Over the course of our trip, we dropped anchor in a wide variety of spots. Here are our top 5:

  • Ford’s Terror – The narrow, uncharted entrance leads to an unbelievably beautiful glacier carved valley.  Too many waterfalls to count, and we were the only boat there.  Mike went ashore to cut his hair, and 10 minutes after returning to the boat, a grizzly was sniffing around right where Mike had been standing.
  • Russell Island up the west arm of Glacier Bay – We wouldn’t really consider this spot an anchorage in anything but the most settled of weather – lucky for us, the weather cooperated.  Views of 4 glaciers and multiple 10,000 foot peaks.  It was amazing!
  • Cenotaph Island in Lituya Bay – Getting here was one of our goals of the trip; it’s seldom visited by cruising boats because it’s hard to get to, and our efforts were rewarded both by the spectacular scenery and history (which we expected) and a swimming grizzly bear (which we didn’t).
  • Edith Harbour on Dundas Island – just south of Dixon Entrance, this spot was peaceful, beautiful, and felt very remote.  A great spot for a beach fire & roasted marshmallows.
  • Monckton Lagoon – a small, landlocked lagoon inside a picturesque inlet.  The lagoon is only accessible at high tide, and once inside there’s really only room for one boat.  We were lucky it was ours!

Not everywhere was perfect, of course.  Here are our least favorite spots:

  • Crabtrap Cove in Kitkatla Inlet – We stayed here the night after one our best sails of the trip.  It was howling windy, and when we arrived at the cove we found poor protection with lots of chop in the anchorage.  Good holding, though, so at least we didn’t really worry about dragging.
  • Deception Cove at the south end of Wrangell Narrows – Both Angie and Mike thought that a log boom in the cove was anchored at both ends.  It turns out that only one end was anchored, leaving the other end free to swing around and come very close to hitting Madrone.  Late in the evening, we re-anchored a bit further away (the only time in the entire trip we needed to anchor twice).
  • Plumper Cove in Howe Sound – a rolly night, and a river otter climbed aboard to relieve himself on Mike’s shoes in the cockpit overnight…
  • Mole Harbor in Seymour Canal – Supposedly very good protection from prevailing winds, but actually not very sheltered from the wind and chop we saw the night we were there.  Our guests Allen and Deb were troopers for this one.
  • “Scenic Anchorage” in Port Harvey – This one would be a great spot for anyone who enjoys clearcuts, abandoned logging barges, or derelict fishing gear.  It is, however, strategically located at the north end of Johnstone Strait and is out of the gale-force northwesterlies that funnel down the strait.