{"id":40200,"date":"2019-02-07T20:44:43","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T01:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/?p=40200"},"modified":"2023-05-06T17:00:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T21:00:23","slug":"family-cruising-in-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/family-cruising-in-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Cruising in Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Family Cruising in Alaska<\/span>\n Andy Cross<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

Seated comfortably in the cockpit on my second watch of the night, I set my book down on the cushion next to me to check the spinnaker and \u00admainsail, and scan the horizon. All good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

A steady southerly drew us forward toward Kodiak Island, which was still a couple hundred miles to the west. Along with the swell, I could see the breeze on the water, illuminated by the moon. Over my shoulder and just above the southern horizon, it was full and glowing bright, sending a shaft of light across the water that seemed to extend all the way to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Fine on the port bow and above the mast, Jupiter twinkled like a sparkling, icy jewel. To starboard, the sun had set just over two hours prior, but a dusky, bruise-colored sky remained. Basically, it was still light out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Picking up our ship\u2019s log, I slid the green mechanical pencil from the top of the clipboard and, after the time and date \u2014 0120 on July 8 \u2014 the first note I made was short and to the point: \u201cGorgeous early morning. Stunning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The next thing I jotted down was the distance since leaving Sitka: 242 \u00adnautical miles. We were nearly smack in the \u00admiddle of the Gulf of Alaska<\/a>, and I couldn’t have been happier. My wife, Jill, and our boys, Porter, 4, and Magnus, 2, slept peacefully down below, snuggled in their bunks with the sway of the boat and sound of the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In my glory. I was home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Getting Here<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

Our track from Sitka to Kodiak started on a rainy Fourth of July. After three \u00adbeautiful weeks cruising with us aboard our 1984 Grand Soleil 39, Yahtzee<\/em>, Jill’s mom was set to fly out of Sitka on the fifth, and then it was go time for us. But where?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Having spent two and a half months in southeast Alaska already, we were set to move. Jill and I get antsy, and we \u00adwanted to see more of her massive home state. Plus, Yahtzee<\/em> needed to stretch her legs on the ocean again. So we devised a monthlong plan that would have us sailing north to Prince William Sound, west to the Kenai Peninsula and then south to Kodiak Island. Cruising plans are tough though, especially for us. We don’t like them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Instead, we defer to our tried-and-true method of letting the weather decide and then routing accordingly. The \u00adweather rules, and in Alaska, especially on the \u00adformidable Gulf of Alaska, it\u2019s everything. Being in Sitka and looking for a weather window to head north, what we didn\u2019t want was anything out of the north. We were \u00adabsolutely not beating, and if the wind was going to be west, it better be moderate to light, because there is a lot of fetch on the Gulf for a nasty swell to develop. And if we didn\u2019t get the weather we liked, we\u2019d just make a different plan. Simple as that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

When I started analyzing what weather we\u2019d see upon the vast reaches of the Gulf from July 6 to about July 10, I noticed something we\u2019d like, a southerly wind. If that forecast held, Prince William Sound was a green light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

As go time neared, the southerly \u00adforecast was staying firm, but the wind was supposed to be light at times, moderate at others. No problem, I thought. Let\u2019s just get out there and see what we\u2019ve got. Clearing Sitka\u2019s breakwater on \u00adJuly 6, Jill\u2019s birthday, Porter and I raised the mainsail and turned west toward the open ocean \u2014 destination unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Deck <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The light conditions allowed for plenty of fun time on deck for father and son.<\/span>\n Andy Cross<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

At that point, we still hadn’t decided where we were headed exactly, and were going to leave it up to the wind. Moving out past conical Mount Edgecumbe, I \u00adassessed our current situation, plus the latest weather information we had, and gave an analysis as to what we could expect over the next three to four days. Just before losing cell service, I texted my mom and dad to update Yahtzee<\/em>‘s float plan: “The way the wind is shaping up on the Gulf of Alaska, don’t be surprised if we end up on Kodiak Island. But we probably won’t make the decision for a day or two.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Related: The Far North West<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

We lost cell service, and just like that, Yahtzee<\/em> spilled out into the North Pacific Ocean, sailing fast on a broad reach to the west-northwest. That’s when we seriously started thinking about Kodiak as our first landfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Knowing the southerly wind was \u00adgoing to be light over the next three to four days, we reasoned, why try to slog \u00addownwind when we could keep some \u00adapparent wind whipping through the sails while power-reaching fast to the west? We could essentially sail across the wind on a f\u00adaster beam reach, and then from \u00adKodiak we could turn north and hit the Kenai \u00adPeninsula before ending up in Prince \u00adWilliam Sound. Decisions, decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

The Passage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

Shortly after clearing the \u00adSoutheast \u00adAlaska coast, we settled onto our \u00adfastest point of sail, flying our big blue \u00adasymmetrical spinnaker. Beam-\u00adreaching due west now in a light southerly, our \u00adoptions turned into only one outcome: We were going to Kodiak Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

It was about this time when the sun came out in earnest. Don\u2019t get me wrong, we don\u2019t mind the rain, but after several weeks of seemingly unending downpours, drizzle and gray skies, the Gulf of Alaska rewarded us with splendid sunshine, blue skies and puffy popcorn clouds that were reminiscent of trade-wind passages Jill and I had experienced years before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

As was predicted, though, the southerly wind came and went. Up and down went the spinnaker. In and out rolled the genoa. And on and off went the engine. From \u00adSitka, we had roughly 550 miles to go \u00aduntil Kodiak Island, but the distance never seemed to matter. Ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In the realm of time and space, we hadn\u2019t really planned to sail all the way to Kodiak when we left, but deciding to go there while already underway didn\u2019t really seem much of a bother. We plodded along happily, slept, ate, stood watch, played, blew bubbles, read and horsed around like we would have on any normal daysail from point A to B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Northwest <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Although the passage ended in the rain, spirits remained high.<\/span>\n Andy Cross<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n\n

But the reality of our situation was that we were crossing a very large body of \u00adwater that, even in summertime, is known for being inhospitable to commercial fishermen, let alone recreational sailors. From Edgecumbe Point, near Sitka, to the channel entrance to St. Paul\u2019s Harbor, Kodiak Island, we didn\u2019t see a single boat. Nearly four days and nights with no vessel traffic. None.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

I guess that\u2019s saying something, though our reality was we were just moving with a favorable breeze and nearly sailed the rhumb line along the entire route. We might not have come across another human soul out there, but the North Pacific Ocean wilderness and its beauty more than made up for any human contact we ever could have had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Along the way, we spotted every \u00admanner of seabird, including the ever-present black-footed albatross, shearwaters, puffins, gulls and birds we still don\u2019t know how to identify. Pacific white-sided dolphins played on the bow wake at 0400. \u00adMinke whales breached around us on a \u00addaily \u00adbasis, and a large pod of orcas passed on our \u00adstarboard side one night during \u00addinner in the nonchalant way that residents of our familiar San Juan Islands wave by just \u00adraising a finger or two off the steering wheel to signal hello. Hello, indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Overall, our spinnaker was everyone\u2019s best friend. Not only did it provide the speed we needed to beam-reach \u00adsmoothly to the west on a forgiving sea, but it was also a source of work and banter as it went up and down with the rise and fall of the wind. And when the kite or genoa weren\u2019t flying, it was up to our engine to pick up the slack and keep us moving toward a landfall that always seemed very distant yet easily attainable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Besides ably and confidently standing her night watches, Jill is an absolute \u00adwizard offshore and can keep a crew of kids, men or women going no matter what the \u00adconditions. Fortunately, the weather was mostly flawless, and her steady hand at passagemaking with a crew of 2- and 4-year-old boys was a sight to behold. Sure, when all was said and done, we had our moments as a family, but for the most part, we could have kept going, day after day after day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

As for our own wildlife, Magnus and Porter found a rhythm offshore that was all their own. Yes, they acted their ages at times, but for the most part they were the kids who had grown up on Yahtzee<\/em> since they were hours old. Trimming sheets, walking decks with harnesses and \u00adtethers, begging to steer, eating everything in sight and reading everywhere possible on the boat, they didn’t seem to skip a beat. And when I think about their overall \u00adbehavior at sea, I have to say they are true \u00adwatermen, practicing knots, calling out wave troughs and crests, telling me which line is which, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Landfall<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n

Just like that, four glorious days of sunshine, sailing and a bit of motoring came to an end much how the planning phases of the voyage had begun \u2014 in the rain. We were sopping wet, but at least used to it since we’d been cruising year-round for three years in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. But this passage was our family’s longest together, and was, by all measures, one of the most memorable \u00adexperiences we’ve had aboard Yahtzee<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Approaching the verdant and unfamiliar mountains of Kodiak Island, it was hard to believe we were actually seeing this. Had we even meant to come here in the first place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Clearing the safe water and lateral buoys into St. Paul Harbor, I jibed us while motorsailing, and then 2-year-old Magnus said in a matter-of-fact sort of way, \u201cDad, shut off the engine. Let\u2019s sail in.\u201d I could hardly believe my ears, yet it seemed fitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Shutting down the engine and sheeting in to clear the buoys and fetch the harbor entrance, I had almost forgotten where we were and how we\u2019d arrived here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

In my mind, I guess, it didn\u2019t really \u00admatter. We were all home on the sea \u2014 in our glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

Andy Cross and family have been cruising and living aboard their Grand Soleil 39, Yahtzee, for over six years.<\/em><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A family of four settles in and enjoys an easy crossing from Sitka to Kodiak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Andy Cross","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"20190207","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"162","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Days blended into each other for this family of four on a 550-mile passage from Sitka to Kodiak, Alaska.","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Family Cruising in Alaska %%sep%% %%sitename%%","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"YTUWGGLWXXGRFCTCMY77QCOKUM","arc_website_url":"family-cruising-in-alaska\/","custom_permalink":"family-cruising-in-alaska\/","arc_subtype":"right-sidebar-full-header","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":0,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162],"tags":[551,205,667],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40200"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruisingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}