Alaskan Adventure - South East Alaska Cruising

Part One - The “Last Frontier”

Southeast Alaska is wedged between the Pacific Ocean and the Canadian border, shaped like a frying pan, hence the name “The Panhandle”. It has a surprisingly mild climate. The mainland is 600 miles in length with the coastal mountains extending into the Pacific Ocean to form mountainous islands containing the major communities.

The waterway separating the mainland and the islands is known as the Inner Passage, providing transportation and communication networks since humans first settled in the area. The rugged face of Southeast Alaska was carved by the Great Ice Age over a million years ago.
The Tlingit (pronounced klinket) Indians from the interior of Alaska, used cedar canoes via the waterways to move their communities to the lush coastal forests nearly 1,500 years ago. They live to this day off the land and the sea.
The first non natives arrived in 1741 under the command of Vitus Bering funded by the Russian Tzar. Initially the Russians were interested in fur trading (Sea Otter pelts) with the Tlingit community. Word reached Europe and they were soon followed by the Spanish, English and French. The legacy of these explorers are the names of various landforms in this state. Between 1799 and 1867 the Russians occupied Southeast Alaska but it became financially crippling with them selling to the Americans for $7.2 million.
In 1870 the gold rush started, not only with gold mining but the state being the ideal route for mining prospectors getting to Klondike from 1896. Boomtowns established overnight.
Simultaneously the salmon industry was launched together with the forestry industry. The wood was used for shipbuilding, fuel and later spruce (lightness of the wood) for building fighter planes in WW1 and WW2. Sawmills cropped up and the economy grew through exportation to South America and China. By the 1950s the forestry industry had surpassed the declining salmon industry, mainly due to over fishing in local waters. Eventually the wood industry declined between 1993 and 1997, with the last public mill closing in 2002.
Between 1867 and 1966, various other industries boosted the economy and provided jobs. They included Whaling, Herring reduction plants and salters, Copper, Marble and Fox hunting for their pelts.
Since 1879 to the present day tourism has been extremely important to the economy but the number one employer of Southeast Alaska is the government.

We had a fantastic journey towards our next cruising ground, starting with the narrow, twisting Venn Passage, surrounded by shoals. The local fishing boats with their local knowledge, zoomed past us, keen to get to their fishing ground. The depths dropped to 4 metres in places. Once again the beauty of the place was astounding.
We continued in the warm sun, flat seas and very little wind entering the Tongass Narrows to Ketchikan, Alaska’s First City. Ketchikan began as a Tlingit summer fishing camp at the mouth of the Ketchikan Creek.

In 1883 a salmon salters and by 1887 a cannery was developed, with southeast Alaska becoming choked with salmon. By 1940, the years of overfishing hadtaken its toll, leaving behind a history in the skeletons of the machinery and buildings up and down the coast. Fish hatcheries started to be introduced in the early 1900s and during the 1970s under the management of Alaskan Fisheries and Game, state hatcheries were opened with emphasis on research and experimentation, contributing significantly to commercial and sport fishing.
85 nm later we arrived in Bar Harbour marina with permission from the Customs Officer at 4pm. The pontoons or 'stalls’ are utilitarian, mainly used by the vast fishing fleet. We hot bunked a slip, ready to be moved if “Jersey Girl” came back earlier than expected. The sea planes roar up and down outside the marina with the main airport close by on the opposite shore. It is a working port for fishing and we were mesmerised by the ability of these guys with mooring, checking their nets, folding their gill-nets with a huge pulley system and this back breaking work was after a hard night’s salmon fishing.
Our designated customs officer visited us on Amelie and went through the paperwork, asking questions about fresh produce, alcohol and tobacco products on board. We were issued a cruising permit for six months and then taken to the office for ID checks. He was a jolly character and became our tour guide on the journey into the city and back. We were told that Customs always board your boat but our officer saw we were honest, did not inspect the boat and allowed us to keep opened milk, butter and Debbie’s cherished last chunk of Stilton cheese.
Understandably we were tired so an early supper and off to bed was the order of the day. The weather was predicted to worsen over the following two days, so we used the time to purchase Stephen’s fishing licence, top up with beer and buy fresh fruit and vegetables. The supermarket was close to the marina and as usual we bought more than we expected. Using a trolley to take our shopping back to Amelie became a lengthy affair, as we pushed the trolley beyond the perimeter of the car-park, the wheels locked and would go no further. Stephen had to leave ID at the store before they would unlock the wheels, allowing as to transport our goods and returning their trolley for his driving licence.
Ketchikan is a bustling maritime city and daily has several cruise ships. The city swells in size during the day but as soon as the ships leave it returns to a sleepy Alaskan town with the locals enjoying the summer weather in a bar where you can smoke. You can imagine we ended up there and we were welcomed like locals. Stephen had a young couple snuggling up to him as they loved the aroma of his pipe. The drink measures were liberal, ie tip the bottle and get the next order and we floated to the restaurant, Bar Harbour Cafe, which we would recommend. The Clam Chowder was creamy and tasty. The seared Alaskan Scallops perfectly cooked and the seafood main course was rich and plentiful. Homemade desserts were to die for but sensible portions, despite this we needed the mile walk home before bed.
Ketchikan caters for everyone with its touristy downtown gift shops (housed in the hundred year old former brothels), sport and commercial fishing trips, hiking, native culture, arts and visits to the magnificent Tongass National Forest and Misty Fjords.
This busy place is known for its rainfall (liquid sunshine) measuring in feet rather than inches. Average rainfall per year is 12.5 feet and on our last day we experienced it. The wind picked up with a small craft warning on the weather forecast and the rain lashed the boat. We hunkered down in the warmth of the cabin and enjoyed a lunch and a battle of Mexican Train on Bubbles.
Fuelling up was novel as we chose Independence Day weekend to leave and most Americans are not at work. The fuel station was no exception and we swiped our credit card and pushed buttons, eventually filling up Amelie’s tank of diesel. Meanwhile we were soaked to the bone but in true Brit style, gritted our teeth and pulled out into the Narrows avoiding the seaplanes, cruise ships and speedy fishing boats, heading toward our next anchorage.
Exchange Cove and Portage Bay were our next overnighters, eventually ending up in Snug Cove, for a couple of days fishing. Stephen went out on Bubbles and returned with Salmon and Halibut for several suppers. He has got the fishing bug. Meanwhile, Debbie got Amelie ready for our guests, Wendy, Peter and David (Serendipity) arriving in Juneau.
Excitedly we made passage through the lengthy Stephen’s Passage, (88 miles) past Petersburg, an old cannery and sawmill town with a famous Norwegian heritage. It is known as the Halibut capital of Alaska and is the major fish processing centre in Southeast Alaska. This is a definite stop off on our return journey.

Stephen’s Passage was remarkable as we saw our first icebergs and were on watch for “bergie bits”, which are small lumps of ice floating around which on impact could seriously damage your hull. Numerous glaciers came into view, sweeping down the mountainside carving out the landscape. The mountain range backdrop with its snow capped peaks was the icing on the cake, an awesome sight. We had many sightings of breaching Humpbacks, seals lounging on clanging buoys, the odd Sea Otter, swimming on its back, either carrying a pup or a stone and the frequent calls and sightings of Bald Eagles. Dall’s Porpoises and Common Dolphins visited the boats, quickly got bored and zoomed off into the distance.

Two hours outside Douglas Harbour, Juneau we received a ‘phone call from Wendy to say that they had arrived……we weren’t expecting them until the following afternoon but very welcome news. The last few miles couldn’t go fast enough and we were thrilled to see them when they arrived on the dock. Most of us suffered from mega hangovers the following day with the First Mate looking green most of the day.