Chenega Bay.
If your plan is to continue west via the outside coast, the next land after leaving Port Etches is Montague Island. (Try to avoid the sea lion rookery on misnamed Seal Rocks during the crossing.) The eastern shore of Montague is steep, the nearshore is rocky, and there is little to see until Patton Bay and Logjam Bay. A survey vessel that worked in the area has confirmed bottom uplift of 2 fathoms in Patton Bay.
Various scenic shores and anchorages can be found in the area, particularly along the shores of Patton Bay between Box Point and the Wooded Islands and Fish Island group, although the forests are marred by old logging scars. There is anchorage at Box Bay, near the head of Patton Bay, and potential anchorage in Logjam Bay although the bottom appears to be shallow and may be foul.
Jeanie Cove, between Patton Bay and the cape, is too exposed to the south to offer comfortable anchorage.
Approaching Cape Cleare.
Cape Cleare is rocky and exposed, a relatively rounded slope ending in a little flat foreland above the breakers at the southernmost point on the Prince William Sound coast. A wide berth should be maintained to avoid offshore rocks, and strong currents can produce tide rips all the way around the cape. A broad, sandy beach at San Juan Bay on the west side may appear as a tempting landing spot on fair-weather days but shoal water lies some distance off the beach, and an ocean swell piles up breakers even on calm days. A stream enters from a lagoon at the head. Tree color stratification on the hillsides shows the effects of the uplift that occurred during the 1964 earthquake. Montague reveals some of the greatest uplift in the region, as much as 30 feet in some places, where much of what is land now was tidal or subtidal before the quake. This serves as a reminder that the land below the waves has risen as well, which means that in many places depths are somewhat less than indicated on the charts. Across Montague Strait, a scar on the east side of Latouche Island marks the site of what must have been a massive landslide, probably more recent than the big ’64 shaker.
Better anchorages than San Juan Bay can be found at Macleod Harbor and Hanning Bay a few miles up the west side of Montague, although the Coast Pilot warns that the uplift may have produced wash rocks that don’t show on the chart. After the earthquake scientists measured uplift in Hanning Bay of 12–14 ft, exposing a previously submerged escarpment.
To the west a series of four passages provide access from the ocean to Prince William Sound. Montague Strait, 4.5 miles wide, separates Montague Island from LaTouche Island. It is a major travel route for vessels getting from Prince William Sound ports to sport and commercial fishing grounds outside, though strong currents and ocean swells can make the ocean end tough going if conditions are adverse. Latouche Passage separates LaTouche Island from Erlington Island and the north end of Evans Island, providing passage from the ocean to Sawmill Bay and Chenega. Erlington Passage converges with LaTouche Passage at Sawmill Bay, and is narrower and more winding but also more sheltered. Finally, Prince of Wales Passage provides direct access to Knight Island Passage and the islands and inlets of western Prince William Sound. The feel of those passages makes it clear the mariner is entering inside waters after the long open ocean stretches. The dense forest right down to the popweed-covered rocks brings to mind Southeast Alaska, although the forest is sparser, trees are smaller, the vegetation is a lighter color, and alpine meadows are closer to the water. Sawmill Bay is notable for the Port San Juan salmon hatchery (Armin F. Koernig Hatchery) run by the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation, and the village of Chenega Bay.
Floats at Chenega Bay.
Chenega Bay is the last community on this part of the coast before Seward, situated on a hilly peninsula with a small boat harbor on the northeast side. It shows on the chart as Port Benny. The approach to Chenega Bay also is notable due to the row of huge mooring buoys strung across the entrance to Sawmill Bay. They are there to anchor floating boom that would be deployed to protect the village and salmon hatchery from spilled oil in case of another Exxon Valdez–type disaster. Chenega Bay is a pleasant village with a state ferry dock, health clinic, Russian Orthodox church, and museum. Chenega Bay residents do most of their resupply at bigger towns, but some minimal supplies can be purchased in the village and in a pinch a fuel truck will bring fuel to boats at the boat harbor.
Notes
Captain Cook named Montague Island for John Montague, Earl of Sandwich.
The sea lion rookery at Seal Rocks and the rookery at Wooded Island south of Patton Bay are critical habitat for the endangered western stock of the Steller sea lion, but they do not enjoy 3-mile no-transit zone protection. However, the prohibitions against disturbance in the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act still apply.
Montague Island is the largest uninhabited island in the United States. It has a reputation for harboring large and numerous bears. A 1904 New York Times article quotes visitors as reporting “herds” of bears “as big as cows.”
LaTouche Island has no year-round communities, although a number of recreational cabins located in state land sale subdivisions dot the northwest shore of the island. Horseshoe Bay is a classic keyhole anchorage but very shallow and should only be used with local knowledge. North of Horseshoe Bay is the site of the now-abandoned town of LaTouche, which sprang up in the late 1890s around several copper prospects and the Beatson copper mine, operated by the Kennicott Corporation. During WWI about 4,000 people lived on the island but after the mine closed in 1930 the population dwindled and eventually the town was abandoned. Aside from the Horseshoe Bay State Marine Park, most of the land on LaTouche Island is owned by Chugach Alaska Corporation.
Most of the lands of Prince William Sound are encompassed by the Chugach National Forest, except for Native corporation inholding in specific areas. Avoid trespass on private, including Native, lands if you make excursions ashore. A large swath of western Prince William Sound, including Erlington and Bainbridge Islands and the mainland surrounding Port Bainbridge, comprises a congressionally authorized Wilderness Study Area, where use restrictions apply. Visitation is allowed but in general motorized vehicles are prohibited. Forest Service authority ends at the high tide line. You can enter these areas by boat on marine waters but motorized use of lakes and rivers is prohibited.
Remains of the abandoned village of Chenega.
People in Chenega Bay have good reason to prefer living on hills. In 1964 their previous village of Chenega on the south end of Chenega Island some 50 miles north was swept away by a tsunami wave generated by the earthquake. A third of the population vanished in the backwash and all buildings in the village were destroyed except the schoolhouse, still standing today, perched above the others on the hillside. The survivors dispersed to other communities after the disaster but eventually came back together at the new site and built the new village.
Old schoolhouse (right) and modern buildings at Chenega.
Landslide on the east side of Latouche Island.
The old village site is on a seemingly idyllic cove with a south exposure, backed by low hills. Forest has pretty much reclaimed the site. The old school is tempting to visit and there are a couple of modern cabins as well as an open-air community ceremonial building known as Chenega Memorial Pavilion, but no-trespassing signs on the beach discourage sightseeing. A stroll on the state tidelands beach reveals remnants of pilings, a few heavy chunks of metal that probably were engine blocks, and a log retaining wall visible under the trees toward the east end of the beach. A narrow passage to the east behind a small barrier island leads to another cove and beach and offers a delightful hour of kayak paddling on calm, clear waters, with eelgrass, kelp, sand, and shells clearly visible below.