the Slowboat Team 
The weather during this flotilla hasn’t all been great, but when it has counted the most (in the most beautiful spots), the weather weather has cooperated unusually well. Few experiences during a summer cruise in Alaska rival visiting a tidewater glacier, and being able to do it on a sunny day is a huge bonus. Somehow, we lucked into wonderful weather for our trip up Endicott Arm and into Ford’s … Read more
We had a short cruise today, just 25nm from Taku Harbor to Tracy Arm Cove. The morning dawned foggy, but with very low tides predicted later in the morning, we had to vacate the dock or risk sitting in the mud. Thankfully, radar, chart plotters, and AIS make navigating in the fog relatively easy, especially when there’s as little traffic as there is here. We only deviated from our course … Read more
Although the wind wasn’t quite as gusty as yesterday, we awoke to breezy conditions. The forecast called for 15-20 knot southerlies, and as soon as we left Couverden Island Cove we felt the wind and waves. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. Thankfully, within just a few miles, we crossed a tide line and the conditions improved dramatically! Today’s cruise was uneventful and a bit of a blur. … Read more
We got an early start–about 6:00 a.m.–for a longer-than-expected day to Couverden Island Cove. Originally we planned to go to Pavlof Harbor today, about 25 miles south of Couverden Island Cove. The weather forecast called for good traveling weather this morning, but worsening weather beginning in the afternoon and continuing for at least a day, so we decided to go a little further today to a super-secure anchorage and then … Read more
Sitka skies this morning were mostly gray and cloudy, but the wind was light and it wasn’t raining. We left the harbor by about 6:30 a.m., timing our arrival at Sergius Narrows for near slack (9:48a.m.). On the way into Sitka, we’d jockeyed with lots of traffic from Sergius Narrows all the way into town. This time, we enjoyed nearly empty waterways and light traffic. As we continued east in … Read more
Our time in Sitka has been spent visiting museums and restaurants, shopping, riding bikes around town, walking the trail in the Sitka National Historic Park, and just generally getting some off-boat exercise! Oh and also doing chores like laundry, groceries, refilling dinghy fuel and propane, etc. Some of us went back to Beak for brunch on Sunday morning, and shared a few of their fabulous donuts as an appetizer. This … Read more
We had spectacular weather today for our 30nm cruise into Sitka — not a cloud to be seen in the bright blue sky. We pulled anchor in Deep Bay around 6:00 a.m., arrived at Sergius Narrows within a few minutes of slack, and had no real current to speak of. Navigating the traffic through Neva Strait and Olga Strait and into Sitka proved more demanding than Sergius Narrows. State ferries, … Read more
After a relaxing, wildlife-rich several days on the east coast of Baranof Island, today we motored eight hours towards Sitka, from Takatz Bay to Deep Bay. Our route leads to progressively smaller bodies of water, from huge Chatham Strait to Peril Strait, and eventually to Sergius Narrows, the bottleneck just west of Deep Bay that can only be transited near slack. Other than a couple photos of the gorgeous light … Read more