The Inside Passage

[XXX-er]

Duno if its changed but Petersberg was cool cuz the harbour was NOT dredged for the cruise ships so its still a real town in Alaska. Its really close so for a quick vaca did a bike tour up from Prince Rupert hitting towns till we got to Juneau, it rained a LOT in comparison France was actualy cheaper for food, the food was much better and it didnt rain every day ... advantage France

[abraham]

If you want videos of stuff, check out the race to Alaska https://r2ak.com/ all kinds of entrants, some lower budget.

there’s also ferrys in an inside passage at the other end of the world (chile). Nice scenery

I think this movie about one of the front running teams is on Amazon prime.

[HotSchmoo]

And once in awhile is the scene of a mega tsunami…

Lituya bay is not part of the inside passage. North of glacier bay

[XXX-er]

My ski bud has done a lot of Sea kayaking on the coast all the way to Glacier Bay, we did 2 days in the creek boats until we could swithc to the double out to prince rupert where his GF joined him and i took the bus home, he is circumnavigating Vancover island right now

a few years ago did the inside passage of Haida Gwai, some stuff around prince Rupert and out of Kitimaat

I can't sit in a kayak for more than an hr anymore so trying to fix that at the PT

[bennymac]

Lituya bay is not part of the inside passage. North of glacier bay

I know. But it's close enough to bring up when people are talking about exploring fjords around Lynn Canal.

[Brownski]

We weren't on a cruise ship, but after a wedding in Juneau we threw sea kayaks onto a day tour boat into the Tracy Arm, which has a pair of tidewater glaciers. The tour boat dropped us off in front of one of the glaciers, and then we took a few days to paddle down the fjord. It was a great way to see the area, and cheap - I think the day boat charged us an extra $20 or something, and picked us up at the end of the trip to ferry us back to Juneau.

This sounds like exactly the way I’d like to do it. I spent two summers in the interior and explored around a bit but never got down to Southeast at any point. Once I get my kids up to speed I might be able to pull it off. No way my wife comes along unfortunately.

[Hopeless Sinner]

Took the ferry up to Wrangell in May, 1981. Hung out and slept under the atrium for 2 nights w a mass amount of young people heading up to work. Spent the next 6 months laying out timber sales, 8 days on, 6 days off, mostly on an island called Zarembo. We lived in an abandoned logging camp or if we went to town on the weekends in a wannigan or floating house docked in Wrangell harbor.

Travel was all by boat, sea plane and helicopter, other than the extensive road system on Zarembo. Our off time was spent reading, fishing, and hunting. Check out the Stikine River Delta for waterfowl hunts and access to the high country(fly in, kayak out.) Endless strings of snow geese, sand hill cranes, etc in the fall.

I did pilot a 65' motor sailer from Wrangell to Petersburg. Boating up there will make you pucker. Tides can be 25' and when in a narrow channel a changing tide can really make the water run. SE AK is a sea kayakers dream. Took the ferry back in late November, slept under the atrium again, not many people, and we were all burnt out from our summers work.

[BFD]

Got t boned in the fog outside Campbell River. Tore us open like a beer can. OP is 2 week late with this post. My son was looking for someone to help him bring his boat down from Pelican.

[riser4]

Am I the only one who thinks "your mom" when they see the thread title?

[TAFKALVS]

Got t boned in the fog outside Campbell River. Tore us open like a beer can. OP is 2 week late with this post. My son was looking for someone to help him bring his boat down from Pelican.

I'd love to help crew a boat sometime.

[Cruiser]

Am I the only one who thinks "your mom" when they see the thread title?

Not anymore!

[XXX-er]

a great song about passages

[BmillsSkier]

We took the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry. Fuck cruise ships. Great trip with real Alaskans. Saw lots of whales and other marine life. The ferry gives you the option of getting off at stops and staying as long as you want, as opposed to a half day cruise stop. Tons of cool stuff to do along the way. You can rent a berth on the ship if you want, or pitch a tent on deck (bring duct tape), or sleep on a chair in the covered Atrium. You can bring a cooler with your own food and drinks. Can't wait to do that trip again. I could give you a lot more info if you're interested.

Well that looks fucking cool.

[XXX-er]

that has a way more tents than I remember also the weather is way better

[yeahman]

Yeah it is. That photo really shows what it's like. We started on that lower deck by the stairs but that spot caught some engine fumes so we moved to the side. You definitely want to secure your tent to the rail if possible so it can't blow away.

Front of the ship had a large observation room that was set up like a movie theater with huge windows. Comfy seats to sit in and watch for whales etc. Our ship had a Forest Service naturalist aboard who shared a lot of interesting info about the geography and marine wildlife.

Next time we go I want to get off in Ketchikan and do a kayak trip to Misty Fjords National Monument. That place looks cool.

ETA: As has been noted, SE AK is a rainy place. Top notch rain gear and a full brim gortex rain hat recommended. It rained on us for six days straight kayaking in Glacier Bay. Then the sun broke out and it was beautiful for the next six days. This was mid-June. Remarkably we did not have any issues with mosquitos but I know that can be a problem later in the summer.

[BFD]

I'd love to help crew a boat sometime.

pretty sure the boat will be heading north next spring. Will try and remember this thread.

[TAFKALVS]

pretty sure the boat will be heading north next spring. Will try and remember this thread.

Keep me in mind. Long term the wife and I want to cruise the inside passage over the course of a summer, but it would be great to do a quick trip and get the cliff notes version. I assume your son has a fishing boat?

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Any mags cruised it?

Overland is passe, I want to hear about coastal yachting.

Get in touch with Bryce, he does a trip every summer up that way. He and his brother own a sailboat.


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[skifishbum]

we did a family cruise on Norwegian a couple decades ago
1st and probably the only cruise ill do
I charter fished Ketchikan and Juneau and scored fresh fish both times
the wife and i yaked haines outta skagway
and the only sea day was glacier bay
which had whales n calving glaciers so there wasnt really a down day
i really enjoyed the nightly talks/presentations by the 2 naturalists/historians they employed

[dschane]

The Alaska Marine Ferry, aka, the poor man's cruise, is fantastic and, if I didn't have the time to go via sea kayak, I'd go that way. There still are a ton of options for seeing SE Alaska via ferry. The inside passage is best between the cities. Zero to 90 minutes is probably enough time in every city along the way.

Before the pandemic, I wouldn't cruise, so there's less than a zero chance I'd do it now. As someone pointed out, many of the shops adjacent to the docks are owned by the cruise companies, and they're often diamond, fake diamond, and t-shirt shops. You can find some locally-owned shops among those, but for the most part, they snag up the commercial area around the ports and their marketing experts re-create the same shops you can find in every cruise port in the U.S. It's the McDonald's of cruise port design. But living in a cruise destination town that offers coke and blow jobs to every cruise company exec., I get riled up easily.

[riser4]

The Alaska Marine Ferry, aka, the poor man's cruise, is fantastic and, if I didn't have the time to go via sea kayak, I'd go that way. There still are a ton of options for seeing SE Alaska via ferry. The inside passage is best between the cities. Zero to 90 minutes is probably enough time in every city along the way.

Before the pandemic, I wouldn't cruise, so there's less than a zero chance I'd do it now. As someone pointed out, many of the shops adjacent to the docks are owned by the cruise companies, and they're often diamond, fake diamond, and t-shirt shops. You can find some locally-owned shops among those, but for the most part, they snag up the commercial area around the ports and their marketing experts re-create the same shops you can find in every cruise port in the U.S. It's the McDonald's of cruise port design. But living in a cruise destination town that offers coke and blow jobs to every cruise company exec., I get riled up easily.

They'd make bank if they sold hookers and blow in those cruise line shops.

[yeahman]

^^I would agree with you about the towns if not for the fact that there is some very nice hiking right from the edge of most of them, if you have nice weather. The Mount Ripinski summit hike just outside of Haines is outstanding, about 10 miles with a pretty good amount of elevation gain and glacial tarns to swim in. Damn all this talk made me hunt up a few pics from that trip. We found out just before we left that my wife was preggers with our first kid, but fortunately she didn't let that stop her.

[billyk]

Well that looks fucking cool.

This is something I need to do.

[bennymac]

^^I would agree with you about the towns if not for the fact that there is some very nice hiking right from the edge of most of them, if you have nice weather. The Mount Ripinski summit hike just outside of Haines is outstanding, about 10 miles with a pretty good amount of elevation gain and glacial tarns to swim in. Damn all this talk made me hunt up a few pics from that trip. We found out just before we left that my wife was preggers with our first kid, but fortunately she didn't let that stop her.

Ripinski is a gem of a day hike indeed.

Fortunately Haines gets a lot less cruise ships than Skagway - Skagway is like the aforementioned McDonald's style port of call selling amber jewelry from the Dominican etc - whereas Haines has resisted those changes and retains so much more character

[BFD]

10 miles by way of 7 mile saddle. Yeahman I think you might of been using a local guide.