We’re just north of Seattle, have a week off, and want to cruise southeastern Alaska. Normally that would mean a long slog offshore to get there and back, with little time left over to actually be in Alaskan waters. Not an efficient use of our limited time. So we said to hell with bouncing around in the Pacific and decided to hit the smooth straight highways north.
I’m a huge fan of trailer cruising. Instead of spending most of your vacation getting to where you want to go (and then back), you get to your destination quickly, comfortably, and use less fuel. Even if you have a big boat like our 8,000-pound, 28′ Aspen Power Catamaran with its 10′ beam, all it takes is a good tow vehicle and an easy-to-get $10 wide-load permit.
Our plan is to trailer across the border into British Columbia, follow the scenic Fraser River Canyon north until we can make a left towards our launch site at Prince Rupert–the literal end of the road and a mere 30 miles from Alaska. The trip takes a day and a half, and we’ll sleep and dine in the boat at an RV camp for the one overnight. We’ll leave Friday right after work and get home late on a Sunday evening, giving us nine full days, six of them in Alaska. If we did it all by water it would have been reversed: about six days up-and-back (weather permitting), and three there. That’s why I love my trailer.