Akeeva - 52 Hours Back to Southeast Alaska
by Sam Landsman 25 Sep 2021 08:40 PDT
Prince William Sound © Sam Landsman
We really wanted to spend more time in Prince William Sound, but we were faced with a deadline a week and a half distant in Sitka. It only takes three days to get from Whittier to Sitka, but those days need to be good weather. The next few days looked pretty good, followed by at least five days of really, really bad weather. After that, there might be a weather window to sneak across that would get us to Sitka just in time, with maybe 12 hours to spare. But it was a long way out, and I didn't think we could enjoy Prince William Sound fully while faced with the anxiety of a deadline.
For the trip back to Southeast, Ralph from Jester joined us. He'd not done overnight passages or crossed the Gulf of Alaska, so this was a good learning opportunity for him and having an additional capable crew member to stand watches is always appreciated. We just felt badly that within an hour of Ralph stepping aboard, we were under way for Southeast Alaska and we didn't have time to show him any of Prince William Sound.
Our routing for the trip wasn't certain, with the possibility that wind and seas would worsen considerably on the second day. The forecast called for generally calmer conditions close to shore, with the added benefit that, if conditions worsened, we could easily divert into Icy Bay or Yakutat to wait out any weather. Ralph really wanted to see Lituya Bay, so we set our speed to arrive during the flood, 47 hours later.
Our departure from Prince William Sound could not have been more pleasant. Just as we arrived in Prince William Sound in sunny, calm weather, so we left.
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