Laura Domela 
The 34nm route today from Tolstoi Bay to Ketchikan crosses Clarence Strait and transits south down Tongass Narrows. Traffic increases exponentially as we near the “big city” — cruise ships, tour boats, float planes, ferries, fishing boats, pleasure boats, and so on. The rest of the group headed for the docks at Bar Harbor (closest to groceries and laundry), while Airship found a spot at city floats in town. Kevin’s … Read more
We departed Exchange Cove and headed south through Kashevarof Passage towards Clarence Strait. Water was glassy for the first couple hours of our 44nm transit, then picked up a little in Clarence Strait. We saw a few humpback spouts in the distance but otherwise an uneventful, calm cruise. Tolstoi Bay is on the west side of Clarence Strait near Thorne Bay. We anchored in the west cove, near a couple … Read more
We weren’t in any rush to depart Point Baker, but we all got underway fairly early for the short cruise to Exchange Cove. Right off the bat, strong opposing current slowed our progress. Watching the speed over ground drop into the 5s, then 4s is painful, but thankfully the water was calm and we only had 25nm to travel. Around Point Colpoys the current finally released us from its grip … Read more
Our route today from Devilfish Bay to Point Baker is via El Capitan Passage. El Capitan Passage is a narrow, winding, shallow pass (dredged to 6 feet in some places), but it is well-marked and well-charted. Unfortunately, low tide this morning was at about 7:30 a.m. and is a -1.6ft, so we opted to leave Devilfish Bay around 10:00 a.m. to ensure we would have plenty of water under our … Read more
Originally when we planned this leg of the trip we’d hoped to continue down from Craig around the south end of Prince of Wales Island, then north to Ketchikan. This is slightly shorter than going over the north end of Prince of Wales Island, but it’s also more exposed. Cape Chacon, at the south end of Prince of Wales Island, juts into Dixon Entrance. To go that route, we needed … Read more
Craig is about 50nm from Egg Harbor, and a third of those miles are in the ocean. Today’s forecast is as good as we’ve seen: wind light and seas (combined wind waves and swell) three feet. We departed early from Egg Harbor—around 6:30 a.m.—hoping to beat any unforecast wind. The ocean cooperated nicely, and we enjoyed as smooth a ride as we’d hoped. The only downside of today’s cruise was … Read more
If there are two highlights on this leg of the trip, Coronation Island is one of them (the other is Endicott Arm/Ford’s Terror). Coronation Island sits just south of Chatham Strait, out in the ocean. It’s a big island—about 30nm around—with a dramatic, bold coastline and bare peaks. Because it’s in the ocean, it’s “off the beaten path” and seldom visited. Thankfully, the weather for our visit cooperated perfectly. We … Read more
After weeks of sun, we finally awoke to overcast. With a short run and a good forecast, we weren’t in any rush to leave, and eventually pulled the anchors around 9:00 a.m. Not long after leaving Bay of Pillars, an active humpback surprised Airship as it breached several times about 100 yards from the boat! Explorer Basin is a large bay at the entrance to even-larger Tebenkof Bay. We … Read more