Docking in Alaska

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bowball

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When up in Alaska for transit docking at times, is there difficulty in getting space? Is there a meaningful difference between 60’ LOA and 70’ LOA plus or minus a few feet more.
 
I have always been able to get space, but I do think it's hard for 70' vs 60'. There are just fewer spots available. Also keep in mind that with very few exceptions, there's no such thing as a reservation. It's all first come, first serve. When you get to the harbor you call the harbor master and ask for a spot. And further keep in mind that a lot of spots don't have power.
 
TT has it right, water usually but no power. If commercial fishing is going on it's much easier, when they're not fishing there are a lot of boats at the dock. Be prepared to tie outside of another boat of similar size to get to the dock. Just before and just after the commercial fishing season it's common to find boats tied three deep in that size range.

I have found a 30' boat can almost always find a spot to squeeze into, a 42' boat would be hard pressed. A lot of smaller boats can tie into the space a 60-70' boat would require to be against the dock. First come and first served in transient, though if you are willing to pay there are often slips to accomadate you in the short term.
 
Alaska transit docks can get crowded, and the difference between a 60' and 70' boat matters at times.
 
We have done 2 full seasons of cruising SE Alaska in this boat at 68' OA. The only time I ever remember not getting a space was in Ketchikan when all the fish boats were between seasons. Even then, we got into the harbor the following night.


I never found dock space availability to be an issue. You might sometimes not get your first choice of marina, but there is almost always an alternative marina or an anchorage available. Being prepared to anchor out is pretty necessary and takes the pressure off when dock space might be tight.
 
We have done 2 full seasons of cruising SE Alaska in this boat at 68' OA. The only time I ever remember not getting a space was in Ketchikan when all the fish boats were between seasons. Even then, we got into the harbor the following night.


I never found dock space availability to be an issue. You might sometimes not get your first choice of marina, but there is almost always an alternative marina or an anchorage available. Being prepared to anchor out is pretty necessary and takes the pressure off when dock space might be tight.

Our the anchorage depths some what reasonable or do they offer mooring buoys ?
 
Our the anchorage depths some what reasonable or do they offer mooring buoys ?

There are few if any mooring buoys anywhere. Anchorage depths in SE AK, like elsewhere in the PNW, tend to be deep and you have to have adequate ground tackle. We often anchor in 100’ of water. You might be able to anchor in less in some towns, but towns are far enough apart that you have to be able to anchor elsewhere.
 
We have done 2 full seasons of cruising SE Alaska in this boat at 68' OA. The only time I ever remember not getting a space was in Ketchikan when all the fish boats were between seasons. Even then, we got into the harbor the following night.


I never found dock space availability to be an issue. You might sometimes not get your first choice of marina, but there is almost always an alternative marina or an anchorage available. Being prepared to anchor out is pretty necessary and takes the pressure off when dock space might be tight.

Ketchikan is unique in that the transient docks are sized by vessel size, the smaller transient spaces are pretty much non existent due to locals living aboard in the transient zones. When I stopped coming North from a winter in Mexico there were vessels in the transient in Ketchikan that hadn't moved in the 7-8 months I passed through first heading South. I spent the night in a transient slip for a 70' vessel (one night) because there were no other slips available.

I think there you could anchor out in the channel and take a dingy into town though with no problems, there is short term tie space closest to the Safeway store on the South side of the harbor.
 
Our the anchorage depths some what reasonable or do they offer mooring buoys ?

I just skimmed through our log book and our anchoring depths ranged from 25’ to 110’. I would say 65’ or so was pretty common for us, and we were only over 100’ a few times. This is where some route planning pays off, and I would always try to have one or more sheltered anchorages in mind as part of our planning.

There are sheltered anchorages at reasonable depths almost all the way through BC and SE AK. They aren’t always close together so sometimes you plan your route around that and make your travel day shorter or longer to accommodate.

Others take a different approach with lower priority on being in good anchorages. They are more likely than us to be anchoring in extreme depths and depending on stern ties to make some spots work (recognizing that there are other good reasons to stern tie). We haven’t found either extreme depths or stern ties to be necessary and enjoy swinging on anchor in a quiet anchorage whenever possible.

We don’t use mooring balls and I hardly remember seeing any that were available for use.
 
I just skimmed through our log book and our anchoring depths ranged from 25’ to 110’. I would say 65’ or so was pretty common for us, and we were only over 100’ a few times. This is where some route planning pays off, and I would always try to have one or more sheltered anchorages in mind as part of our planning.

There are sheltered anchorages at reasonable depths almost all the way through BC and SE AK. They aren’t always close together so sometimes you plan your route around that and make your travel day shorter or longer to accommodate.

Others take a different approach with lower priority on being in good anchorages. They are more likely than us to be anchoring in extreme depths and depending on stern ties to make some spots work (recognizing that there are other good reasons to stern tie). We haven’t found either extreme depths or stern ties to be necessary and enjoy swinging on anchor in a quiet anchorage whenever possible.

We don’t use mooring balls and I hardly remember seeing any that were available for use.

What length of chain would you recommend to cruise the area ?
 
We're 55 overall and didn't have any issues getting dock space. As TT mentioned, you may end up without power. Anchoring is an option in some towns. Many of the commercial tenders and Seiners anchor across from the cruise ship terminal in Ketchikan. Not sure how they'd take to recreational boats in there.

It's shallow enough to anchor near Petersburg but with the current in there, I'd retreat back down the Wrangell Narrows or find refuge outside on one of the islands.

In Wrangell, some of the smaller cruise ships anchor outside of the marina in deeper water but they have a lot of linear dock space (and marinas) there.

Sitka has a terrific anchorage inside of the marina breakwater and a lot of coves outside.

We found that Harbor Masters fit you in whenever possible. It's true you can't make reservations, heck you can't even call on VHF until you're basically outside of the breakwater but they work hard to get you in. That said we found ourselves in 50' slips and even one 40' slip hanging out the back.
 
Re chain length, I think 400’ is a minimum, and I really like having 600’. I agree with others that you can usually find a spot that 100’ deep or less, but it’s really nice to have the flexibility to anchor in deeper water. This will also depend on the boat length and draft. We are almost always further out than other boats to get comfortable swing room. I’m also really conservative when anchoring. But when the bottom drops off quickly, you need more chain, which increases your swing radius, which can force you even further out. A couple of times this past summer I anchored in over 200’, and if we hadn’t been able to do that we would have had to go looking for another anchorage. But also keep in mind that as you anchor in deeper and deeper water, you need less scope because their is so
much weight in the chain. 2.5 to 3 to one is fine, where in shallower water I go for 5:1 or more.
 
What length of chain would you recommend to cruise the area ?

You will get lots of different opinions on this, and it does vary by boat size and anchoring preferences. We have 400’ of chain, and haven’t yet wished we had more. More chain does give more flexibility in anchorage locations, and some prefer that.

I always have one of more anchorages in mind for each night when route planning, and they don’t include anywhere that includes extra-deep (125’+) anchoring. That is personal preference, and some feel like it is too limiting and want to anchor deep. We haven’t yet felt like it was a compromise and haven’t had to limit our destinations. I’m sure there are places that we haven’t been that might require deeper anchoring, but we haven’t encountered them so far.

There are plenty of smaller boats running around BC and SE AK with less anchor rode (250’-350’). They tuck in closer to shore, sometimes between crab pots (frequently a complication) and make it work. That’s not for me; I sleep better with swing room and more chain.

Read and listen to lots of opinions and choose what works for you based on your boat and preferences.
 
What length of chain would you recommend to cruise the area ?
We have traveled BC and SE Alaska in our 37' Nordic Tug 4-5 months every summer (less in the COVID year) since May 2016. Anchoring 100 nights or so each year, with 250 feet of 5/16 chain, in many many different coves. Most often 40-60 feet, max depth 80 feet. Similarly for the previous 18 years in a 26-footer. Never once felt we needed more than 250 feet.

I did install new chain this fall, and this time went for 300 feet.
 
We have 300’ of 1/2” chain and on two occasions had to bail on an anchorage (both in BC) as it was deep and couldn’t get a good set. In both cases a few other boats already anchored and of course they had the best and only decent spots.

It was less of an issue in SEAK as most marked anchorages were under 70’ deep.

That said we plan to splice 300’ of rode to our existing chain for those rare occasions when we need more.
 
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