We are currently cruising SE Alaska for the winter. We transited up in July 2020. We hear a warning on CH16 every day when cruising. The Coast Guard has entered into a new contract to address repeater stations that are not working. We did upgrade our VHF Antenna's to 10db Morad Antennas (commercial antenna which you will see on almost all commercial fishing boats in SE), and at least for us, it solved the problem. Note it requires at least 2 new antennas since the 10db operates outside of the AIS frequency, so that requires a 2nd antenna, or if you want to go all in, you can get a 3rd tuned to the exact frequency of Channel 16. We now hear the warning everywhere, so we have good coverage. With a standard 6db fiberglass whip antenna (ours was 34 ft above the water), you will have areas where you are not going to be heard by the CG. Hopefully they will get all the repeater stations up and running at some point, but apparently the problems with them are not easily fixed. It's very odd to hear the CG on VHF 16 broadcasting that you should have a sat phone on board and in the case of an emergency, call them on the phone.
Enjoy,
Jim and Rosy
M/V Sea Venture