Sitka to Juneau via GLBA

We departed Sitka on Sunday, June 20 with the intention of being in Juneau a week later. In addition, we wanted to get in a short trip to Glacier Bay along the way. To do that we submitted a short-notice (48 hours) permit application for entry into Glacier Bay National Park waters (they limit the number of private vessels in park waters to 25 at a time).  By the time we lost cell coverage from we still hadn’t heard but the next morning, our confirmation notice was in my e-mail box, so we didn’t have to come up with a plan “B”.

Our first night out from Sitka was Appleton Cove and we were glad to be there.  As soon as we rounded the top of Baranof Island (Nismeni Point), the easterly winds started picking up.  Soon we were pounding through 4-foot steep chop powered by 20-knot head winds. Not unsafe, but certainly unpleasant.

The next morning was calm and early start allowed us pick up favorable currents and make it to Flynn Cove on the north shore of Chichagof Island.  It was a busy place that night with four other boats (three trollers and a charter cruise yacht, Alaskan Song).

The park was still operating with Covid-19 rules, so the mandated annual boater orientation was completed via a video presentation prior to submitting the application.  This allowed us to bypass Bartlett Cove and go directly to our anchorage for the night at North Sandy Cove.

Along the route, we did a slow pass by South Marble Island.  This is one of the highlights of a park visit because of the Stellar Sea Lion colonies and the nesting birds.  We thought the sea lion colony populations looked very healthy and the number of tufted puffins greater than in recent years.

Since we were only spending four nights in the park, one of which was going to be in Bartlett Cove on the way out, we decided to forgo a trip to Tarr Inlet and the calving Margerie Glacier. Instead we spent two nights in North Sandy Cove, one in South Finger Bay and the final night in Bartlett Cove.  We tied to the NPS dock at Bartlett Cove for our permitted 3-hours and took Drake ashore, the only portion of the park he is allowed to.  Sadly, it was raining so our walking was brief.

From the Glacier Bay we headed to Funter Harbor on Admiralty Island for the night. An early start on Sunday, 6/27, had us in Auke Bay shortly before 9 AM.  We were enjoying our first (of many) Hot Bite milk shakes later that day.

From here we will start a slow meandering cruise southward, fishing along the way. 

Sitka to Sitka in only 491 Miles

We started the morning of June 5, thinking we were going to head south along the west coast of Baranof Island. After checking the current weather forecast, we changed our mind and decided take the longer but more protected route back out Peril Strait and down Chatham Strait to near its southern end..

We anchored the first night in Hanus Bay on Baranof Island’s northern shore and our second night in Denmark Cove in Little Port Walter towards Baranof’s southern end,  Fishing for Chinook salmon was permited in this area and Marcia wanted to give it a go.  We fished the morning bite just north of Little Port Walter but came up empty handed. We later fished the mid-day bite near Mist Cove, but it seemed that only pink salmon were biting.  After releasing a few “pinks”, Marcia called it a day and we anchored in Patterson Bay.  The anchoring grounds weren’t great but the scenery was spectacular and the weather settled.

From Patterson Bay, we headed north up Chatham Strait to Gut Bay for a couple of nights to wait for the Pacific Ocean swell coming into Chatham Strait to lay down. Gut Bay is another of the many scenic Baranof Island anchorages.

After a couple of nights in Gut Bay and with calmer conditions we headed across the Chatham Strait and fished south of Tebenkof Bay.  A fishing gear equipment failure cut short our efforts short and we anchored in Gedney Harbor for the night where we repaired the problem. 

With the gear back online, we decided to head back to Fredrick Sound and visit some dog-friendly anchorages.  As we passed Tebenkof Bay, we could see in the distance (a mile or two away) large numbers (>30) of humpback whales feeding. The feeding included bubble feeding which is always dramatic.

When we got to Fredrick Sound, the weather was lovely. Drake enjoyed his time on the gravel beach a short kayak paddle from our anchored boat playing with his favorite ball and wading in the water, .

After our break from fishing, we headed back down to Gut Bay.  On June 15, the areas open to recreational salmon fishing expanded and we were able to fish areas farther north in Chatham Strait than previously.  Sadly, after a couple of days with only pink salmon on the hook, we called it quits headed back towards Sitka.

With one intermediate stop at Baby Bear we returned to Sitka on June 17. After 12 days of travel, 86.6 engine hours and 491 nautical miles we were back where we had started.

Ketchikan to Sitka

After last year's strange, hurried and very wet Alaska cruising season we hoped to return to some normalcy in this year's season.  We started off with our "traditional" half loop around Behm Canal.  Ketchikan is on Revillagigedo Island which is surrounded on three sides by Behm Canal and Tongass Narrows/Revillagigedo Channel on its fourth.  We dislike retracing our entrance route into Ketchikan along Revillagigedo Channel so instead we continue out Tongass Narrows and work our way north along the west leg of Behm Canal, around the top of Revillagigedo Island and partway down the east leg of Behm Canal.  It is usually less crowded and it visits many sites that have yielded crabs or prawns for us in the past.

Only a short distance (~12 NM) from Ketchikan, we encountered an unusual sight.  The US Navy has an acoustic test station at the south end of the west channel of Behm Canal.  In all our past trips, one or two large barges sit lonely in the middle of the channel.  This year there was a buzz of activity, including a Coast Guard Cutter patrolling the perimeter.  The hub of the activity was a Trident nuclear submarine sitting on the surface between the two barges.  We have no idea of the kind of testing being done (and wouldn't tell you if we did).  When we returned by the area a few days later, all was quiet again.

While we saw a half dozen cruising boats when we started up Behm Canal, they were all exiting and we saw only a few other boats along the way.  We did manage to get on the USFS buoy in Walker Cove in Misty Fiords National Monument.  We usually see bears on the beach foraging on the sedge grass but they weren't there this year.  When we went to shore, we understood why. The sedge grass had only just sprouted, was sparse and only a inch or two high.  Hardly enough to feed a hungry sow and one or two cubs.

We attribute the grass's stunted condition to the cold and wet weather.  Since we've been in SEAK, we've had above normal rain and below normal temperatures.  We've gone several days in which the high temperature we see on our outside thermometer never cracks 50°.  Our furnace is getting a workout this season.

After our Behm Canal foray we headed up to Ernest Sound and spent a couple of nights at Santa Anna Inlet, prawning nearby.  We then positioned in Roosevelt Harbor on Zarembo Island for our transit of Wrangell Narrows.  While there we met a couple of boaters from nearby Wrangell who knew our friends Jim & Rosy on Sea Venture who wintered over in Wrangell.  An attraction of Roosevelt Harbor is the USFS dock and access to logging roads.  We took Drake ashore in our kayaks for a well deserved walk (we were 8 days out from Ketchikan at this point).

Our arrival in Petersburg was at high slack and the notorious currents were quiet so the docking was uneventful.  We secured a slip just down from our friends, John & Kathleen on our sister ship, Laysan.  They wintered their boat in Petersburg but wisely return to their home in Hawaii for the winter.

After a couple of days in Petersburg and with outstanding weather (but a poor forecast for the next day), we made the long day's journey to Takatz Bay on Baranof Island.  We sat out the poor weather in Takatz and spent part of the day watching a helicopter ferrying loads from a frontloading craft to some nearby location.  After talking with a guide from a small (<200') cruise ship (it was taking its guests on excursions in Takatz), we believe the activity was the stocking of a nearby lake with smolt.  The fish were carried in the water tanks of tanker trucks which were driven onto the front loader.  The front loader beached itself and pumped the water and fish into canvas bags in a frame structure.  The helicopter would lower a short haul line down while hovering, the crew attached the short haul to the frame structure, the helicopter would fly off and dump its load and swap its empty load for a new load (they had two bag structures).  This went on for 2 to 3 hours.  The helicopter landed on the beach at the beginning and ending of the process and once in the middle (not sure if the helicopter refueled from a tank on the front loader).  It was all very interesting.

After our two nights in Takatz we continued to Appleton Cove and then to Baby Bear Bay.  In Baby Bear we took Drake to shore on an island (at least at high tide) since it was several days after leaving Petersburg.  After two nights in Baby Bear (again sitting out some rainy, blustery weather), we transited through Sergius Narrows and make our way to Kalinin Bay for the night.  An early start had us fishing the morning bite along the north shore of Kruzof Island outside Kalinin.  No luck.

Our final night before Sitka, was in the outer cove of DeGroff Bay on Krestof Island.  We find that anchorage to be well protected and convenient for an early arrival in Sitka.

We're planning three nights in Sitka, tending to chores and attending a concert associated with the Sitka Music Festival taking place this year after last year's hiatus.  After that, we’ll go cruising for a week or so and return to Sitka for another concert later in the month.