General Information.

Alaska is one of the States that makes up the United States of America. With the large amount of small boat traffic that flows between Canada and Alaska, customs and immigration have been made quite easy, provided you have all your paperwork.

Marine forecasts are available throughout Alaska. In the Inside Passage there are continuous weather broadcasts on the VHF weather channels. Further out in the Gulf of Alaska and North Western Alaska the weather is broadcast at various time throughout the day on HF 4125 MHz.

This whole area is subject to very strong winds in the winter months with the summer weather being characterized by long spells of calm weather. Be prepared to motor a lot as the reality of this area is that to avoid the winds one tends to motor and make passages when there is little to no breeze.

There are thousands of anchorages in Alaska, most of them in places untouched by civilization. It is a strong maritime area and there are many small boats about but the area is so vast that often many days can go by without sighting another vessel.

There are many cruising guides written for South East Alaska. The best value is 'Charlie's Charts' which covers from Victoria, at the southern end of Vancouver Island to Glacier Bay at the northern end of the Inside Passage. The most comprehensive coverage for small boats is in the series of Guides put out by Don and Reanne Douglas and published by Fine Edge Productions (www.FineEdge.com). Another handy book to have for this section is 'Northwest Boat Travel' an inexpensive but all encompassing book (www.nwboat.com). The official NOAA Pilot Books, one for the Southeast Section the other for the rest of Alaska, are good value also.

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