In this part of the world we always like to have a 100% secure anchorage within half a day’s run. By secure we mean good holding, protection from all wind directions, with an entrance that can be negotiated in semi-adverse conditions.

In Alaska there are options everywhere – but you have to keep them in mind in advance. In particular, this applies to the west coasts of Baronof, Dall, and Prince of Wales islands. The sea bed shallows from the extreme depths of the Gulf of Alaska to as little as 60 to 100 feet (19 to 30m) in a short span. Bring an offshore swell onto these shallows and the waves rapidly steepen and begin to break. Add in an adverse current from an ebbing tide and the situation turns really nasty. Include in this mix the rapid change in weather which this area is capable of producing, and you will understand why the professionals keep such a close eye on the forecast, barometer, and their hideout spot. And also why they use such big anchors.

Which brings us to Sandy Cove on the west coast of Baranof Island, shown on the chart section above. Our weather, in theory, is stable. A frontal system, rain, and a barometer of 1017 mb are the supposed to be the conditions for the next few days. But as we’re on an exposed coast, we want to make sure we’re in a really secure spot, just in case something brews up.

The entrance to this bay averages 20 fathoms. Even with a 15-knot southwesterly breeze it is very lumpy, with seas confused by their bounce back from the nearby shore. At the bottom of the chart, right at the entrance, notice the 7.5 fathom spot? That will break in even a moderate sea.

One of the signs of an anchorage to avoid in bad weather is debris on the beach. We snapped this photo at the second cove on the left (west) side, heading in. The debris is a dead giveaway that you would not want to be here in a southerly blow, lest your boat be added to the timber on the shore.

We wanted to explore the narrow western arm of Sandy Cove. There’s a lake that empties at the northern head of the bay, so we figured the bear watching might be interesting.

It looked very intriguing as we worked our way slowly towards the head of the bay (in this photo you can see how well the large tropical awning protects the flying bridge from rain – otherwise we could not have taken this photo).

The narrow spots along the channel are on the order of 100 feet (30m) wide – plenty big by our recent standards, and deep right up to the edges. However, the 6-foot (1.8m) swell from the ocean, while attenuated by the long passage, was still a couple of feet (60cm) at the head. As interested as we were in what would be found in the dinghy, we would not want to be caught here in a real blow where exiting might be difficult.

Off the east side of the inlet arm is another cove, this one protected from the southerly swell.

This uncharted obstruction sits off the northwest corner of the entrance. As it is high and easily seen, it does not present a significant risk factor.

Like so many of the anchorages hereabouts there’s a massive waterfall in one corner. We thought about anchoring here, but the bottom is relatively deep, with a steep gradient to shore, so we’ve moved to the north arm and have the anchor down in 40 feet (13m) in a good bottom (1200 RPM in reverse with both engines) with room to swing.

There is a post script to this story. Remember that uncharted rock with the tree on top we showed you? On leaving we found there is more to this uncharted piece of ground.

You can see the rock and tree in the center of the photo above. Check out all that reef which sticks out beyond the tree. This was not visible at high tide yesterday, and it not clearly shown on the chart.

The blow-up of the chart above has the boat in the position from which we took that photo. It does pay to keep your eyes open.