Alaska
Inside Passage
Why Sail to Southeast Alaska? Ten Reasons You Should Go
Friday, January 22, 2016TheCambrians
Sailing to Southeast Alaska is the pinnacle of cruising not only for those of us in the Pacific Northwest , but many cruisers world-wide. It’s one of the
most stunning places on earth and has found its way on more than one bucket
list – for cruisers and landsman alike. And now that the 2015 season is behind
us, I thought it would be a good opportunity to reflect on the time we spent in
her waters. To do that, I’ve written a total of three blogs: The first one lays
out several factors that impacted our experience and impression of the area –
the weather, commercialism and sailing to a schedule – and can be read here.
The second (this one) lists some of the things we enjoyed about cruising in Alaska Alaska
Amazing Scenery
It
probably goes without saying, but Alaska Southeast Alaska . It’s also a very large area and some places are (much)
better than others. Here are some of the scenic highlights from our season:
· Misty Fiords National
Monument Pacific
Northwest , northern British Columbia
·
Tracy Arm is
by far and away the most beautiful fjord along the Inside Passage . The day we spent inside her walls was a
highlight, not only from this past season, but our entire 15 years of cruising.
It was an amazing and humbling experience, one we won’t soon forget and would
love to repeat. A close second to our time in Tracy Arm was neighboring
Endicott Arm, Fords Terror in particular. It was, hands down, the most
beautiful place we’ve ever had the pleasure of anchoring in. Our only regret is
that we didn’t stay longer. The few days we spent there weren’t nearly enough
to absorb the incredible scenery.
·
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is like sailing back in time. For the first 20
miles or so inside the park boundaries, the landscape is fairly ordinary and
uninspiring. Hours can pass under the keel before the scenery begins to take
shape and come into focus; but once it does, words like “raw”, “overwhelming”
and “powerful” come to mind. Glacier
Bay ’s main attractions
lie some 50 miles inland, where rugged mountains line the head of the inlet and
massive rivers of ice flow down to the sea in walls that can stretch a
mile-wide and reach 150 to 200 feet into the air. For us, sailing up to the
face of one of these behemoths in our own home was an once-in-a-lifetime experience
and something we won’t soon forget.
Tidewater Glaciers
Wildlife
If the scenery isn’t enough of a
reason to sail to Southeast Alaska , the area is teeming with wildlife: Migrating humpback
whales bubble feed for herring. Orcas follow the salmon runs. Black and brown bears
graze on sedge grass at the head of secluded anchorages. Bald and golden
eagles soar above head while blue herons and oystercatchers guard the
shoreline. Seals birth their pups on floating islands made of ice. And so much
more. Everywhere you look, there’s something new and exciting to see.
Hot Springs
We
LOVE soaking in natural hot springs Baranof
Island has several to
choose from. Unfortunately, we were only able to try Baranof Warm Springs but
it ranks high on our list and is probably the best natural hot spring along the
Inside Passage – both in terms of scenery and water temperature.
Diverse Cruising Grounds
Not only does Southeast Alaska have more than 26,000
miles of coastline to explore, the cruising grounds are as diverse as they are
expansive: From glaciers to white sand beaches; protected waters to the
open-ocean; islands to fjords; anchorages filled with dozens of boats to ones
that look like they’ve never seen man, Southeast Alaska has a lot to offer.
On any given day we could find ourselves surrounded by rugged, snow-capped mountains,
anchored off glacier-fed waterfalls, watching brown bears forage along the
shore or soaking in a natural hot spring. So if variety is what you’re after, Alaska
Well-Protected Anchorages
I’ll
be the first to admit that there were several times that I felt disappointed
when we sailed into an anchorage: Many of them were large making them feel open
and exposed, but the protection we found was generally very good with good
holding in mud. A prime example would be Ratz Harbor Clarence Strait
Alaskan Brewing Company
Spending
an afternoon at the Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau
Friendly People
Whether it’s on the water or in
the towns we visit, the people living in the Pacific Northwest are the best of the best: They’re
generous, friendly, welcoming and trusting. In our experience, locals are
eager to help and will offer to lend you their cars, drive you around town or
invite you into their homes within five minutes of meeting. Alaskans are
no exception.
Fishing
Despite the fact that we don’t
fish ourselves (for a host of reasons too numerous to post here), I’d be remiss
if I didn’t mention fishing when writing about the best that Southeast Alaska
has to offer the visiting cruiser. People come from all over the world and pay
thousands of dollars to charter outfits for the privilege of fishing these
waters while most cruisers can fill their pots with Dungeness
crab or reel in salmon, halibut and ling cod (to name a few) all for the low,
low price of a fishing licence.
Long Days
But what good is all of this
without days long enough to enjoy it? In the height of summer, the sun rises around 3:40 every morning and sets at 10:30 pm with twilight in between. Some nights, when the sky
is clear, you can see well enough to read outside
which meant we had plenty of time to move from anchorage to anchorage and still
explore our new surroundings.
And that completes our
list. I hope you’ll check back next week for the third part to our series on Southeast Alaska or ‘Like’ us on Facebook to receive links to the blog whenever there's something new to read or to see what we've been up to lately.
If you have
anything to add to our list, we’d love to hear from you in the comments
section!
4 comments
Takes me back! I have such great memories of many of those places. I cruised Alaska on the small ship Alaskan Dream. Sooo can't wait to go back on my own boat!
ReplyDeleteIt really was an amazing time. I'd love to go back and visit all of the places I mentioned in this post again (without all of the rain), and seeing them from our own home/boat made it all the more special.
DeleteGreat post, but it's missing the most important part - how was the sailing?? (unless that's coming in part 3, in which case sadness, since that's the what-wasn't-fun part)
ReplyDeleteSpoiler Alert: Yes, Patrick. The sailing was pretty much on par with the rest of the Inside Passage which, in our experience, wasn't very good.
Delete