Southeast Alaska-Baranof Island

July 22nd – August 8th, 2025

Sitka

We arrived in Sitka, AK from Hanalei Bay, HI on July 22nd, after just under 20 days at sea. We had a wonderful crossing with mostly steady winds and calm seas. Although the temperature dropped steadily, we had mostly clear weather until about the last week when we started encountering cloudy skies and periods of fog and rain. We were very happy to enter Sitka Sound where we were greeted by whales, eagles, puffins, sea otters and jumping salmon. We found our way to our slip amidst the commercial fishing vessels and quickly set about stretching our legs and exploring the town. The next day our friends on SV Ka’Sala who departed Hanalei a few hours after us, arrived in Sitka and tied up one slip down from us.

Sitka is a great town with a diverse mixture of commercial and charter fishing, tourism, Russian heritage, and indigenous culture. Mixed in with cleaning, re-provisioning, boat projects and laundry; we found time to hike, explore town, eat out, and check out the local brewery, Harbor Mountain Brewing. While in town, we checked out a film by a local artist, Ben Hamilton, called Sitka’s Hidden Wonders. It’s a must see.

Concerned that we may grow roots and never leave Sitka, we left the dock after six days, refueled Tasi, and headed out to explore the nearby anchorages.

Kliuchevoi Bay and Goddard Hot Springs

Our fist stop was Goddard Hot Springs to meet up with Chelsea and Wren from Ka’Sala. This was our first experience weaving our way amongst the labryinth of small islands and submerged rocks around Sitka Sound. No more setting the autopilot and relaxing, this was full-time navigating. Arriving at the secluded anchorage in Kliuchevoi Bay we realized it was all worth it. The anchorage was mirror calm and there was only one other boat in the huge bay. We dinghied over to the hot springs which were amazing. They were concrete pools with a roof structure and plumbing bringing hot and cold spring water into the pools. The view overlooking the bay was amazing.

Redoubt Bay and Magoun Bay

Next up was Redoubt Bay where we went fishing for salmon, and even caught one! We were surrounded by eagles and even had a bear swim by close to where we were fishing. We had rafted up with SV Ka’sala with plans for a group dinner but unfortunately were interrupted by a powerful earthquake in eastern Russia and its resultant tsunami advisory. We decided to leave the anchorage and head out to safety in deep water. On our way, the tsunami watch for southern Alaska was downgraded to no risk and we decided to head a bit north towards the anchorage at Magoun Bay. This one was also calm, secluded and empty except for us.

Kalinin Bay and Appleton Cove

The next day we headed out north through Neva Strait for Kalinin Bay. The narrow passages along the strait were fun to navigate and again required our full attention. To enter Kalinin Cove we had to pass through a narrow and shallow channel that opened up into a beautiful flat bay with a salmon choked stream at the far corner. The boat didn’t move at all which made for some wonderful sleeping conditions. The next day we ran a gauntlet of salmon fishing boats deploying and recovering their salmon filled nets. We had to time the tides correctly through Sergius Narrows so that we crossed during slack tide. Otherwise the currents can run up to 7 knots making for dangerous conditions. Once through the narrows, we continued on through Peril Strait towards our next stop in Appleton Cove. While here, Ka’Sala introduced us to all the local berries. We checked out the well stocked Forest Service Cabin and saw our first bear along the shore. We caught a salmon but it was starting to spawn so we released it. The next day we tried to leave Appleton Cove but encountered strong wind and waves in the strait so turned back to spend another quiet night in the cove.

Hanus Bay

Conditions having improved, we headed to Hanus Bay the next day and anchored near a National Geographic Cruise Boat. We did an amazing hike along a salmon filled stream to a mountain lake. Although we encountered bear scat all over the trail as we hiked, we were consoled in the knowledge that 60 or so hikers with the Nat Geo boat had recently been through and we were pretty sure the bears had run for the hills.

Ell Cove

After the hike we moved on to Ell Cove, yet another calm and secluded anchorage. We explored the area the next day by dinghy with our friends on Ka’Sala including a waterfall and river with distinct evidence of recent bear activity.

Takatz Anchorage

Our next anchorage was at Takatz which involved another somewhat narrow waterway entrance that opened to a large, protected, beautiful anchorage fed by a mountain stream filled with salmon. On arrival, a mother grizzly bear and her three cubs were feeding in the river. We explored the river a short way by dinghy but were turned back by some rapids. This anchorage was so beautiful that we stayed two nights.

Baranof Warm Springs

We then headed over to Baranof Warm Springs. This is a very small village with several cabins along a wooden boardwalk next to a waterfall. There is a public dock and public hot spring fed baths as well as hot spring pools besides the river. While tied up to the dock, we met up with the crew of Ka’Sala, Sea Dream of Clyde, and Kairos; all boats we had come across in Hawaii. It was a cool reunion of sorts and we had fun checking out the hot springs and nearby lakes with them. The locals were all very cool and it was nice getting to know some of them, including Danny who gave us great advice about the surrounding area.

Cannery Cove

After two nights in Baranof Warm Springs, we moved over to Cannery Cove in Pybus Bay on Admiralty Island. Again we were the only boat in the anchorage and this time were treated to a wildlife extravaganza. We lost count of the Bald Eagles and Grizzly Bears we saw on shore from the safety of Tasi. Salmon were constantly jumping and the area was surrounded by Sea Otters. It was amazing to see all this wildlife. Alas, we only stayed one night as there was some strong weather moving in and we wanted to head south before it arrived.

Portage Bay

We departed Cannery Cove and had a fairly rough passage across Frederick Sound to Portage Bay as the wind and waves were coming from where we were headed and we had to bash into them for the first part of the trip. As we got across to the southern side of the sound the seas and wind moderated and we were treated to an epic whale breaching display. So cool to see humpback whales breaching over and over. We then anchored in the southern portion of Portage Bay to wait out the strong winds. Happily we were joined by the crew of SV Detour who we met in Oahu and had fun catching up with them.

We have been in Southeast Alaska now for 18 days and are at essentially the same latitude as where we arrived in Sitka. At this point we really need to break the spell the place has over us and start heading south. Fingers crossed we can do it.