Prince William Sound and Gulf of Alaska

[Meanderthal]

All the PWS ports are ice free. Valdez, Whittier, Seward, Cordova. So are, to my knowledge, all the harbors further south. If self-sufficient for electricity, Cordova is a great place to overwinter: tons of marine stores, extremely affordable internet, extremely affordable slip fees, and tons of amazing places to sail within hours. (The secret sauce problem is $14/day for shore power.)

Valdez and Whittier are best visited in summer. Seward is wonderful, and gives you access to Girdwood, Anchorage, Homer, Soldotna, and tons of great winter activities.

Juneau is also a great place to overwinter, but it is on the other side of the Gulf from Prince William Sound, so depends on what you want. Also doesn't have real haulout facilities.

[dkroar]

Originally Posted by Meanderthal

All the PWS ports are ice free. Valdez, Whittier, Seward, Cordova. So are, to my knowledge, all the harbors further south. If self-sufficient for electricity, Cordova is a great place to overwinter: tons of marine stores, extremely affordable internet, extremely affordable slip fees, and tons of amazing places to sail within hours. (The secret sauce problem is $14/day for shore power.)

Valdez and Whittier are best visited in summer. Seward is wonderful, and gives you access to Girdwood, Anchorage, Homer, Soldotna, and tons of great winter activities.

Juneau is also a great place to overwinter, but it is on the other side of the Gulf from Prince William Sound, so depends on what you want. Also doesn't have real haulout facilities.

Meanderthal is correct.
Over-wintering in Valdez, Whittier mean lots of snow, shovel it off of your boat snow, Seward also, but to a lesser degree. If you want access to the road system, ie Anchorage, Girdwood-skiing, then Seward makes the most sense. Whittier is a unique little burg, access is via a tunnel only, not a good place to be in winter.

On the other side of the gulf: Juneau is the capital, and has all the amenities of a town, nothing is convenient walking distance from Auke Bay marina. They do have bus service. Sitka is beautiful, but we had some friends turned away from over-wintering because all that was available was the transient dock/no electric or water. They went further south to Petersburg. Petersburg is a nice little town, good harbor, hardware, I don't know about their haulout facilities, very close walking distance from the North Harbor to grocery, library, hardware, restaurants.

We made Wrangell our home port. Space is tight right now, because they are over hauling one of three marinas, and jamming everyone into the other two. Three boat lifts, great working yard with very knowledgable, competent mechanics, painters, fiberglassers, etc.

Do some online research, look at a couple of good possibilities that fit your requirements, and then rejoin the conversation to see what makes the most sense. We're happy to help out with information.

[rbk]

Wow I didn’t think there was this many Alaskans on here! I’m sure most already know but one of the best tools for weather in AK is the Alaska Aviation webcam site and app. App is by Skuptech and is listed as AKAvCAMsLt. He app is great as the cameras are pins overlaid on satellite image. Each pin will have varied information from live feeds, current weather, 48-72h forecast etc. The weather forecasts are short but generally accurate. Best part is you can check the cameras and see exactly what the weather is doing around the corner. Maybe we’ll see some of you on the water this year.

[Tom--]

Seldovia is an interesting port. It’s off the road system, but might appeal to someone who likes the quite life. There’s always space, and Homer is but a jump away by ferry, or Cessna.

[northwestsailor]

Although Juneau has only a lift for smaller boats, there are excellent facilities in Hoonah just a two day sail away.

There are good Haullout facilities just south of Petersburg harbor. John Murgas, johnmurgas@aptalaska.net, *(907) 518-4055‬. Depending on your draft, you may to wait until high tide.

My main problem with Wrangell is the lack of facilities ie shower, shopping etc in the newer harbor. Glad to hear they are fixing up the others. I suggested to Harbormaster that transient boats should be put near the center of town and the fishing fleet further out. Perhaps that will come to pass. In any case, nice folks there, but for me not near the charm of Petersburg.
Over wintering in Ketchikan is also possible but it is a windy place in summer and worse in Winter.
Seward, just west of PWS, also has facilities for haulout but the wind also howls through there in the afternoon. I would choose Kodak over Seward, I think just for the temps.

[Meanderthal]

We are replacing/upgrading our cockpit enclosure in preparation for a few months of PWS cruising starting in late Feb. So many places to go and things to do!

[Meanderthal]

[JSSailem]

It looks cold today up there.. Meanderthal

[rbk]

Actually it finally warmed up

[Meanderthal]

Originally Posted by rbk

Actually it finally warmed up

Originally Posted by JSSailem

It looks cold today up there.. Meanderthal

Lol this dates back to November. It's warmer today than that morning--I think we were moored in the SE corner of Stockdale Bay (or was it Harbor?). Husband showing his alarm. Anyone out there now?

[Meanderthal]

Starting to gear up for 2+ months in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. We leave early Feb from Seward. Any winter wonderland activities anyone has tried up here (or heard of) and would like to discuss?

-Hiking, snowshoeing
-Skiing, snowboarding
-Crabbing
-Fishing
-Botany and Biology
-Data collection
-Dinghy sailing
-Clamming
-Hot springs
-Plinking ptarmigan and the like
-Boat feasts and bacchanalia ;-)
-Wetsuit and drysuit diving and snorkeling
-Other?

[Meanderthal]

10 days-ish out.

[JSSailem]

Are you ready?

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by Meanderthal

10 days-ish out.

I'm excited for you. This time of year you should get a decent weather window to make the brief gulf crossing.

In case you don't already know... Lethcoe's Cruising Guide for PWS cites many anchorages, and most entries include seasonal considerations [e.g., winter...] as well... [All from 1st hand experience... I used to proof read their new editions for them, but no affiliation other than they were great friends...]

If you don't have or can't find a copy of the cruising guide I have a spare I will loan you...

Their other books about the area is worthwhile as well... [e.g., Weather, Geology, History, etc.] They spent the majority of their cruising life documenting the area...

Wishing you the best. That is one of the most beautiful areas for boating in the world...

Cheers! Bill

[Meanderthal]

Originally Posted by JSSailem

Are you ready?

If you asked me in person, I'd waggle my hands and say "Ready enough."

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

I'm excited for you. This time of year you should get a decent weather window to make the brief gulf crossing.

In case you don't already know... Lethcoe's Cruising Guide for PWS cites many anchorages, and most entries include seasonal considerations [e.g., winter...] as well... [All from 1st hand experience... I used to proof read their new editions for them, but no affiliation other than they were great friends...]

If you don't have or can't find a copy of the cruising guide I have a spare I will loan you...

Their other books about the area is worthwhile as well... [e.g., Weather, Geology, History, etc.] They spent the majority of their cruising life documenting the area...

Wishing you the best. That is one of the most beautiful areas for boating in the world...

Cheers! Bill

I love the Lethcoes' Cruising Guide! Husband's parents used to sail out of Valdez. When we bought our first sailboat, both gave us a copy. I used it to make a spreadsheet of all the anchorages and areas we are most interested in visiting. Winter conditions and travel planning helped reduce the 90 or so anchorages I wanted down to a more reasonable number, lol.

You proofread for the Lethcoes? And here on another thread you said I was giving you too much credit[emoji12]. Clearly I gave you the right amount!

Agreed. SE Alaska is a surreal, spectacular world unto itself.