Cleveland Passage

If on first looking at the chart your intuition says that Cleveland Passage is likely to be a dubious anchorage, then trust your intuition. We didn’t, and allowed ourselves to be beguiled by the Douglas and Douglas pilot which includes it on its “dream” itinerary tour of SE Alaska.

The most charitable thing that can be said of Cleveland Passage is that it is roughly equidistant between Petersburg and Tracy Arm, 2 must not miss places on the SE Alaska circuit, and splits the otherwise 70 mile passage into 2 easier legs. Beyond that, the anchorage has little to commend it. 

Whitney Island takes the sting out of a westerly wind, but williwaws seem to come from all directions and combine with the stream flowing through the anchorage to produce an annoying wind against tide chop that will slap against your hull night long. Combine that with the swell that manages to creep in from both ends of the Passage , and the sound of your chain rattling across the rocky bottom as you swing around in the williwaws, and it is not a recipe for a peaceful night. To compound this the holding on the rocky bottom is only barely adequate and it can really only be described as a settled weather anchorage. 

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