a factor as Vancouver Island is a major impediment to weather systems. The channels between the islands and inlets jutting into the mainland become the routes of choice for the winds associated with the high or low pressure areas moving between the Pacific Ocean and the North American continent.

When the direction of the often strong winds oppose that of the often strong currents, the waves created by the wind will become short in period and steep. Travel in those conditions will become difficult, unpleasant or, at times, unsafe. If the winds and current move in the same direction, however, you can speed along relatively comfortably several knots higher than your normal cruising pace.

Figuring out a route, there are three main routes with several variations, becomes a puzzle of monitoring the weather forecast and timing the currents through the various rapids. We’ve traveled through here thirteen times (either north or south) and the exact route we take is seldom known until a day or two before we actually do it.

This year’s trip involved taking the middle route through the Octopus Islands then using Mayne Passage to switch to the eastern route closest to the mainland. The final leg, a fourteen mile section in Johnstone Strait before cutting up into the more protected waters of the Broughton Archipelago was a bit of a bash in 20-25 knot winds opposing current.

We hope to round Cape Caution in the next day or so and complete the second half of the route to Ketchikan and little more expeditiously than the first half.

We cast loose our lines in Eagle Harbor before 6 AM on Wednesday, April 27, for our sixth trip to SE Alaska in the last seven years.  There is a familiarity to the preparation but also an edge of paranoia.  You just know in your heart that complacency in preparation or operation can easily lead to calamity.

Our first night was in Garrison Bay on the northwest corner of San Juan Island just south of the Roche Harbor.  It provided us quick access the next morning to the Port of Sidney on Vancouver Island where we cleared Canadian Customs.  We have Nexus cards which speed our passage through customs.  After a phone call and waiting 15 minutes to allow a customs officer to show up to inspect us should they want to, we were on our way.

It had been three years since our last visit to Butchart Gardens so for our second night we anchored in Tod Inlet near the Butchart Gardens.  We dropped our dinghy and motored over to the dock down the hill from the Japanese Gardens.  Reportedly the tulips were past prime but if they were, we didn’t notice.

As I write this, we are tied to the dock at Salt Springs Marina in Ganges Harbour.  Our yacht club has leases dock space as an outstation here so it is inexpensive moorage as we do some light provisioning for those items that are prohibited from being brought in.

Our plans for this season are pretty similar to prior years.  We’ll move north pretty directly to SE Alaska arriving around the middle of May.  We’ll stay in Alaska for about 2-1/2 months until the end of July/first part of August when we’ll begin the slower journey south.  Arrival in Puget Sound will be the middle of September.

The map below shows where we stayed overnight on our 2015 cruise.  If you click on a place mark additional information (i.e., place name, distance, engine hours, anchor chain)will pop up. Map of 2015 Cruise in separate window

It turns out that 2015 was our shortest cruise yet of the five total cruises we’ve done to Alaska since we off loaded Alpenglow in January 2010.  Ignoring our “shakedown” cruise, we left on May 6 and returned on August 17, a trip length of 104 days.  The table below summarizes the easily tabulated values from the ship’s log.

With regards to average speed, I usually subtract the number of hours spent idling while fishing or sightseeing (i.e., time not underway), 42.4 hours in 2015, from the total engine hours and divide that value into the total distance traveled.  Using that method, we averaged 6.1 nm/hour.

We arrived today at our yacht club’s Bainbridge Island, Eagle Harbor outstation concluding our summer cruise for 2015.  We shortened our season on account of my (Kurt) developing a hernia during the cruise and our having the desire to get it resolved expediently before we head south to Tucson for the winter.

While we traveled through British Columbia pretty fast after finally leaving Ketchikan, Marcia did make the best of it by catching 8 silver salmon over five days of fishing.  Three of the salmon were caught in two areas Marcia hadn’t fished before which was nice addition to her knowledge base.  We also were successful prawning in two areas we hadn’t tried before.

We dawdled an extra day north of Cape Caution waiting for the nice conditions during the open section exposed to ocean swell. Our patience rewarded us with calm conditions and a surprisingly quick transit (for us, anyway) from Fury Cove to Port McNeill.  We covered the 66 miles in 10 hours from engine on at anchor to engine off at the dock.

Each year, as we head south we experience the “culture shock” of the crowds in the popular cruising areas.  When we entered Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island, we knew we’d have company but we weren’t expecting the 70+ boats we found there.  We squeezed in for the evening, then joined the line of boats heading south from there the next morning.

We’re not sure of our immediate plans but it is unlikely we’ll do any more extended cruising this year.  Perhaps some short trips in Puget Sound should the nice weather be too compelling to stay on the dock.  We are already looking forward to 2016, though, and returning to Alaska.