Sailing the Inside Passage to Alaska and beyond!
In March of 2020, I was planning to sail the inside passage from Seattle, Washington State to Glacier Bay, Alaska. We all know what happened then, and it’s kind of wild how quickly 5 years disappeared. Well, it’s finally time to do this trip and I’m wondering about finding another hand for an extended portion of the trip.
The plan for the voyage is to leave Friday Harbor, WA, USA approximately April 30th. I will be targeting making it to Juneau, Alaska by early July, maybe spend a month in the Juneau, Glacier Bay, Sitka area, and then start working back South. I will likely then continue until the weather turns and find somewhere to winter the boat while I take off to warmer climates, planning to start again the following year. This should be a relatively low-key pace, averaging only about 10 to 15 miles a day. There will certainly be some longer days and some cases where we’ll want to stay in the same spot for multiple nights. A lot of it will be weather dependent of course, and likely the only time we’ll stay in marinas instead of anchored out will be if there is a storm coming and we can’t find sufficient protection.
The boat is a 1989 Catalina 34. She is very comfortable for multiple people: two cabins with doors for privacy, large salon table, decent galley and head. As for propulsion, both sails will be newish (the main will be brand new in April), most of the running rigging and blocks will be new, the standing rigging I probably will replace in the next couple of years but have no concerns, the engine is rock solid. Propane two burner stove and oven in the galley. I also use an instapot, bread machine, and nutribullet while cruising; all kept up with 300 watts of solar charging 460 AH @ 12 V house battery bank. Autopilot (might be replacing before, or during, the trip), navigation via GPS, AIS, VHF. For water there are tanks holding about 75 gallons. I do have a watermaker as well, but I had a pre-filter tear in 2020 and I think something got clogged up in the main pump; I’ll try to get that running again but we won’t be counting on it working in the short term. My diesel heater also hasn’t worked in years, but I have a replacement that just needs to be installed.
As for me, I’m a 40 year old guy. An engineer by trade, but quit the corporate world about 7 years ago to spend my time sailing and traveling. I have over 2000 NMs of cruising experience in Washington and British Columbia, much of it single handed. I’m definitely an introvert, but also enjoy being social. I read a lot, try to get movement in with exercises on the boat or trail runs when on shore, and cook most meals from scratch. I try to live my life according to values of low consumption and waste, including eating vegetarian and minimizing engine usage.
Who I’m looking for: someone who vibes well and wants to spend an extended amount of time cruising, the absolute minimum would be a month but priority given to someone who wants to go longer. Must be willing to not eat meat on the boat. Nomads, hippies, and burners welcome to apply. I will have friends joining for a week or two along the way, but I haven’t been able to convince any of them to quit their jobs and sail off into the sunset. No sailing experience necessary, but be willing to learn and work on projects. Being able to chip in $600 USD a month for food, fuel, and upkeep would be great, but not absolutely necessary. You would pay for your own transportation to/from the boat and any personal expenses on shore.
Well, that’s the brain dump so far, let me know if you have any questions and looking forward to hearing from you!
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