Hawaii to Glacier Bay, Inside Passage

[terrapin-flyer]

I am preparing to sail my Hylas 49, Terrapin Flyer, from Oahu to Glacier Bay. NP and then head south to the Seattle area.

What's the minimum amount of time for a boat that does 7 knots to go from Juneau to Seattle? We'd like to avoid overnight passages when possible and take some time to enjoy the sights too.

I am hoping to leave the boat in Jeneau, Sitka, Ketchican and other possibly other locations for up to a couple of weeks. Are there a safe marinas in which to do this?

Also, can anyone please recommend the best cruising guides and tide charts for the inside passage.

Thanks,
Alex Viterbi
captain, s/v Terrapin Flyer
1999 Hylas 49

[PaulSommers]

There are marinas in the places you list and few security worries.

For the trip down the Inside Passage, allow at least 1 month, anchoring every night, doing about 40 mi. per day. It is a wonderful trip - stop at all hot springs on your route, expect waterfalls and reversing tidal falls and incredible scenery. The Douglas guides are great - SE Alaska, Northern BC and Southern BC.

The Canadians charge a bundle for a largish number of paper charts to cover the Inside Passage - use electronic charts if possible; with paper charts you can lay out a couple boat units to cover the entire trip. There are some planning charts, also available I think from Fine Edge, publishers of the Douglas books, that allow you to see about half of the Inside Passage on a 4 ft. long strip map. Two strips cover the northern and southern portion. These are very useful for route planning as you have your choice of several different channels, but you are committed for quite a ways once you pick one.

[NewMoon]

Hi Alex,

I figure you'd want minimum of 3-4 weeks to get from Juneau to Seattle, but it would be so much more enjoyable to take much longer. We travel at 6.5 knots, averaging 30-40 NM per day, and spend three months or so every summer on the Inside Passage. That's enough to thoroughly enjoy either the BC coast or SE Alaska, but it's more of a rush and less pleasure for us to go all the way from Puget Sound to Glacier Bay and back.

There are fine marinas in Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Petersburg.

I'd also recommend the Douglass guides: Exploring Southeast Alaska, Exploring the North Coast of BC, Exploring the South Coast of BC.

I'd also recommend this map, for a handy one-piece overall view of SE AK, including maps of the roads in each of the significant towns:

http://www.greatpacificmaps.com/GP_M...e_Passage.html

For BC tides and currents I'd recommend "Ports and Passes" - a very well-done book - important for transiting the several tidal rapids.

For SE Alaska I print off a few tidal current charts from the NOAA website. Need these for Sergius Narrows and Wrangell Narrows, but otherwise currents are not as tricky as in the BC rapids.

Our chartplotter provides tide height information, but you can also get tide booklets at any number of marinas or fuel docks.

[questmiller]

Since the question seemed to be answered, I have another. We're from Juneau but currently have our boat in Hawaii, hoping to cross our last ocean in July. (We purchased this boat in 2005 in Turkey and have been slowly sailing her home). We've been checking out the marinas in the Puget Sound area for live-aboard possibilities for this coming summer and haul out in the fall. We're coming up blank. Anybody recommend a great place to haul out? Thanks!
Louise Miller
s/y Quest

[wolly]

Ports and Passes is an excellent book. I recommend you pick it up as well... My brother and I are currently planning a Pacific Northwest trip... gotta do your research.

[Cattywampus]

Originally Posted by questmiller

Since the question seemed to be answered, I have another. We're from Juneau but currently have our boat in Hawaii, hoping to cross our last ocean in July. (We purchased this boat in 2005 in Turkey and have been slowly sailing her home). We've been checking out the marinas in the Puget Sound area for live-aboard possibilities for this coming summer and haul out in the fall. We're coming up blank. Anybody recommend a great place to haul out? Thanks!
Louise Miller
s/y Quest

Several options for a haul out. Nearest to down town is Sea View Marine. They have a lift just to the south of Shilshole Marina. Other options include a lift at Port Orchard, a lift at Port Townsend and a lift in Anacortes.

As it relates to a live-a-board, that's more difficult. Not sure where any live-a-board slips are these days. Shilshole being a county ran facility, and a very large marina, they may have something for a reasonable layover period, but I doubt a long term slip.