“Early August finds us back in our home port of Valdez, AK after our summer cruise. This is our second summer of cruising our J/35 and it has confirmed our decision that it is an excellent boat for us. When we started boat shopping, we wanted a boat that would be fun to sail, capable of working into a headwind and seaworthy enough for some ocean passages including safely crossing the Gulf of Alaska.
We bought our J/35 VENTURE in the Seattle, WA area. She had been used for local racing and day sailing. In the Seattle area we made a few changes that would allow us to move her up the inside passage to AK. A Monitor Wind Vane and anchoring gear were the first two additions. We mounted the primary anchor on the bow with 300 ft of chain that leads back to the windless that is mounted on the cabin top aft of the V-birth hatch so that chain drops down into a chain locker we built in front of the mast, to reduce the weight in the bow. A secondary anchor was added to a holder on the stern. A solar panel, inflatable dinghy, epirb and life raft were also added. A local sail loft changed our racing sails from foil to hank ons. Leaving Seattle, we were a bit worried about how we would actually like cruising a J/35. We had a wonderful first trip north.
In Valdez, we have continued to make more cruising modifications. We live aboard so additional storage down below was needed. We changed the settees in the main cabin by building in cupboards on both sides that matched the width of the shelf that was there. We also modified the storage under the quarter-berths and V-berth to create smaller compartments. A set of three shelves were also added to the corner of the port quarter-birth just aft of the galley for increased galley storage. We have an ice box but do not have any refrigeration. During the summer a cooler fits behind the ladder, between the quarter-births. In the winter, the cooler is moved to the cockpit and a wood box fits in that area. We have a small electronic heater that runs when we are in the harbor but we also have a small Dickinson woodstove that is mounted to the bulkhead at the end of the starboard settee. In this winter climate we fight condensation. The wood stove provides very dry heat and we have a stackrobber mounted on the stove pipe with a small fan that flows warm air into the V-birth. During the winter, we put up large canvas covers that help shed the significant amount of snow that Valdez receives each winter, but are also easy to take down for the wind storms that blow through the harbor each winter.
This summer, we stayed out in the Gulf of Alaska from Prince William Sound to the north end of Prince of Wales Island. From there we traveled down the inside passage as far south as Shearwater, BC. Heading north, we have stayed in the inside passage to visit many small towns, scenic anchorages and natural hot springs in SE Alaska including Glacier Bay National Park before leaving the shelter of the inside passage to cross the Gulf again on our way back to Valdez. We have found our J/35 VENTURE to be well-suited to this type of cruising. When we left Valdez May first, the Gulf of Alaska was filled with series of low pressures that sent gale after gale from the SE moving along the coast. There are a number of bays that we could slip into and wait for the next small weather window before heading south again. The advances in communication now make it easy to get update weather reports even in remote locations. The J/35 design allowed us to easily and safely handle the offshore conditions with two people. Even when sailing her conservatively, she easily glides through the water making good time in offshore conditions handling the large swell and waves that can build in the Gulf of AK. The inside passage is known for shifting and varying wind conditions. SV Venture is fun to sail in these conditions because she sails so well to windward. In the course of the typical day, we alternated between working to windward and downwind sailing as the winds funnel around the islands and through the channels that did required frequent sail changes. Several days we were able to fly the spinnaker for hours at a time. We were able to sail most of the trip with very little motoring.
Back home and preparing to return to work for the winter, we are already starting to plan next summers destinations. Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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