Winter Sailing in Alaska

[Sam Woodbridge]

Hello Taylor,

I live in Wrangell not too far from you. I’ve been in Wrangell for two years (two winters). I haven’t been north of Wrangell yet. Most my sailing is between Wrangell and Ketchikan year round.

Things that concern me in the winter are frozen lines. It will rain and then freeze up over night and your lines will be stiff. You can throw a bucket of sea water on them and thaw them out some. I was told by wrwakefield a cruiser forum member that you can treat your lines to help prevent freezing.

Frozen inlets were we anchor concern me. I don’t like waking up at 5 am to cracking ice against the hull. You need to really research areas that don’t have a lot fresh water flowing in. Mind you though I’ve never seen thick ice. It’s always been a thin sheet of ice. With your boat being wood it’s even more concerning. I’ve been told wood and ice do not get along.

Winter storms also concern me, but we have so many coves and inlets to hide out in and wait them out. I alway watch the forecast and listen in every morning to the VHF forecast and plan ahead.

Also our days are shorter less daylight hours. Logs really concern me. Logs are a fear actually. And at night your vision is not as good.

Anymore to be honest if I see in the forecast that the temps will be below 32F I stay at the dock and smile at my power cord. That’s just me though and of course I could go out and fight it some, but ah, maybe I’m getting old.

Listen though - I would diffidently send wrwakefield a private message and ask him. He lives in Wrangell but has extensive cruising in southeast Alaska. He also has a blog I found super helpful in my first year of winter sailing in Wrangell.

wrwakefield will know what your wanting to know.

Sam

[Renegde_Sailor]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

I'm surprised to hear how bleak Renegade's experiences with SE Alaska winters are ... I've only been there in summer, so out of curiosity I googled some wind data just to see what the reality is.

I picked the weather station at Five Fingers Lighthouse, which is about 60 miles south of Juneau (Windspeeds are in m/s so multiply by 2 to get knots, samples every 10 minutes) for January 2023.

Plotted are windspeed-direction and gustspeed-direction. Then I wondered if the winds died down at night so plotted only for 10am-4pm. Then I plotted windspeed by day, to see how variable days are, and finally picked a couple of days that looked like they might make the best sailing to see how it varied over the day.

No comments, I've not been there at that time of year, just graphs.

I should also add the wind speeds I am quoting are not every day, usually when the southerlies kick up you are looking at anywhere from 25-45 knots.

I am saying it can reach hurricane force winds.

[wrwakefield]

Taylorriddle, welcome to the forum.

Sam and fxykty, thank you for your kind referrals.

I'll be a contrarian and not discourage you from exploring planned, off-season forays during periods of reasonable weather (your definition...) in the NNE Pacific where you are now boating.

The weather can be beautiful (or not...) And you will encounter very few other recreational boats.

It is all about your personal risk tolerance vs. preparedness and suitability of the vessel, its systems, and your family.

Off-season boating in these latitudes requires a bit more planning and preparation than summer season, and most importantly, complete and total flexibility with your schedules and obligations. (i.e., NO deadlines.)

You must be prepared for delays that can sometimes add up to weeks due to a combination of weather, conditions, and the briefer daylight (and consequently transit) periods that time of year.

Sometimes it is difficult to plan a tide/current dependent passage with enough daylight to complete the transit, so you may have to wait a few days until timing is right. And we choose not to transit in the dark if we can help it. It is already way too easy to hit things in the daylight- floating and otherwise.

You, your crew and family, and your vessel need to be prepared for contingencies that don't present in the milder summer sailing season.

You and the boat need to be able to single-hand in any conditions if necessary. (e.g., your partner is incapacitated, or needs to tend to the children full time, etc.)

The vessel, its rigging and systems (especially the ground tackle systems) need to be very appropriate for the intended uses, ruggedized, and in excellent condition.

I always advocate (and we do this routinely before setting off) what I call 'cruising at the dock' before venturing out for an off-season cruise. Start now. (And if you are in Auke Bay as I suspect- see my PS- you may be forced to do this on occasion since you have to move every 10 days...)

Cruising at the dock?

Turn off shore power and pretend you are at anchor. How are the heating systems, batteries, potable water system, etc. performing? How long do the batteries last before you have to turn on your shore power charger? Is the heat adequate? How long did your water last? Does the heat work in high wind gusts?

I much prefer to discover any shortcomings at the dock where the immediate workaround is turning shore power back on while I figure out the kinks.

Rinse. Repeat.

Once you and your family have cruised at the dock a few times- including experience in less than optimal conditions- you will have a better idea about your collective (and your vessel's) state of preparedness to make some off-season forays at anchor.

With today's weather forecasting, it is not too difficult to select a comfortable weather window (again, you define what is comfortable/reasonable weather...) for the short day hops necessary in the northern off-season.

One of the many weather products I find most useful is the Forecaster's Discussion. Lots of insight and clarity on which models were used, as well as their level of confidence.

If you are interested, I have written a bit about my experiences with cool weather boating.

I hope this nudge of encouragement will help you with your planning for the impending fall and winter season.

Cheers, Bill

PS: A local consideration: I will assume you are probably in Auke Bay. If you are not able to obtain an assigned slip for your winter berth, then you also need to take into account the possibility of not finding space to dock when you return to the busy transient area of Auke Harbor. (That and having to relocate the boat every 10 days...) And even if you do find space upon return, there is only enough electrical infrastructure to accommodate about ~15-20% of the transient vessels docked there.

In case this is relevant.

[Jamme]

Originally Posted by Taylorriddle

Her name is Leda. We've got a whole website about her history if you're interested Sailing Vessel Leda – Dedicated to the New Zealand built sailing yacht Leda

She's a 1940s wooden boat built by two brothers.

Amazing read — stuff for books. What a story!

Fair winds with that beauty.

[MVDarlin]

I keep my 1980 34 C&C in Ketchikan all year. It is at a dock with AC to power the dehumidifier and heater. At times the electric bill can exceed the moorage cost. I recommend you have permanent winter moorage and AC dock power if you plan to winter in SEAlaska. Ketchikan has a 3 year waiting list for a slip. Wrangell has slips available. Weather, most noably horizontal rain will keep you at the dock most days with occasional glorious clear winter days for boating. Anticipate snow and ice as well. Ketchikan has 180 inches of annual rain. Water leaks are my biggest maintenance problem. I head south to Mexico Oct to May

[Slovak]

Check out https://www.youtube.com/@AlluringArctic - they were northbound through BC to Glacier Bay in the winter. It will give you an idea of the conditions.

We just spent 11 weeks cruising SE Alaska. There are many hideouts. Especially along the west coast and away from the fjords we found most anchorages under 50' deep. Deeper east and into the inlets, nearly all anchorages were over 50'. Different topography within a few miles.

Don't underestimate the local weather nuances. We've gone from 30 knots of wind on one end of a small anchorage to 0 and vice versa.

Also very worthwhile to pay attention to currents, both in wider bodies and local areas. Just crossed Dixon Entrance overnight in 25+ winds against a nearly 2 knot current. Doable, but not particularly fun. The moment the current shifted, slowed, or even reversed, the very lumpy and short waves disappeared. Changes like that can happen in matter of minutes, as we saw elsewhere along our journey.

[Pat_D]

Good luck and I hope you have some nice sails.
Hijack alert: working in Ketchikan for the summer. My TY37 is far south. Long hours, but would love to talk sailboats with anyone in town.

[Renegde_Sailor]

Originally Posted by Pat_D

Good luck and I hope you have some nice sails.
Hijack alert: working in Ketchikan for the summer. My TY37 is far south. Long hours, but would love to talk sailboats with anyone in town.

I will be in Ketchikan the next few days. Just north of town now slogging it out through some chop in this southerly.

[Sylph VI]

Ditto, a beautiful boat. I have only spent one year in Alaska, en route from Japan to Canada, and ended up wintering over in Cordova because I didn't want to be caught out in the more extreme winter weather. I also have to say a beautiful timber boat like Leda is in my opinion less than ideal for such adventurous sailing with the persuant risks. It would be an awful shame to lose such a classic vessel.
I appreciate your penchant for higher latitudes but my suggestion, if northern winter is the only time available, is to relocate her to a more benign cruising ground and fly to her (it would be summer down here in the antipodes). Anyway, just food for thought. Good luck and take care.

[Andy64]

Originally Posted by Taylorriddle

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this fourm so I apologize if this is the wrong fourm to post this in.

My question is we recently bought a 54' monohul sailboat (Will add a picture)
She's done two circumnavigations and was built for racing, although we don't go fast on her.
We've done lots of day trips and longer trips on other boats but mostly in summer.

I want to take some time off work but sadly my work is easier to take off from in Winter. I want to sail from Juneau to Ketchikan and then back up again. But I want to do it in Novemeber/December.

I know it will be cold, I'm from north of Anchorage. I can handle the cold and what it does to my body. My question is how does the cold effect the sails and sailing in general? The winds pick up but I think my 54' should still be okay.

In general what challenges does winter add for sailing that I should try to prepare for?

Hi. You should watch Alluring Arctic Sailing.
Andy

[Andy64]

Originally Posted by Taylorriddle

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this fourm so I apologize if this is the wrong fourm to post this in.

My question is we recently bought a 54' monohul sailboat (Will add a picture)
She's done two circumnavigations and was built for racing, although we don't go fast on her.
We've done lots of day trips and longer trips on other boats but mostly in summer.

I want to take some time off work but sadly my work is easier to take off from in Winter. I want to sail from Juneau to Ketchikan and then back up again. But I want to do it in Novemeber/December.

I know it will be cold, I'm from north of Anchorage. I can handle the cold and what it does to my body. My question is how does the cold effect the sails and sailing in general? The winds pick up but I think my 54' should still be okay.

In general what challenges does winter add for sailing that I should try to prepare for?

Hi. You should watch Alluring Arctic Sailing on Youtube
Andy

[Goodxcharly]

Hi Taylor,


It sounds like you already have it figured out and would like a little reassurance. The reply’s are all over the board with some random helpful information.
From reading the posts And applying them to your trip.
This is the main concern I came up with after reading the reply’s.
Don’t get to far from any port or dock as the high 100mph winds can pop up out of the blue? Anchoring is fine though you might want to be a short run to a dock to cover your bases.

Happy Sails!

[David Johnson]

Welcome to Southeast Alaska. I moved to Ketchikan in 1970 and was there all but the two years I spent in Seattle before moving to Sitka in 2020. In Ketchikan I owned and sailed a Pearson 10m sloop, and in 2019 we bought a Nauticat 44 cutter ketch that we now live aboard.
I heartily agree with Bill Wakefield: first winter start out with several dock-side "cruises," then branch into trips away when you bring three weeks of supplies and NO schedule for what you would like to be a two-overnight trip that you have selected because the weather is supposed to be mild.
The all-purpose forecast for pretty much any day of the year in Southeast Alaska is wind from the southeast at 10-15 knots, seas three feet and temperature 47 degrees. In Ketchikan average summertime temperature was 59, wintertime was 39.
And remember, tides are big and days are short, so not many hours for underway in the winter: you have to be able to see the logs!
Good luck. It is a wonderfully visually rich environment!

[jlynker]

Originally Posted by psk125

My brother lives in Juneau. He hauls his J/30 out of the water for the winter, and tells us about the winds that come down the mountainside and blow over the telephone poles.

Williwaw..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williwaw

[wrwakefield]

Hi Taylor,

I hope you have been enjoying this nice fall we have been having.

In my post #18 here I advised “Cruising at the dock” a few times- especially in inclement Wx.

Well, today is a good day for that with gales, storm, and hurricane force winds blowing here and there… (Image from NWS Juneau below)

Hoping you are at the dock somewhere today…

Cheers, Bill