I may have mentioned in previous posts that I have been having a very difficult time finding someone to make much needed repairs to the enclosure over my flybridge. It was originally made in late 2007, and it was done with very high-quality materials. It has lasted a long time, but the severe weather in SE Alaska takes a toll on everything that is exposed.
I started discussions with Ketchi-Canvas in November 2021. It took until mid-February 2022 to get her down there to give me an estimate, which I immediately accepted. Sometime around mid-May she informed me that she was not going to do the project.
I tried contacting boat canvas people in Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau and even Prince Rupert, with no success. So, when I finally found someone in Sitka willing to do the work, I decided I was making a trip to Sitka.
I had never run my boat to Sitka, so this was going to be a challenge. And it was even more of a challenge because I needed to make the trip solo, having no one available to go with me.
The lady in Sitka said if I could get the boat there by August 1st, she could start work on it then.
It is about 290 miles to Sitka, assuming one goes by way of Wrangell & Petersburg. You can go through Rocky Pass instead of Wrangell Narrows and by-pass Petersburg if you want, but Rocky Pass is fraught with hazards, and so I made the decision not to go that route. If I had someone to go with me I probably would have opted to go through Rocky Pass.
Here was my intended route.
Day 1: Ketchikan to Wrangell - 85 miles.
This is the longest day in terms of miles. But I have made the run to Wrangell many times in one long day. The first 35 miles or so is exposed in Clarence Strait, but after that the route is in more protected waters. You need favorable conditions in Clarence Strait to make this run, unless you want to get your butt kicked.
Day 2: Wrangell to Petersburg - 40 miles.
The first 20 miles or so is exposed in Sumner Strait, but after that you are in Wrangell Narrows, which while circuitous, is mostly protected. The guidebooks advise to try to catch the last part of the high tide so that you time your passage such that you reach about halfway through the Narrows at high tide. That way you can have favorable current through the entire passage through Wrangell Narrows.
Day 3: Petersburg to Chapin Bay - 55 miles.
This segment is exposed for almost the entire way in Frederick Sound, which is a fairly large body of water. When you head north out of Petersburg you are almost immediately dumped into Frederick Sound. This was to be my first night on the anchor, since in Wrangell and Petersburg I would be in harbors.
Day 4: Chapin Bay to Appleton Cove - 60 miles.
About 35 miles of this is very exposed in Chatham Strait. Before this trip I had only been in Chatham Strait twice, and both times I got beat up pretty good. So, I had a healthy respect for Chatham Strait and did not intend to run this portion until weather conditions were favorable.
This was to be my second night on the anchor.
Day 5: Appleton Cove to Sitka - 50 miles
This leg is down Peril Strait, then later Olga Strait and Neva Strait. You also must pass through Sergius Narrows, which is one of those places where the current can be very strong so you must time your passage through there at slack tide. This route down into Sitka is mostly protected, with a few open areas as you pass from one strait to another.
I left my slip in Bar Harbor in Ketchikan at about 5:30 AM on Saturday 07/23/2022. The weather forecast in Clarence Strait was excellent, so I wanted to take advantage of that. It's about a 10-hour run to Wrangell for me, but in good conditions and now with my autopilot, it is quite enjoyable. I figured I'd rather get to Sitka a little early than to arrive late and miss my window with the canvas lady. I also figured there would probably be some weather days where I was forced to hold up waiting for better weather.
I arrived at Wrangell's Heritage Harbor at 3:45 PM, travelling 82.9 miles this day. Heritage Harbor is their "newer" harbor, with Reliance Harbor being the "old" harbor. Heritage Harbor has 2 very long transient docks to which boats can tie up on either side. So, they can accommodate a large number of transient boats there. There are power pedestals every few yards and you have to call the harbor guys on the radio to come down and unlock the power if you want to plug in.
I didn't take any photos on the way up to Wrangell as the trip was mostly uneventful. I've made this trip so many times it is becoming "old hat" as they say. The first time I made this trip was back before the days of GPS chart plotters. I used paper charts and a compass to find my way. That makes for a very different type of trip.
I've always been impressed with the color of the water here in Wrangell. It is jade green. I'm not sure if that is due to the proximity to the Stikine River, or perhaps to the LeConte Glacier. But it has always been that way ever since I've been coming here.
I ended up staying in Wrangell for 2 nights because the weather forecast in Sumner Strait was not great the first day.
Wrangell does not get the large cruise ships. I'm not sure if that is due to the shallow water around the town, or just that they don't have docking facilities for the larger ships. They do get the smaller cruise ships, and there was one in town as I left.
They also get the National Geographic ships. Not sure you would call them cruise ships. Compared to my boat they are huge but compared to the big cruise ships that regularly visit in Ketchikan they are pretty small. This one is called the Sea Lion. I think they do a more personalized experience in SE Alaska. This one was at anchor in front of the town because the other ship was in their only dock.
It was a nice sunny day when I left Wrangell, and I was up on the flybridge enjoying the weather and making my way towards the Wrangell Narrows, which lead to Petersburg. My morning run was interrupted briefly by the US Coast Guard, who stopped me for a safety inspection. They check for your boat papers, fire extinguishers, life jackets, flares, and placards concerning dumping of trash and discharge of oil. The first thing they usually ask is if you have any weapons on board. And if so, where are they? I felt like saying, this is Alaska, everyone has weapons. But these guys said they were from LA, and just helping out, so maybe they don't know that almost all Alaskans have weapons.
In any case I passed everything with flying colors, and they gave me my "good as gold" report. This means that if another Coast Guard boat attempts to board me for another safety inspection within a year, I can get a pass. Just show them my copy of the boarding report.
On the way out of Wrangell you pass by Two Tree Island. I always take a photo as I cruise by. I think there is a third tree sort of hiding behind the two main trees. Will they have to rename the island now?
I have been through Wrangell Narrows many times over the years, in many different boats. Each time I try to time my passage such that I catch the last part of the high tide going in, and the first part of the low tide going out. So far, including this trip, I've never managed to hit it just right. In my defense I think the tide tables that I referenced for Wrangell Narrows gave me faulty information. When you are fighting the tide in Wrangell Narrows you sort of get the feeling that you are going upstream in a strong running river. You burn a lot of fuel, but you don't get anywhere very fast.
I arrived at Petersburg about 3:30 PM. I pulled into the fuel dock before going into my transient slip and took on about 90 gallons of fuel. In Petersburg they don't have designated transient floats as Wrangell does. They just keep close track of which slips are open and they assign you a slip in one of their 3 harbors, North, Middle & South. I was in North Harbor, right in front of the harbormaster's office. They rebuilt this whole harbor while I was down in Gig Harbor, and they are very nice main and finger floats now.
My next segment was to take me out into Frederick Sound. Since I had cell signal, I could get the latest marine weather and saw that the next day had a good forecast. So, I was only in Petersburg for less than 24 hours.
Petersburg does not get any big or small cruise ships because their harbor is so shallow. I think it averages about 30' deep or so in front of most of the town. They also have very strong current right in front of town, so you have to be wary of that when moving around, going into the fuel dock or into a slip.
The sea conditions were great in Frederick Sound, but visibility was very poor. I had to run on radar virtually all day, something I've not had to do for quite a while. Fortunately, my radar works fine, even though it is 15 years old and could use an upgrade. I also have AIS (Automatic Identification System). This is a system whereby larger vessels broadcast an AIS signal which identifies them and provides a lot of information about them, such as vessel name, speed, direction, location, etc. This shows up on my GPS chart plotter, so I can see them when they are within range. I can receive AIS signals, but I do not broadcast them. It's not required for vessels of my size, but I may look into how much it would cost to add this functionality to the boat.
I was concerned about going into Chapin Bay, a place I have never been, totally on radar with no good visibility. But right on schedule, about 1:30 PM, right in front of Chapin Bay, the fog cleared, and the sun came out.
There was no one else in Chapin Bay when I went in. I got anchored without issues in about 70' of water. It was a beautiful spot, and a nice place to spend the night.
Toward evening time, just before dark, the vessel "Mist Cove" came in and anchored. I initially estimated this in my notes as about 80' in length. When I saw her again up close in Sitka, I thought she looked a lot larger than 80'. So, I Googled her and found the website where they offer tours. She is actually 157' on length, so I was a bit off on my estimate.
The next day was a short run around the south end of Admiralty Island, and then a long slog northward up into Chatham Strait. I was very concerned about the sea conditions for this leg of my journey because Chatham Strait can be brutal. I was prepared to wait it out in Chapin Bay for as long as necessary to wait for good conditions in the strait.
Because I was out of cell phone signal range, I had no way to access the Internet, and thus could not look up the marine weather for Chatham Strait. I have the Garmin InReach, which claims to offer marine weather forecasts as a service, but when I investigated that I discovered they only provide marine weather forecasts for locations that are at least 5 miles offshore. Not very helpful for me. However, also through the InReach I can send and receive texts and emails. So, I just contacted my two very wonderful daughters and asked them to look up the marine weather in Chatham Strait and send it to me via the InReach. This worked out well, and I could tell the forecast for the next day was good.
I should also mention that there are marine weather channels on the VHF radio, but for whatever reason I could not raise any of them from inside the anchorage in Chapin Bay.
Even on good days Chatham Strait can be rough, so I took precautions. When travelling solo and it gets rough you cannot just leave the helm and run around the boat preparing it for rough water. Before I even left the anchorage, I laid the lower helm station chair down on the floor. It always falls over in rough water. I took everything off the counters that could fly around and laid it on the floor or in a sink. Of course, everything on deck that could slide around or move around was already tied down.
I pulled anchor about 5 AM and pulled out of Chapin Bay at about 5:30 AM.
The first leg of this segment took me around the southern tip of Admiralty Island, it was a little "sporty" there. I was glad I had prepared for rough water. I was taking seas on the starboard front quarter, and a couple of times waves splashed up and over the bow. But the farther I got around that corner, and the more northerly I was able to go in Chatham Strait, the better the sea conditions got.
This is a cruise ship I saw also making the run up into Chatham Strait.
It was a sunny day, and the water was glistening in some spots. Beautiful.
About 1:30 PM I made my way into Appleton Cove. This was another spot that I had never been to, but my cruising guidebook showed where the best anchorage spot was. Unfortunately, when I got in there, there was a 37' Nordic Tug named "New Freedom" already anchored in that very spot. They must have the same guidebook that I have. There was room so I found a spot nearby and anchored in about 40' of water. Home for the night.
While I was anchored a couple of other boats came in and anchored nearby. This one is a 55' Selene named "Amavi."
Sergius Narrows is about 22 miles from Appleton Cove, and the slack tide was about noon. I figured I needed to pull out about 8:30 AM in order to get there in time. Better to get there a little early and just drift around and wait then to get there late and miss the slack tide.
It turned out that the other 2 boats anchored near me were also destined for the noon slack tide at Sergius Narrows. When I got ready to pull my anchor I noticed that both of them had already started pulling theirs.
The Amavi, a 55' Selene, is a different class of boat than mine. She has many features that my boat does not have. When it comes to pulling anchor, those larger cruising boats have a high-pressure saltwater hose positioned right on the bow so that as you pull up the anchor rode, the mud and silt is blown off by the high-pressure water. Most of those boats also have a chain counter that tells them exactly how much chain they have out.
When I went up to the flybridge helm to get everything ready for the day's cruise I noticed some stowaways had gotten aboard over the night. Fortunately, they were not the biting kind of flies.
As it turned out the New Freedom, the Amavi and Faraway made up our own little armada heading for Sergius Narrows. The weather was pretty snotty most of the day, but since the approximately 50 miles to Sitka was mostly protected waters, rough water was not an issue. Visibility was very poor all day, and there was heavy rain most of the day as well. I ended up using the radar at various times during the day.
We all timed our arrival by slowing down as needed to make the arrival at Sergius Narrows right at noon. A power troller from Ketchikan, the Megan, joined our little parade as we made it through Sergius Narrows with no issues.
Shortly after was went through the Narrows the Amavi pulled away and went somewhere else. I ended up following the New Freedom the entire way, all the way into Sitka harbor. Even when the visibility dropped too low to see New Freedom with my eyes, I could always see her AIS signal as she was broadcasting AIS.
Sitka has a large breakwater that protects the inner harbors and the area between Japonski Island (where the airport is) and Baranof, the island where Sitka is.
I called the harbormaster and was assigned a slip in Eliason Harbor. I was securely tied up in the slip at about 4 PM. I had logged 293 miles on this trip.
The canvas lady was scheduled to start work on Monday morning, so I had a few days to kill before that time.
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