Alaska 2020
This series started stranger than most. We had the unknowns of the covid 19 spring which left us questioning what our options were. We had planned to depart our home port of Everett, circumnavigate Vancouver Island then head south to Mexico. With the Canadian border closed, our circumnavigation plans went to the wayside. Mexico early on was an unknown, and we didn’t want to cruise south and get stuck in Southern California. So, when Canada announced that they would allow boaters to transit through the country to Alaska, we jumped at the opportunity and the Alaska 2020 series was born!
Please enjoy as we take you through the transit, the lonely port towns (without cruise ships) and the lonely anchorages (without fellow cruising boats). Even the weather was a bit melancholy—lots of wind and rain. We celebrated the sunshine, whenever it dared to show itself. We experienced beautiful anchorages, caught plenty of fish, and crab, and enjoyed the fabulous wildlife. Whales and Bears seemed plentiful this year. Enjoy!
Problem - Where do we go? Trawler Life aboard our Ocean Going Power Boat - Sea Venture - EP 45
With Covid-19 plans have changed. In this short video we review the new plan for cruising Sea Venture for the summer of 2020.
Washington to Alaska - Day 1 - Cruising on our Trawler Sea Venture - EP 46
This is Day 1 of our transit, where we clear through customs and start our journey.
Washington to Alaska - Day 2 - Cruising on our Trawler Sea Venture - EP 47
This is Day 2 of our transit, where we cruise from Prevost Island in the Gulf Islands, through Dodd Narrows and on into the Strait of Georgia, anchoring in Northwest Bay.
Washington to Alaska - Day 3 - Cruising on our Trawler Sea Venture - EP 48
This is Day 3 of our transit. We leave Northwest Bay and transit through the Strait of Georgia, past Campbell River to Gowlland Harbor.
Washington to Alaska - Day 4 - Cruising on our Trawler Sea Venture - EP 49
This is Day 4 of our transit. We travel from Gowlland Harbor to off the coast outside of Cape Caution, part one of our 40 hour run north toward Alaska.
Washington to Alaska - Day 5 - Cruising on our Trawler Sea Venture - EP 50
This is Day 5 of our transit with part 2 of our overnight passage and our cruise throughout the day offshore, finally arriving on Campania Island just before dark.
Washington to Alaska - Day 6 - Cruising on our Trawler Sea Venture - EP 51
This is Day 6 of our transit we start on the west coast of Campania Island, travel through Petrel Channel, concluding our day south of Prince Rupert, at Kelp Passage.
Washington to Alaska - Day 7 - Cruising on our Trawler Sea Venture - EP 52
This is Day 7, the final day of our transit. We cross Dixon Entrance, enter back into US waters, clear customs and conclude our journey in Foggy Bay, Alaska.
Quarantine on a boat in Alaska - Trawler Life aboard Sea Venture - EP 53
In this video we spend time in Foggy Bay, explore Very Inlet, anchor in Bullhead Cove, check out Kah Shakes Cove and continue our journey toward Ketchikan.
Ketchikan + Q&A - Our visit by boat - aboard our trawler Sea Venture - EP 54
After traveling to Alaska in 7 days and completing our 14 day required quarantine, we took some time and explored Ketchikan. If gave us the chance to experience the town without cruise ships – and compare that experience to our 2018 visit.
Trawler Life in Alaska - Bears everywhere! - Cruising Sea Venture - EP 55
In this episode we show the highlights of our time at the Anan Bear Observatory, located in SE Alaska between Ketchikan and Wrangell.
Trawler Life - Spending the day with bears in Alaska - Cruising Sea Venture - EP 56
If you enjoyed our Anan Bear Observatory video, then this video is just for you. It’s the result of taking about 4 hours of video from the Observatory and reducing it to one hour fifteen minutes. In this longer version you will see more of what the bears did while not catching fish, a small glimpse into how long they actually spent trying to catch a fish, and more of the interaction between the bears.
Trawler Life in Alaska + Q&A aboard our ocean going power boat - Sea Venture - EP 57
In this episode we leave Ketchikan, visit Tolstoi Inlet for a night then cruise on past the hard working commercial fishing fleet, come across some bubble feeding humpback whales, and anchor for several nights in Fool’s Inlet, our base for visiting Anan Creek.
Trawler Life with Sea Venture - Cruising Alaska - Mega Yachts, Hiking, Narrow Passages +Q&A - EP 58
In this episode we cruise from Fool’s Inlet to Berg Bay where we hike to an alpine meadow and explore the river delta, before cruising on through some narrow passages and past a huge mega-yacht, before arriving in Wrangell, Alaska.
Cruising Alaska Westbound + Q&A - Trawler Life on Sea Venture - EP 59
We cruise from Wrangell westbound. We cruise west in Sumner Strait past a gillnetter on our way to Red Bay. We navigate the meandering entrance channel to anchor 4 miles deep into the bay. We then continue our westbound journey through dense fog around the south end of Kuiu island through Cape Decision.
Wind, Waves and Sun + Q&A - Aboard our trawler & home Sea Venture - EP 61
We cruise from Mud Bay on Kuiu Island, across Chatham Strait, to Little Port Walter, ending the video with us hiding from the wind and waves behind Patterson Point.
Trawler Life - Not everything goes right! + Q&A - Cruising Sea Venture - EP 62
n this episode not everything goes right! We get caught in some rough water with no good anchorages and a storm on the way - This is our Boat Life! At least we caught 12 salmon while looking for somewhere to anchor.
Trawler Life in Alaska - Mega Yachts and Hot Springs - Cruising Sea Venture - EP 64
We spend time at Red Bluff Bay, cruise to Baranof Warm Springs, take a couple of hikes, do some boat repairs, and finish up with our weekly, “Trawler Q&A”.
Storm Planning - Trawler Life in Alaska - Cruising Sea Venture - EP 65
The tranquil setting of a cozy bay starts feeling small when a storm blows though. While waiting it out, it seems all the wildlife of Alaska comes to visit. It’s some of the best and some of the challenges of our trawler life aboard Sea Venture.
Trawler Yacht - After storms - Sun, "No Wind & Flat Seas" - Sea Venture in Alaska + Q&A - EP 66
After the storm we left Ell Cove to find lumpy water on Chatham Strait. As a liveaboard trawler, the weather impacts our daily activity. This time, we deployed our paravane stabilizers and decided to change our plans. We cruised the short distance to Cosmos Cove to wait for better seas. The next morning we found our flat seas, fished from our trawler and went on to explore Appleton Cove.
Trawler Life – Living and Cruising aboard our Yacht Sea Venture in Alaska EP 67
We cruised our trawler Sea Venture through the smaller passages westbound and fished along the way. We squeezed through smaller passages to a ‘maybe too small’ anchorage and had to reassess after some winds came through. We experienced minor north pacific swells on our way to a westernmost anchorage and enjoyed watching the huge numbers of fish jumping.
Trawler Life – An Awesome Hike and Exploring Sika, Living aboard Sea Venture + Q&A EP 68
We started out in Kalinin Bay with an amazing hike along an estuary, around a lake, through a forest and bogs to Sea Lion Beach. The sun came out while we explored the beach. Then we cruised the inner waterways to Sitka. We fully explored the town and re-provisioned for the next month as we continue our adventures in SE Alaska.
Alaskan King Crab! Living and Cruising aboard our Trawler Yacht + Q&A – Sea Venture EP 70
We cruise away from beautiful Sitka, encounter some serious rain, and stop in Deep Bay for some epic crabbing. Then on to Hoonah Sound, then make a U-Turn back to Deep Bay – the crabbing was just too good to leave quite yet. Finally, we continue our journey eastbound as our summer tour of SE Alaska continues.
DRAMA? DISASTER AT SEA? No - Just Living & Cruising Aboard Our Trawler Sea Venture +Q&A EP 71
We cruise our home and ocean going yacht, Sea Venture from Deep Bay back to Hoonah Sound, where we enjoy fishing and more whales. We then head east stopping back at Warm Springs, where we anchor in a deep rocky bay in the dark. We wake the next morning to quite a surprise--bears everywhere! Then we trawler along at 7 knots to the south end of Admiralty Island where we catch some nice salmon, then on to Cannery Cove for some great crabbing. After halibut fishing in Frederick Sound we settle in at Whitney Island. A great period of cruising, fishing and crabbing, filled with no wind and flat seas, all while enjoying life as a liveaboard.
Living our dream - Cruising Alaska aboard our trawler Sea Venture plus Q&A - EP 72
In this episode we spend most of our time in Thomas Bay, just north of Petersburg, Alaska. Thomas Bay was fantastic. It has two glaciers that feed the bay, a spectacular small inlet (Scenery Cove) and a great anchorage behind Ruth Island. We spent several days their anchored next to the NOAA Survey Ship, Rainier. From Thomas Bay we traveled past Petersburg, through the Wrangell Narrows and on to Wrangell.