Inside Passage to Alaska...by oar and sail.

[Bob Triggs]

I am wondering if there are any of you here who have taken the trip up the Inside Passage through British Columbia to Alaska in small open boats. I am most interested in hearing from people who have actually done this by oar and sail themselves or who have good first hand information.

I have been reading accounts of this trip from as far back as the late 1800's. Some extroadinary adventures for small boaters. One outstanding tale is about Betty Lowman Carey who wrote her book "Bijaboji"; about her 13 foot wooden indian dugout canoe, and how she paddled and rowed it up to Ketchikan from Guemes Island- alone - in 1934. Quite a few kayak stories too. But I am most interested in the old fashioned open row and sail boats and the long summer trip to Alaska, camping along the way.

[Jay Greer]

I knew a guy who built a twenty five foot open deck double ender and cruised from San Juan Island to Anchorage and back along with his wife and year old daughter back in the sixties. He had a great time. Having a wife that shared his enthusiasm had to be the deciding factor for his success.
Jay

[Barrett Faneuf]

Check out what Tern did in 2006. I got to meet her and her crew as she completed her return journey from Alaska by participating in the Shipyard Raid '06 (http://www.shipyardraid.ca/) .

Tern's website, the Hunter Bay Boat Project (http://www.boatproject.org/) .

Article (http://www.middlebury.edu/administration/middmag/archive/2007/winter_2007/features/tern/) about the voyage by Ben Gore.

[farwesthoops]

See if you can find a copy of either John or Dale DeArmond's book about his row from Sitka to Tacoma to go to college one summer. I forget the title off the top of my head but a search will locate it for you. I remember Mildred Counter, Postmistress in Petersburg in the early 1970's, telling me how she and her husband canoed from Seattle to Petersburg in 1913. Such history and now lost to us.

[Rob Stokes, N. Vancouver]

A buddy and his wife came the other way in kayaks, finishing near Tacoma. They'd do it again in a heartbeat and in fact are seriously considering a trip back up, but in an open sail boat and with their two kids.

Rob

[Michael Beckman]

This is something I really want to do sometime. A few years from now anyway. >_>

And yeah, definitely check out Tern. I also met that group of people on the raid, looked like they had a ton of fun.

[JimD]

You might find something in this old thread: http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=49333&highlight=inside+passage

http://www.dhkurylko-yachtdesign.com/alaska_images/lundgre1.jpg

[J. Dillon]

Although not by sail, paddle or oar , I did the inside passage by trawler in 92. A current thread with lots of images and a yarn as well is over in Misc boats. scroll to page 10 the inside passage parts starts there.

JD

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=61697

[paladin]

I tried part of that in a trade canoe......somehow I just couldn't get my heart into it...my fanny was wet most of the time and it was freezing off.......in my creaky old age I want hot showers and warm beds.....

[Don Kurylko]

http://www.dhkurylko-yachtdesign.com/alaska_images/lundgre1.jpg



Bob, that’s a photo of Gary Lundgren taken on his trip up to Alaska a number of years ago with his dog Elvis. Here are a couple of interesting excerpts from his correspondence with me after he got back. I thought you might get a kick out of it, especially the anchoring part (yikes!). Regrettably, we have lost touch so I don’t know how you could get a hold of him.


Hi Don,
I just got back the other day from my trip. I ended up taking the boat up to Petersburg , Alaska and back to Anacortes where I started. There and back again, just like Bilbo. I wanted to do the whole passage to Juneau or Skagway, but I knew I better turn around before it got too late.
The boat performed beautifully. I was actually quite surprised at how dry it sailed in rough water and it's inherent stability. Having a lot of weight in it probably helped the stability, but still.
I ended up sleeping on the boat most of the time. One, because it was easier than setting up the anchoring system every night and two, I broke one of my tent poles early on. Never dragged the anchor, maybe a few feet during storm force winds that I wasn't as sheltered from as I thought I'd be.
I also used 7 ft. tent poles in each pair of oarlocks (I put a pair at the rear thwart too) to support the boom tent and that made it quite roomy.
The only change I think I'd make is to lower the daggerboard box 1/2" so the daggerboard cap could be thicker, and I'd through bolt the cap to the daggerboard. My daggerboard swelled and warped making it difficult to remove and I cracked the cap by pulling hard on it and it eventually came off. I had a shipwright make me a new one in Petersburg. I had him make it wider near the rear of it to get a better grip when pulling up on too. That cracked too, even though I wasn't pulling hard on it. I had whittled the daggerboard edges so it wasn't such a tight fit.
For a long trip I think I would also add an oarlock centered on the rear deck at the transom in case the pintels and gudgeons got damaged somehow. This way a spare oar could be used for an emergency tiller. Actually, if I do another long trip I'll bring an outboard with me. I'm glad I didn't have one this time though. I think I got to see a lot more wildlife because I was silent. But, there were a lot of times I would have given my left testicle for a motor.
I would also through bolt the quarter bits to the back rest and attach the back rest more securely. It held fine. I did add extra screws. But, it was very unnerving listening to the quarterbits creak and groan when the wind was strong and gusting.
All in all, it was an amazing trip. I don't think I'd do it again, at least not the exact same way. But, I will definitely go back there by boat again. It will just have a motor and a cabin and a head and a galley and a ......
I wasn't sure before if I would or could live on a yacht. But, if I could live on a Whitehall for 5 months, I think I can manage. Now I know what I want when I grow up(so to speak).

*******
The anchor I used was just a cheap 15lb. cast iron navy anchor. And I mean cheap. It broke in half on the way up and I just duct taped it together for the remainder of the trip. I tried to replace it, but could only find big anchors. Duct tape holds my life together.
I'm quite surprised myself that I never dragged anchor, particularly one night when I had a very dubious anchorage in a small indent for a bay with a current that made the anchor rode vibrate under tension at max flood in the middle of the night.
But, because it woke me up, I was treated to an amazing display of bioluminescent algae streaming off the rode like a huge, tattered, neon prayer flag trailing off deep into the gloom in a large arc. The current was also agitating the algae as were schools of small fish being chased by larger fish. Streaks of light chasing other streaks of light. It was also one of those rare crisp, clear nights with no light pollution for who knows how many miles. All this made for those most dazzling light show I can ever remember. It was absolutely amazing.
The whole trip was pretty amazing though. This boat is an excellent way to travel the Inside Passage and see it up close and personal. You can't experience the same thing packed like veal in a cruise ship.

sincerely,
Gary Lundgren



http://www.dhkurylko-yachtdesign.com/alaska_images/gary_lun.jpg

[Bob Triggs]

Hey this is really great stuff, and mostly trips and folks I have not heard of yet. Thanks so much. Really great references and leads. I have been studying this for a few years now. I have read a lot and I have met or talked with some people who have rowed it or paddled it themselves. One of those dreams that haunts you until you do something about it..

A very good internet site resource for these trips is The Inside Passage Registry. (Try it via google)

[Chip-skiff]

There's a section in Jill Fredston's excellent book Rowing to Latitude on this stretch. Seems like the crux, as far as courage and risk, is Queen Charlotte Sound. Which can be a rough crossing, even on the Alaska Ferry.

yrs, Chip

[Chip-skiff]

There's a section in Jill Fredston's excellent book Rowing to Latitude on this stretch. Seems like the crux, as far as courage and risk, is Queen Charlotte Sound. Which can be a rough crossing, even on the Alaska Ferry. Last time I went up, most of the passengers were seasick.

yrs, Chip

[Bob Triggs]

I grew up a mile from Jill Fredston in Larchmont NY. Never met her. But we rowed the same places. I learned to sail right in front of her place in Larchmont harbor. Amazing fun for a kid back then, and cheap too!

Jill Fredston's writings are amongst my favorites. She really can capture the spirit of things with words. Most memorable image of her stories is the polar bears coming to visit when they did arctic trips. Their Rowing from Seattle to The Bering Sea, via the Yukon River, was pretty nifty stuff too.

The open crossings do have well documented risks. Most people who get into trouble are running on a schedule or time table. If you go with the weather and wait out the bad stuff, and time the trip properly, you can avoid some of the worst hazards. You have to deal with the sea on it's own terms. Good local intelligence and weather/marine reports are vital too.

[Ian McColgin]

I just finally got to reading this thread. Brilliant ambition Bob. I never pushed far north myself but it's clearly the way to go.

Carry on & G'luck

[Bob Triggs]

Im really only at the "interested and reading about it" stage of this fantasy. Its quite an adventure so far. I have to say that Gary and Elvis take the cake!

[Gary E]

This fellow from Southern Cal has done it in style....
http://newimages.yachtworld.com/1/7/3/9/1/1739115_4.jpg?1184117292000

[willmarsh3]

Here's a guy who made this passage in a William Garden Eel. Click on the Cruising World article at the top of the page.

http://www.schoonercreek.com/new_const/traditional_sail/traditional_sail.htm

I don't know how much of it he did under sail or oar but nonetheless a fascinating story.
BTW these folks reworked their website so links to it on the WBF will need to be fixed up.

[Bob Triggs]

Here's a guy who made this passage in a William Garden Eel. Click on the Cruising World article at the top of the page.

http://www.schoonercreek.com/new_const/traditional_sail/traditional_sail.htm

I don't know how much of it he did under sail or oar but nonetheless a fascinating story.
BTW these folks reworked their website so links to it on the WBF will need to be fixed up.

Nice read Willmarsh3. Thats a sweet little boat.

[goodbasil]

Ya might want to check out this book, Oar & Sail, by Kenneth Macrae Leighton. He was a Barbados born, Scottish educated MD. In 1991 at the age of 66 he took a 14' replica of the 23' jolly boat of Capt. Bligh fame and rowed it from Vancouver to Prince Rupert. It had a standing lug rig but didn't sail well without a centerboard or keel. So he didn't go as far as Alaska, but a good chunk of the way. He died in 1998. Book is only 5.5" x 7.5"-152 pages so you can get through it in one evening.

[Bob Triggs]

Ya might want to check out this book, Oar & Sail, by Kenneth Macrae Leighton. He was a Barbados born, Scottish educated MD. In 1991 at the age of 66 he took a 14' replica of the 23' jolly boat of Capt. Bligh fame and rowed it from Vancouver to Prince Rupert. It had a standing lug rig but didn't sail well without a centerboard or keel. So he didn't go as far as Alaska, but a good chunk of the way. He died in 1998. Book is only 5.5" x 7.5"-152 pages so you can get through it in one evening.


goodbasil, Yes, I found a copy at the Wooden Boat Foundation library. It is a wonderful little gem of a book. Dr Leighton was a good, honest writer. He died too young.

[Gerard]

Hi all

Long time lurker. The dream of the inside passage by small craft has haunted me for a long time now. Perhaps one day. Personally I think Joel White's Shearwater or Iain Oughtred's Arctic Tern would be perfect. Figure it would take me a while to build, then train, then do it. About 5 years to get ready I reckon:o. But I can dream:). Anyway two more books to add to the list for good reads above.

Bijaboji: North to Alaska by Oar by Betty Lowman Carey. She rowed a canoe from Guemes Island to Ketchikan (I think) by herself in 1937. Quite a story.

The other book is fiction but still a good read and that is The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig. Quite an adventure tale set in Russian Alaska and featuring a winter paddle down to Astoria.

[Bob Triggs]

Gerard, Yes- Bijaboji, its a wonderful story. Betty is quite a woman indeed. Many decades later- when she was in her fifties- she quietly dropped Bijaboji- her 13 foot cedar dugout canoe- back into the water at Ketchikan, and she paddled all the way back home to Bellingham. Alone. Again!

You know the Ashenfelters did no training, had no real experience- they just retired at 65, had a boat built, and took off. They made it- in one of the worst weather summer seasons in decades. They almost died trying too.

There are a few other stories of people who just took off and did this, barely supplied or equipped etc, marginal craft.

Wayne McLennan wrote a book- "Rowing To Alaska" but it includes many stories of his wandering life. He washed dishes for a winter in Seattle, contracted a builder in Carnation for an old fashioned open Banks Dory, and in the spring he and a buddy paid it off and just loaded up and headed north, wet paint and all. They did fine...well except for getting drunk and hung over at Cambell River and almost dying in the whirlpools at Seymour Narrows...

Somewhere in the practical middle of things... If a person is in reasonably good health and fitness then maybe a few months of rowing- 6 to 8 weeks- would be more than enough. Some seamanship, piloting education or experience etc would help too.

I especially like the Tern myself.

Thanks for mention of Sea Runners, I will look for it soon.

[Phil Dory]

The Ashenfelter's book is entitled: Row to Alaska By Wind & Oar

You can still purchase it from secondhand book stores through Amazon.

Their boat was a Swampscot dory.

[pcford]

The Ashenfelter's book is entitled: Row to Alaska By Wind & Oar

You can still purchase it from secondhand book stores through Amazon.



Or for better karmic rewards, at Powell's.

www.powells.com

[Gerard]

Whoops:eek: I see that the Bijaboji showed up in your opening post Bob, sorry. You're right about the need for average fitness and knowledge. Those 2 are relatively easy to acquire, physically I could do it, and the skills I can learn (have a bunch from kayaking already). Right now I have a young family and career to worry about first, but perhaps one summer not to far from now. I guess first I should finish my boat. I have friends who have done the run in kayaks from Juneau to Bellingham and Ketchikan to Nisqually, must say I'm awfully envious sounds like the perfect way to spend a summer.

So folks what do you reckon is the best small boat for this journey? Figure it needs to sail and row. Probably more towards rowing since the wind might be terribly fickle. Figure one person, must be seaworthy, sleep aboard (if necessary) with spartan camping requirements. Must be able to carry supplies for up to 10 days and be buildable by someone with intermediate woodworking skills who has built both stitch and glue as well as SOF kayaks. Whoops here I go dreaming again. Later

[Don Kurylko]

Well, I did manage to make contact with Gary Lundgren after all and he has indicated that he will check in on this thread and, hopefully, participate in it. I’m sure he will have a lot of interesting tales to tell. :)

[Yeadon]

That would be fantastic. I've been lurking on this one for a while now. The photo of the fellow on the whitehall with his dog is very inspiring.

[Phil Dory]

Re: "the best small boat for this journey". The Ashenfelter's rowed the Inside Passage in a 16' or so open dory in their retirement, arthritis and all. Audrey Sutherland rowed in a 12' inflatable kayak all over Alaska in her sixties, feasting on salmon and wine on the beaches. Based on that, I suspect the boat is a very minor factor in the equation and the sailor's determination a major one. It would seem that anything more than a 12' rubber boat should be good enough.

[rbgarr]

I have friends who have done the run in kayaks from Juneau to Bellingham and Ketchikan to Nisqually, must say I'm awfully envious sounds like the perfect way to spend a summer.

So folks what do you reckon is the best small boat for this journey? ... must be able to carry supplies for up to 10 days....

Did the kayakers carry that much in supplies?

[Michael Beckman]

http://www.batritningar.se/default.aspx?Language=EN&Currency=USD&Page=BoatplansDetails&Id=96

Thats the sorta boat I'd love to try a trip like this in.

[Bob Triggs]

http://www.batritningar.se/default.aspx?Language=EN&Currency=USD&Page=BoatplansDetails&Id=96

Thats the sorta boat I'd love to try a trip like this in.

Michael-Are you building her now?

[Phil Dory]

Sea kayak, especially doubles, can carry enormous quantities. Ed Gillett used one to paddle to Hawaii from California; he had enough on board to sustain him for his 63 days at sea. Hannes Lindeman paddled the Atlantic in 1953, with a good quantity of beer on board. John Dowd, using wooden framed folding kayaks (see his article in WB 53), and others have also documented their potential for long term cruising.

[Gerard]

rbgarr yes the kayakers carried that much in supplies, in case they got stuck in bad weather and also a fair bit of fresh water as there are some sections where the quality is questionable or hard to locate.

As for anything bigger than a 12' inflatable it would be nice to have something with a little more panache and style. Of course a very large helping of determination is a basic requirement.

I'm not that taken by the kayak idea. I want the option of spreading a thermarest and sleeping bag on board if I choose. Leighton actually suggests that it is easier to sleep on board. Also want to fly a scrap of sail on the rare days it's blowing in the right direction. Personally the current fantasy involves a small craft, but not a kayak although it may be more seaworthy.

Personally I'm looking at Gardner's dories again, White's Shearwater and Oughtred's Tirrik or Arctic Tern. I know a large range but a guy needs to dream a little on winter evenings.

The Oar &Sail book by Leighton is great, I enjoyed it this fall, gives a guy like me a role model. I also enjoyed Spirited Waters: Soloing South Through the Inside Passage by Jennifer Hahn, a few interesting sections in there.

[Michael Beckman]

Michael-Are you building her now?

Nope, winter kinda threw things for a loop. Cold, and some personal issues. Trees coming down in mid February probably. If I find my boat(15') to be seaworthy I will seriously consider the alaska run myself.. Its highly appealing to me. I loved going north into BC a few years back, and wanted to go farther. Made it to Bute Inlet.

[Bob Triggs]

Another good book: "A Speck On The Sea" Many stories of small boats going across oceans, around the world etc...I mean really rediculously small boats. Some amazing open water passages in this book. Quite inspiring. Chocked full of experience, and wisdom too.

A note on the Ashenfelters: Mr Ashenfelter died not long after the trip. His daughter works here in our county library. She says that the boat is still on the water with the family. It was a Swampscott dory. Notes on the builder etc are in their book.

Personally I think that a double ender, with a sharp entry- a Surf Dory or Gunning Dory- is the way to go. They can be modified for floatation, stowage, decked and combings added, sail and row or just row- lots of options. And one could plan for a "good quantity of beer on board" too.:D

I dont think I could kayak that far as I get restless in something that I can get up and move around in. I want to be able to kick back and relax sometimes. Hard to do in a kayak. Ever try making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a cup of coffee in a sea kayak in a stiff breeze and crossing seas? Many people love kayaking big water. Im just not up to it. Too fat and old and lazy.

[Phil Dory]

I've sea kayaked way back when, but it's more fitted for the younger and more rugged crowd; think of it as backpacking on the water. If you're going to beach camp, it would seem that a flat bottom and a centerboard would be the way to go - traditional dories fit the bill very well. A cabin, however small, is wonderful in that kind of rainy weather. 'Sailing Small' (ed. Stan Grayson) is a collection of accounts by folks who have cruised extensively in small sailboats (16' to 24'). I highly recommend it.

[Bruce Hooke]

It is worth remembering that one advantage of truly lightweight craft like kayaks is that you can readily carry them over rough ground to someplace well above the high tide line. This is very useful if you are caught in an exposed location by bad weather. The really awkward thing about a boat large enough to have a small cuddy cabin is that it is likely to be too big to easily haul up onto dry land over rough ground, but small enough to be quite vulnerable in bad weather...

[Phil Dory]

I should have added that in 'Sailing Small', Paul Gartside has a chapter (#9) entitled 'A Designer Goes Small'. He goes through and justifies every detail of a 22' gaff-cutter he designed specifically for the Inside Passage and the conditions encountered there. It's a great piece and well worth reading, especially if you're thinking of building a boat for the Pacific NorthWest.

[redoleary]

For what its worth, my latest obsession with boats is a St. Lawrence River Skiff. Its oar/sail and is pretty to look at and is famously seaworthy. A cuddy isn't gonna happen on one of these but I'll bet you could dream up a boom tent or something. A decked version like Conjure on the http://www.shipyardraid.ca/ site is particularly sexy. I like the idea of rigging as a ketch or yawl (a'la sailing canoes)with options of sliding seat for one or fixed rowing positions for two. In the end you'd have something you could still haul up, but wouldn't feel like you were "putting it on" like a kayak every time you got in.

Red

[rbgarr]

If you're going to beach camp, it would seem that a flat bottom and a centerboard would be the way to go - traditional dories fit the bill very well.

Speaking of beach camping, is it common practice to pull up onshore and camp out along the BC coast? That's frowned upon along this stretch of coast, thus the Maine Island Trail Association.

[Bob Triggs]

It is worth remembering that one advantage of truly lightweight craft like kayaks is that you can readily carry them over rough ground to someplace well above the high tide line. This is very useful if you are caught in an exposed location by bad weather. The really awkward thing about a boat large enough to have a small cuddy cabin is that it is likely to be too big to easily haul up onto dry land over rough ground, but small enough to be quite vulnerable in bad weather...


No doubt about it, a kayak is really a versatile expedition craft for some of the reasons you point out here. But I want the feel of an open wooden boat. Risks and all. And yes, there are risks associated with camping along this coast. Luckily most of the serious mistakes have already been made by others, and a wealth of navigational and local resources, camping etc info is available. Not surprisingly some of the best quality info comes from the kayak tripping community.

[Bruce Hooke]

Even though they were in something pretty close to kayaks, I'd recommend reading Rowing to Latitude (if you have not already) for some insights on small craft journeys on rugged coastlines...

[Three Cedars]

It is worth remembering that one advantage of truly lightweight craft like kayaks is that you can readily carry them over rough ground to someplace well above the high tide line. This is very useful if you are caught in an exposed location by bad weather. The really awkward thing about a boat large enough to have a small cuddy cabin is that it is likely to be too big to easily haul up onto dry land over rough ground, but small enough to be quite vulnerable in bad weather...

Well if the kayaks are empty , single kayaks can be carried by most men and some women . Fully loaded touring kayaks cannot be carried, so protected landings are always looked for .

Here is a link to Betty Lowman's journey http://www.harbourpublishing.com/excerpt/Bijaboji/737

I met a couple from the USA who built a 17' skin on frame umiak and rowed it from Olympia WA to Juneau in 2001. They slept on it some of the time and made a tent to fit over it. They made it .

[Bill Lowe]

I remember a fall trip in our 37' cutter Brigadoon. Sitka to Auk Bay then down to port Townsend. http://picasaweb.google.com/wildbillboat/BRIGADOONPHOTOS/photo?authkey=p4A5dVmDR1A#5160063872626178578

[Don Kurylko]

I haven’t done the Inside Passage, but in my experience cruising the southern part of the B.C. coast and Vancouver Island in a 17’ Whitehall, there aren’t that many areas where you can easily beach and pull up a fairly heavy boat. The best option is to use the tried and true endless loop, “clothesline” type, two point mooring system. This will allow you to have access to the boat from shore, regardless of the state of the tide, and let you keep the boat out on the mooring away from rocks, etc. when not in use.

We always tried to avoid long shallow beaches, simply because we would then be at the mercy of the tide. We found it much preferable to moor off of steep, rocky promontories instead. That way we always had deep water under the hull and could moor fairly close to shore. Of course, we always tried to find a nice protected nook for the boat, but even in exposed areas this type of mooring was so secure that we never had any problems with the boat, even in rough weather.

With this kind of system, it is an easy matter to haul the boat in and out from shore to load or unload. The rock formations on this coast always seemed to have shelves or steps in them that were perfect for pulling the boat up to. By controlling the tension on the loop attached to the bow, we could pull the stern right up to the rocks and step in and out over the transom with little worry of damage. It was often as easy as tying up to a dock.

I can’t imagine doing the Inside Passage without this type of mooring system. It really does open up your options along a coast dominated by rocks and trees right to the waterline. If anyone one is interested, I can e-mail them a drawing and instructions on how to set up and use the system I developed for my boat. Click on my profile for the e-mail address.

[Bob Triggs]

Don, I believe that this was the method that the Ashenfelters used during most of their trip. They had several hundred feet of line rigged for this.

Australian Wayne McLennan ("Rowing to Alaska") had a different approach; he simply unloaded the boat at water's edge, then rowed back out to a safe spot and anchored. Then he swam back in to shore. When it was time to leave he just swam back out and got the boat. I guess he stayed pretty clean that summer.

I would love to see your version of this system.

[keyhavenpotterer]

In the UK we have a new high quality sea kayak magazine. In issue 6 there is a story " Kate Kayaks to Alaska, a family's journey from Vancouver to Glacier Bay". I have to point out that Kate is 5 years old! They use a local Feathercraft double K2. Although not wooden, the story has to be of interest to anyone contemplating this 1200 mile trip.

Web site here

http://www.oceanpaddlermagazine.com/default.htm

Tom Yost has many home build designs for woodframed kayaks here

http://yostwerks.com/WoodSOFMain.html

Brian

[BrianW]

Same spot, but different times of the day...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BrianW/Family/lowtide.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/BrianW/Family/hightide.jpg

I use the Anchor Buddy, which is nothing more that a huge bugie cord inside a nylon line (in case the bungie cord breaks.) It's not the perfect solution, but it's much simpler than other methods of 'indian anchoring.' The Anchor Buddy is running from a aft cleat in these pictures, to a anchor out behind the boat. The orange line is used to pull the boat in, and to let it back out (pulled by Anchor Buddy tension) for low tide. Always use floating line between the boat and shore, as sinking line may (and has) get snagged on a rock under water, and you won't be able to retrieve your boat without getting wet. Don't ask how I know that. ;)

[BonacBelle]

Paul Gartside rowed down the Yukon River and thru the Bering Straight in a 15-foot "Flashboat" of his design, in the 1990s. There's a picture of him with the boat on the beach in the far north in the hard copy of his catalogue. And if you see his website, you can see pix of the Flashboat being constructed and also in use.

http://www.gartsideboats.com/flash.php

(i'd post 'em, but can't make the attachments work.)

[JimD]

the flashboat

http://www.gartsideboats.com/pgimages/flashrsup.JPG

http://www.gartsideboats.com/pgimages/flashwait1.JPG

[neilm]

Here is my version of the clothesline system. I use plastic pipe to keep the weeds from fouling up. Works great.

http://www.neilmoomey.com/howtos/anchor_buoy/1714-22.jpg

http://www.neilmoomey.com/howtos/anchor_buoy/ (http://www.neilmoomey.com/howtos/anchor_buoy/)

Neil

[Bob Triggs]

There have been a wide range of items that people have taken with them on these small open boat trips. Some have been quite spartan, and some downright luxurious. I am wondering what others here might think to bring with them on a long rowing trip like this.

[Gerard]

So this is not a wooden boat but interesting trip report nonetheless. Title is Seattle to Alaska by Hasty Outrigger Canoe and can be found here:

http://www.mit.edu/people/robot/alaska/alaska.html

Might be fun for some to read.

[Bob Triggs]

So this is not a wooden boat but interesting trip report nonetheless. Title is Seattle to Alaska by Hasty Outrigger Canoe and can be found here:

http://www.mit.edu/people/robot/alaska/alaska.html

Might be fun for some to read.

One of the best accounts of a very small boat on a big water trip up there. Its posted on The Inside Passage Registry as well.

[Bob Triggs]

the flashboat

http://www.gartsideboats.com/pgimages/flashrsup.JPG

http://www.gartsideboats.com/pgimages/flashwait1.JPG

On his website I see mention of the Flashboat's Yukon and Bering trip but no full account so far. Did he write a book or article about that adventure. Was it just a publicity stunt for the boat? (not an accusation here...)

In her wonderful book Rowing to Lattitude Jill Fredston did the Yukon, with her husband, after they rowed up from Seattle to Skagway and then portaged by truck to the lakes for the river trip. He paddled a kayak and she rowed an ocean rowing boat. She said that the Yukon ran an average six knots the whole trip and she was very bored for much of that time. The Bering was not passable for them.

[Bob Triggs]

I finally found the link that I had mentioned earlier for The Inside Passage Registry. This non commercial site is loaded with Inside Passage info for trip planning, charts references, navigation, trip reports etc. For the most part these are oar and paddle related trips. A few cruisers there too. Some wonderful first hand adventures. The kayakers in particular have done a great job of recording all kinds of small boat routes, safe havens, fresh water resources etc.

www.eskimo.com/~joelm/insidepassage.htm (http://www.eskimo.com/~joelm/insidepassage.htm)

[Kermit]

Geremy Snapp built the Ashenfelter's boat on Lopez Island, the starting point for their journey. Do read the book, noting the reason for the absence of photos of the trip. The ending was a fearsome experience that could have just as easily happened beyond help. And don't poo-poo the need for fitness. The Ashenfelters were fit--she had been a phys-ed teacher, as I recall.

And Doig's SEA RUNNERS is a good read. I return to it every few years.

I'd consider this boat for the trip:

http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans/6m_whaler/index.htm

Row it, sail it, but have the motor when/if needed. Burdensome little craft with room to sleep aboard. But my wife says I'm too old. I think she means SHE is too...

Oh, hi, Honey, I didn't see you standing there!

[S B]

[quote=Don Kurylko;1748778]I haven’t done the Inside Passage, but in my experience cruising the southern part of the B.C. coast and Vancouver Island in a 17’ Whitehall, there aren’t that many areas where you can easily beach and pull up a fairly heavy boat. The best option is to use the tried and true endless loop, “clothesline” type, two point mooring system. This will allow you to have access to the boat from shore, regardless of the state of the tide, and let you keep the boat out on the mooring away from rocks, etc. when not in use.
The clothesline mooring, you are describing, here would be refered to as a frape. A contemptous term refering to it's tendancy to bind. It would only be used as a permanent mooring for a small boat. When, not if it seizes up you are left with your boat 100 odd feet from shore. In a crowded ancorage this isn't much of a problem, just borrow the boat next to you and straighten the kinks or pick the seaweed from the block. On an isolated coast this becomes a different problem. You could sit tight until reported missing and the helicopter comes to pick you up ,or get in the water and go out and get her. I haven't been to the west coast yet, and doing this off Vancouver may not be all that unpleasant. If the water off Alaska is as cold as the Labrador current you would be tempting fate to try and warp yourself to the boat and climb onboard before the sea sucked the life out of you.

[Don Kurylko]

SB, the trick is to use a large diameter metal ring instead of a block. At least a 3/8” x 3” inside diameter is recommended or larger. Knots, kelp or whatever will usually pass right through it with no problem. Friction or chafe is not an issue either. Saltwater is a great lubricant.

The ring is also fixed to a buoy at the outer, anchor line end to keep the loop up off of the bottom. This helps prevent fouling and chafe as well.

I have never had a problem deploying or retrieving this mooring, ever. It passed the acid test for me during a 3 month, summer long cruise that we did in some pretty remote areas along the B.C. and Washington coasts. I never had to swim out to free it for any reason.

If you like, I can send you a PDF drawing and a description of the system I use for you to have a look at.

[S B]

SB, the trick is to use a large diameter metal ring instead of a block. At least a 3/8” x 3” inside diameter is recommended or larger. Knots, kelp or whatever will usually pass right through it with no problem. Friction or chafe is not an issue either. Saltwater is a great lubricant.

The ring is also fixed to a buoy at the outer, anchor line end to keep the loop up off of the bottom. This helps prevent fouling and chafe as well.

I have never had a problem deploying or retrieving this mooring, ever. It passed the acid test for me during a 3 month, summer long cruise that we did in some pretty remote areas along the B.C. and Washington coasts. I never had to swim out to free it for any reason.

If you like, I can send you a PDF drawing and a description of the system I use for you to have a look at.
Sounds like the same system, the last one I used had a 3/4 by 4" sheave and more than once I cursed it to high heaven. If it works for you, it does.

[Don Kurylko]

SB, I think you misunderstood me. I don’t use a block at all. I use a large, round bronze ring in stead. The hole that the line has to pass through is a minimum of 3” in diameter. I agree with you that a block, no matter how large, will foul, corrode or seize up, sure as hell.

[S B]

SB, I think you misunderstood me. I don’t use a block at all. I use a large, round bronze ring in stead. The hole that the line has to pass through is a minimum of 3” in diameter. I agree with you that a block, no matter how large, will foul, corrode or seize up, sure as hell.
Yes I did misunderstand you. You could probably tie your shirt to the rope and it would pass through that. :)

[Penokee]

I met a couple from the USA who built a 17' skin on frame umiak and rowed it from Olympia WA to Juneau in 2001. They slept on it some of the time and made a tent to fit over it. They made it .

Three Cedars,

I was really excited to see you mention this couple. I saw them at the public dock in Bella Bella in June, 2001, but only spoke with them briefly. I had hoped to talk with them more, but they were provisioning and we were busy getting ready to go as well. The next morning we left and I saw them camped out on an island just across from the docks, and then never saw them again. I've wondered about them and their boat ever since! I'm glad to hear they made it :)

Is there a log or book about their trip anywhere? Or more about their really interesting looking boat?

Penokee

[JimD]

I am slowly but surely becoming a grey haired, arthritic, old man and if I tried to do such a trip in an open boat like a Caledonia Yawl I would likely have to be hospitalized before I got to Campbell River. Just thought I'd share that in case Wayne is watching.:cool:

[Gerard]

I seem to remember hearing/reading on a net forum that the couple in the 17' umiak ya'll met were Harvey Golden's brother and his girlfriend. On the other hand my wires could be seriously twisted and I'm very wrong:o. Might try asking Harvey through his website at http://www.traditionalkayaks.com/

Gerard

[canoesail]

http://www.mit.edu/people/robot/alaska/medium/5klemtu/5klem025.jpg
I sailed from Seattle to Ketchikan in 2001 in a homemade outrigger canoe. Here's the triplog:
http://www.mit.edu/people/robot/alaska/alaska.html
I read the Ashenfelter's book on that trip. It seemed like I was moving a whole lot faster than they did and not working nearly as hard.
I just finished Jill Fredston's book, it seemed like I had a much easier time on the Seattle-Ketchikan stretch than they did also.
I did a total of maybe two weeks preparations, including driving across the country. I'm a big fan of doing the preparations on the trip.
My boat is a well-worn 17ft mad river kevlar canoe some friends gave me. I added a 20-lb soft-closedcell-foam outrigger of 300lbs displacement, an 8meter leg-o-mutton/crabclaw sail made from bluetarp, a deck of soft closed-cell foam with a built in drawstring skirt around the cockpit. I had a leeboard on the starboard side and a kickup rudder with a push-tiller. That push tiller is a great invention.
I rowed with irish "paint-stick" currach oars when there wasn't enough wind to sail. Try them. They're great.
I could sleep on my boat, sail into the wind pretty well, rig the boat to self-steer whenever the wind was fairly steady. I could take a crap in the current far from land, or in a dirt-bucket and save it. Kayakers crapping in cat-holes have caused an e.coli problem for shellfish farmers. I could sail downwind over kelp rafts steering with a sweep oar, or put down my leeboard and rudder to park in a kelp raft.
The chewy foam lip of my cockpit could flip up or down. When it was down I could and did flip my boat without getting any water inside, even if the attached skirt wasn't tied shut. The boat had freeboard during a full rotation, if that makes any sense. Put it another way, the side decks were wide enough to float the boat, and the deck of 1" closed-cell chewy foam was enough to float the boat along with the height of the inner cockpit lip.
I could flip that same lip up and get inside with the skirt around my shoulders to sail in crummy weather.
I never got trapped by the tide because I could put down sticks and drag the boat over them, even if it was loaded. When I got scared/tired I preferred to sleep on the water.
Canadian weather forecasting consists of giving gale warnings every single day. They'll also tell you that all the shellfish are poisonous all the time.
I seemed to hit the tide rapids at the wrong time no matter how hard I studied the tide charts. If the rapid was too rough and there was a bank I'd tie a line to each end of the canoe and pull it up or down the rapid from shore.
I had headwinds and shifty winds for 41 days and tailwinds for 3 days. I'm told if I had started a month earlier it would have been the other way around.

[skuthorp]

Canoesail, I sail an Outred Macgreggor and occasionally do camp trips in it, but your achievement leaves me lost in admiration and rather envious.

[Bob Triggs]

Canoesail, that was really great stuff. I loved your account of the trip. This aditional information is very good too.

For anyone interested, the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend - sept 5/6/7 this year- will feature several women who have rowed the Inside Passsage from Washington to Alaska... and then some. Amongst the more heroic of them is Betty Lowman-Carey, who rowed her 13 foot dugout canoe "Bijaboji" from the Island up to Ketchikan as a young woman in 1932. Later in life- at age 55- she quietly and unceremoniously return rowed the same canoe back to Guemes Island. Dale McKinnon also rowed the trip- in an Oarling she built herself- and she will be there too. Last year Sue Dandridge of Port townsend and a friend built their own boat and rowed the Inside Passage too.

[Yeadon]

Canoesail, I ran across your trip journal about six months ago ... I was very impressed. I've actually daydreamed about your trip. Probably as recently as a week or two ago ...

[JimD]

Nice to see this thread resurface.

[Bob Triggs]

Geremy Snapp built the Ashenfelter's boat on Lopez Island, the starting point for their journey. Do read the book, noting the reason for the absence of photos of the trip. The ending was a fearsome experience that could have just as easily happened beyond help. And don't poo-poo the need for fitness. The Ashenfelters were fit--she had been a phys-ed teacher, as I recall.

And Doig's SEA RUNNERS is a good read. I return to it every few years.

I'd consider this boat for the trip:

http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans/6m_whaler/index.htm

Row it, sail it, but have the motor when/if needed. Burdensome little craft with room to sleep aboard. But my wife says I'm too old. I think she means SHE is too...

Oh, hi, Honey, I didn't see you standing there!

Kermit, Thanks for that note on builder Jeremy Snapp. I am hoping that the Ashenfelter's dory will be at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival this year, right alongside some of the other local boats that did the trip. For anyone interested, Jeremy Snapp has a small press called Pacific Heritage Press. He is widely known for his work in Pacific Northwest maritime history, like his great book "Salt of The Sea". He has an historical archive with over 40,000 regional photos. So if you are researching the pacific northwest's boats etc, he may be able to help you. www.pacific-heritage.com (http://www.pacific-heritage.com)

[TerryLL]

I already posted this photo on another thread, but here's another boat that made the trip from Seattle to Sitka. Summer of '84.

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k365/TerryLava/cape_ann1.jpg

The photo was taken at Gasworks Park, Lake Union, a few weeks before departure.

[Bob Triggs]

In continuing my research on this subject I ran into the mention of a fellow named Steve Gropp. He appears in several references to row and sail trips up the Inside Passage, ( amongst whom the Ashenfelters mention him) ,and there is even a reference to his circumnavigating Vancouver Island in a small traditional open boat. I found Steve Gropp's webpage, which features his ornamental ironworks up on the San Juan Islands, but I can't seem to find anything in print regarding his travels up the Inside Passage. Does anyone here have any info on this remarkable man?

[ellisjohson]

I know we have a 21 foot sailing dory down at the Center for Wooden Boats that some guy took up the Inside Passage all the way to Alaska. That has always intrigued me. It's a really cool little boat. I say go for it.

[Thorne]

I promised a review of the Kenneth Leighton book _Oar & Sail_ -

At 152 pages it isn't a long book by any standards, and those hoping for a lot of technical boat-related data may be a bit disappointed, as he mostly covers his route and internal dialog about the trip.

I'm certainly not slighting the stamina and determination required for a trip like this, mostly under oar. And his descriptions of all the various hospitality offered by those he met onshore and on the water are wonderful, as are the details of the route and how weather and water conditions influenced it.

This book is well worth the money and time for anyone thinking of boating in that area, but is certainly different in tone from many other boating stories with much more focus on gear, rigging, and specific techniques for operating boats under oar and sail.

[donald branscom]

My old boat Lucky Star was taken to Glacier Park by the new owner Tim Sell.
He is much more adventurous than I am. He sent this beautiful photo to me.
http://i41.tinypic.com/550ynm.jpg

[KAIROS]

I went one way from Juneau to Port Townsend in 1996, including Glacier Bay, in Garden's Eel design.....an 18'6" canoe yawl. It was probably the best 45 days I've had, and I think since then I've been trying to think of some reason I must do it again.

That time, my excuse was that OTTER was for sale near Juneau. So, in order to pick her up I had to fly up there and bring her back. As you can see here on this thread, there's lots of sources of information and 1st hand knowledge. I'd be glad to share my experience if there's a need to.

Here's OTTER in Glacier Bay. I have several other decent scanned slides. A few dozen very 'informative' experiences along the way. If I had to mention just one aspect, I'd say that the scale of the landscape was so immense that I almost never could correctly estimate distances and sizes. From bears to mountains.

http://www.yachtflyers.com/forum_images/otter_anchored.jpg
[Bruce Baker photo (previous owner)]

In this second photo, for example, OTTER is anchored more than 2 miles from the face of Reid Glacier. There, I would not have been surprised if I had sailed around a point and come across some guys wearing skins spearing a Wooly Mammoth on shore. Wonderfully barbaric landscape. Very few people anywhere.

http://www.yachtflyers.com/forum_images/otter_reid_glacier.jpg

.....now I am drooling.....must go back, must go back....

[Bob Triggs]

Kairos, I sure hope you will share some more of your experiences on that trip with us...it sounds great.

[peter osberg]

Its a great trip, but don't confine yourself to the inside. All the nice beaches are on the outside and if the weather is good, the outer routes are much nicer, I have spent the last 22 years on the central coast and Alaska, and The only weather forecast you should follow is what you can see. Or in the words of one... If there is wind in the treetops in the morning, wait til tomoorow to travel.

[darroch]

http://www.yachtflyers.com/forum_images/otter_anchored.jpg


Now, that's a little boat to fall in love with.

[Venchka]

I am slowly but surely becoming a grey haired, arthritic, old man and if I tried to do such a trip in an open boat like a Caledonia Yawl I would likely have to be hospitalized before I got to Campbell River. Just thought I'd share that in case Wayne is watching.:cool:

Yo! Jim!

I'm back. I'm still going. The Good Lord and my bank account permitting. :) I am in Planning Mode right now. You are more than welcome to sign on as a non-paying passenger. Surely you can handle that? :eek:

Think Summer of 2013.

Back on topic: I have had a lust the Inside Passage since forever. I had a lust for a proper dory since forever. Thanks to this Forum and other research I narrowed my criteria to a boat that A) Sailed better than motored, B) Motored better than it rowed, and C) Rowed tolerably well. My solution: the Caledonia yawl Elisabeth Grace.

We will be there!

[Paul Pless]

Hello Wayne, good to see your NW dream is still alive.

Unrelated to this thread, but curious have you ordered your new Leica M9 yet?;):)

[KAIROS]

Kairos, I sure hope you will share some more of your experiences on that trip with us...it sounds great.

Okay. I will make a go at it. I have wanted to for some years.

It will have to wait for a couple of weeks......we have another boat on the hard now, and quite a bit to do with it.

Here's a calm view at the beginning of that sail up North....that is a Humpback Whale blowing in the foreground. For scale, the mountains at left with snow are more than 75 miles away. Of course you could hear the whale blow and inhale:

http://www.yachtflyers.com/forum_images/whale_mtns72.jpg

[Venchka]

Hello Wayne, good to see your NW dream is still alive.

Unrelated to this thread, but curious have you ordered your new Leica M9 yet?;):)

Thanks Paul. While never quite dead, my Dream was rekindled last week. The embers are glowing again.

A friend made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. I jouned the ranks of the Zeros & Ones Photographers with a Canon 1D Mk III. Alas, I had to put Bubba up for adoption. I still have Bigfoot. Appropriate name for a camera to take to the Inside Passage, no? I'm currently struggling with the photo inventory for the trip. I guess I keep a digital camera functioning on such a cruise. The 4x5 Linhof and Fujinon lenses are a given.

Back on topic: I own several of the books mentioned above covering trips in dories, kayaks and a sumptuous 30 someting foot yacht. I reckon if one person paddling alone or a couple can make the journey in sea kayaks, even I can do it in my boat. Compared to a sea kayak, the Caledonia yawl is a battleship. :cool:

[JimD]

Yo! Jim!

I'm back. I'm still going. The Good Lord and my bank account permitting. :) I am in Planning Mode right now. You are more than welcome to sign on as a non-paying passenger. Surely you can handle that? :eek:

Think Summer of 2013.

Back on topic: I have had a lust the Inside Passage since forever. I had a lust for a proper dory since forever. Thanks to this Forum and other research I narrowed my criteria to a boat that A) Sailed better than motored, B) Motored better than it rowed, and C) Rowed tolerably well. My solution: the Caledonia yawl Elisabeth Grace.

We will be there!

Hey, Wayne! Good to hear from you. 2013 sounds just about right. And who knows, by 2013 I might just have another boat of my own - you know, one with a cabin ;)

[Venchka]

Cabins are over rated.

I'll be back to this thread when I can add first hand information.

[JimD]

Yeah, who needs a cabin?

http://files.myopera.com/farisse/albums/608978/boys,rain,umbrella,cute,kid,children-4eb40daf4712f88af98f2772093a8c52_h.jpg

[KAIROS]

What I need to say and the 15-or-so photos I want to post of my trip in Otter may be a bit much here on this thread. Maybe no? It is certainly on-topic but also certainly personal. Let me know. It may not fit here and I can not imagine a thread all about me and this trip. Here is that seductive photo of Otter that first got me......early 1980s WB Mag:

http://www.yachtflyers.com/forum_images/1otter_monochrome.jpg
[Bruce Baker photo (previous owner)]

[BrianW]

Kairos,

I for one, vote you post away!

Let's see those pictures, and hear your tale.

[JimD]

I encourage you as well.

[Venchka]

Aye! Brian and Jim are right on target. Post away.

[Paul Pless]

Let me know. Dude, you need to go for it!

[KAIROS]

Okay. I'll look through slides and see what else needs scanning, then I'll try to get across some of the major themes in text. It'll take weeks....

[JimD]

bump

[KAIROS]

There's a somewhat parallel thread here which I've posted to on page 2:

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?t=49333

[edit: .....But that other thread might now be titled "Big Party Behind a Tow-boat". I think the 'oar and sail' part of this thread title speaks the difference. Both can be fun, but for me, the oar and sail aspect is key....and that was my experience of the passage. As Woody Allen said, I never wanted to be part of a group that would have me as a member. Traveling in a group is not my thing. I did post a short story of two important aspects of my trip in the other thead......partly what I wanted to do in this thread. Blah blah blah. Where were we?]