Your favorite SE Alaskan cruising waters

[markpierce]

Where are your favorite SE Alaskan cruising areas, and why?* Would like to know since I might get there.

Small islands at the entrance of Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm (fjords):

 

[markpierce]

It's mystical.

 

[RCook]

Just about anywhere from Petersburg on north and west.

Tracy Arm, for sure.* Glacier Bay.* Icy Strait and Cross Sound.* North Chatham Strait and Peril Strait, Hoonah Sound, and on over to Sitka.* Anywhere around Chichagof Island.* The more I think about it the harder it is to choose.

Here's a link to some photos:

Cruising Pics

More Cruising Pics



-- Edited by RCook on Sunday 10th of October 2010 09:57:56 AM

 

[sunchaser]

RCOOk -* I'd add POW Island for sure. Thorne Bay is a great stop off for a variety of reasons plus you can drive from there to Craig. I plan on hitting Craig next summer by boat.*We had a ball in Wrangell, now home to the nicest docks I have seen in the PNW. You can fly in and out of Thorne Bay, Craig by charter and Wrangell by commercial.





-- Edited by sunchaser on Sunday 10th of October 2010 09:31:47 AM

 

[Arctic Traveller]

Our all time favorite has the be the place in your photo, Tracy Arm, and to the South, Fords Terror.* I might be biased though, since we got married in front of the South Sawyer Glacier.* Still, I love the place for several reasons. (goats, bears, seals on the ice, water falls, glaciers and iceburgs, eagles, stunning scenery, the list goes on and on) Glacier Bay is similar, but the restrictions, and huge size of the place put it a distant second in my mind.* I've run hundreds of trips to South Sawyer, and never tire of the place.* In his book, Travels in Alaska, John Muir said he felt Tracy Arm was even more scenic than Yosemite, a park he helped create.* Actually, were headed to Tracy Arm on Wed.(weather and ice allowing that is) * Fords Terror is pure magic too, but very difficult to put into words.* Redbluff Bay, and Warm Springs bay are two other favorites. Actually, it's hard to pick just four or five favorites. We have been exploring here for 15 years, and have just scratched the surface......Arctic Traveller

 

[Nomad Willy]

Kake, Angoon, Elfin Cove, Myers Chuck, Downtown Juneau, Point Baker, All of lower Chatham Strait, Sitka, Tenakee Springs, Dry Pass, Tongas Island, Rudyerd Bay and Boca De Quadra. Let us know when you get done w the above.

 

[Marin]

We've not done SE Alaska by boat but we have flown the Beaver extensively up there since the mid-80s. While we are almost always going to lakes in Misty Fiords and deep into the Coast Range and inland up the Stikine River, the area around Petersburg and west and southwest look like they have a lot of intriguing places to visit by boat. Sitka and Petersburg are the only substantial towns we have any interest in going to again. We don't think much of either Ketchikan or Juneau and would probably give them a miss were we to take the boat up there. We've not taken the plane north of Juneau.

 

[markpierce]

Arctic Traveller wrote:

Our all time favorite has the be the place in your photo, Tracy Arm, and to the South, Fords Terror.*...

Passed by Fords Terror four times, but cruise ships can't/don't go there.* Supposed to have gone to Tracy Arm a couple of times, but*first time the fog was too thick to enter, and the*second time it was too full of cruise ships, so we finally went the length of Endicott Arm, which wasn't a loss.* On the previous trip to Endicott, we had to turn around due to the dropping sun before reaching Endicott's glacier, and we had Endicott all to ourselves on the second attempt.

Endicott's glacier:

*


-- Edited by markpierce on Monday 11th of October 2010 01:48:22 AM

 

[Arctic Traveller]

markpierce wrote:Passed by Fords Terror four times, but cruise ships can't/don't go there.* Supposed to have gone to Tracy Arm a couple of times, but*first time the fog was too thick to enter, and the*second time it was too full of cruise ships

The funny thing about the fog is, once you cross the bar, and get around the first big bend 95% of the time the fog lifts.* By the time you get to South Sawyer it's normal for the sun to come out. Don't know why, but after years of going there every day in summer, it's a pretty common thing.* As for cruise ships, about the only place they present an obstacle is when crossing the bar, and at that, I've only had to wait a hand full of times.* Once in the fjord, they move so slow that getting by is simple.* As an aside note, we ran an average of 20 knots most of the way through the fjord dodging iceburgs.(in a fiberglass boat) It's big fun, kinda like ski racing. The tour schedule was such that if we didn't, we couldn't make the trip.* In the 15 years the tour has been running, it's never been a problem* Once in the pack ice though, it's dead slow.* Often times I would look for an iceburg with a V shaped notch, and stick the bow of the boat in it.* It then worked a bit like a snow plow, but I stopped doing that after getting a new boat with a flatter bottom that instead rode up on the burg and got stuck.* Before it was over, there was a bent prop, but it's all part of the game...........Arctic Traveller

 

[Nomad Willy]

We took the long way home from Ketchikan once and spent a day in Niblack Cove near the entrance to Moria Sound. @nd picture is just before pulling anchor in the AM.