Best phase of tide to enter Lituya Bay

[Sailor Jed]

Lituya Bay on the gulf of alaska southeast of Yakutat - I think the coast pilot says of entry to consult local knowledge. I think I was told to enter on a slack tide, follow a range to get in and

?? How do you follow a range ? I was shown how to do this in Venn passage outside Petersburg but this is not a skill i really ever get to practice while librarying. So there's that

I do have chapman's but not currently here with me

Tell me what you know of Lituya Bay, I passed it when I crossed. my two friends are out bringing an ericson 35 to Kodiak. Not stories of the tidal wave, unless that is a likely occurrence or of importance to safely enter the bay.

What other anchorages and hidey holes are there along this coast?

My crossing was farther from land

Much thanks,
J

[psk125]

Following a range is quite simple. You find the two points on the chart that form the range. Then you find them for real. You approach the channel and steer so that the two points line up - one on top of or one behind the other, depending upon the height of the more distant one. Obviously difficult in fog or at night if they’re not lit.

[jdazey]

Yes, slack water only. The current really moves through the channel. Time your entrance by watching the breakers. You have a narrow window before the current starts to run again. The current prediction may be off a bit. The range is composed of the two lights on the north side of Anchorage Cove.

[Sailor Jed]

Great, thank you.

[Mkhslr541]

Very long time lurker (5 plus years) and first-time poster. Seeing this post today brought back some very sad memories. In 1972 my Uncle Wolfgang Ehmke and 2 crew members were working their way from Seattle to Cordova to try to catch the kelp season after 2 years of strikes that had closed the sein seasons. Obviously they were looking to at least try to make up some lost money. They were about 25 miles offshore when the wind picked up to around 70 mph with the obvious huge swells. They decided to enter the bay to shelter from the storm and were in comunication with other boats in the bay. The next day the hull of the 42 foot gill netter was found upside down on a beach a few miles north with the super structurer ripped off. Their 3 cold water surival suits were found later a few more miles farther up the coast. I was just 12 years old in 1972 and had spent the summer before with him and our families 2 boats. Still brings a tear to my eyes all these years later.

[Sailor Jed]

I am sorry for the loss of your uncle, that is hard. I know the entry to this bay has claimed a number of lives and I had two goals with my original post, one was to have the knowledge of how to safely enter available if my sailor friends in that area needed to find shelter, the other goal was to get the knowledge onto this forum.

Thank you for your reply

[rbk]

Slack or start of the flood. With any kind of opposing swell to the out flow creates large standing rips with breaking waves as with many other locations in SE. South Inian, Lisianski are other good examples. Graves Harbor is your next best bet if you can't make it to Elfin.

[Dooglas]

Using a navigation range is fairly straight forward, but it looks like the entrance to Lituya Bay is quite narrow, shallows quickly, and is subject to nasty breaking waves. Surely you could plan a better layover between Juneau and Yakutat, if needed.

[jdazey]

Depends on what you're looking for. Lituya is a special place and worth the effort/risk for some.


cheers,

[Hyrdflyr]

I tried to take refuge in Lituya one dark stormy night years ago. I had a good gps chart and furuno sounder working for me. Got right to the entrance in big seas and all of a sudden my depth sounders screen went all red. My boat has a spade rudder which is very effective and I cranked the helm over and went right back out into it. Fought vertigo for a while and finally settled on a course and got way off shore jogging into it all night. Then went down the coast and got into a little shallow protected bay and dropped the hook and slept most of the next day.
When it blows up on you get off shore and stay offshore until you can see what's going on. Stay safe.

[Nord Sal]

I don't have much to add except to say it's an impressive place. I've seen it once and well remember the entrance.

In case anyone's interested, this is an interesting read about Lituya Bay and its geology with some very good photos and also first-hand accounts from survivors of the world's tallest tsunami.


For those further interested, here's D.J. Miller's report and map plate first presenting evidence of the giant waves in Lituya Bay. I've followed Dr. Miller around a few places in Alaska, but had no idea who he was when I was in the bay.

[northwestsailor]

We were there a few years ago with our sailboat. Went in at or near slack as mentioned above. No particular difficulties other than the usual pent up anticipation. We have a swinging keel so with it up we draw only 3 feet. Finding an anchorage was a bit of a trick but we found a rocky area on the SE corner of Cenotaph. Fortunately it was a quiet nite. The next afternoon at slack we left for an beautiful overnight trip Yukatat.

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by northwestsailor

.... Finding an anchorage was a bit of a trick but we found a rocky area on the SE corner of Cenotaph. ...

This is definitely the trick. Anchorage Cove, although shallow and named that way can get quite uncomfortable with refracted waves coming in through the entrance. Better to hide from those further up behind the island. There's an old moraine that runs from the north side of the island to the north shore that can provide anchorage in the right conditions.

[Kelkara]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Anchorage cove was also foul with logs left behind by the tsunami, and so not recommended for that reason also. I found acceptable anchorage in the "cove" on the south shore just east of The Paps.


It's also worth mentioning, that if you're exploring the head of the bay, the chart is more than a little out of date ... where the chart says 60 fathoms, you will be running aground. The glaciers have really changed things around a bit.

[fritzdfk]

I worked as a captain for Glacier Bay National Park. Lituya Bay is within Glacier Bay NP. I have taken a boat in there a few times. As mentioned above enter or leave at slack though exact times are hard to come by. The range markers are easy to use On the ebb large standing waves form just off the mouth.
From the Coast Pilot:

"The current velocity at the entrance is 5.1 knots on the flood and 4.1 knots on the ebb. Ebb currents, running against a southwest swell, cause bad topping seas or combers which are dangerous to small craft. Small powered vessels in the bay should stay away from the entrance on the ebb to avoid being swept through. The ebb current follows a narrow path for several miles out to sea and can be seen for some distance. On the flood, the entrance is smooth and local fishing boats often negotiate it with a calm sea but are quickly swept through the channel by the powerful current. Strangers should not attempt to enter except at slack water."