Some final thoughts:
- The scenery in Alaska is spectacular. One can see more of it and more variation with toys (sno-go, ATV/Dirt Bike, boat, or airplane);
- Depending on the size of your boat/trailer, shoreside storage (i.e. parking the boat trailer) can be pretty costly at the coastal towns on the road system (as mentioned, Valdez, Homer, Seward) or at the areas near lakeside (i.e. Big Lake, Finger Lakes, etc) especially during the season. Most places have transient slips in the water but limit the duration of stay....and depending on location, getting a "permanent" slip may involve waiting. Also, although I don't know how it will play out this year, but last year, of course I checked in mid-season, a couple of places would only rent shoreside storage by the month....but I was looking for a 40' spot. Depending where you setup camp, it detracts from the experience a bit if every sailing trip involves a drive of several hours and launching and loading each time.
- Sleepers: a real PITA, ranking right up there with seaweed and related debris for powerboaters. Sleepers can be either naturally-fallen stuff that washes out to sea or (more frequently) timber (i.e. harvested, no branches) that has gone wandering during transit. Like Icebergs, most of the timber is below water with only a bit above water. Definitely hard to see and can cause damage if hit at speed. If one hits them end-on, doesn't take much speed to do the damage.
- OP mentioned a kicker.....obviously needed if one will be taking their sailboat in/out of the various harbors. Not needed quite as much if sailing on lakes....but very convenient.
- In years gone by, I've worked at Prudhoe and at Barter Island and gone hunting at Purkeypile: all of which experienced still air temps in the -50's and wind chill that was off the chart. However, the most miserably cold that I ever got was going out of Homer in a powerboat late March. The OP will be up a couple months later...but keep in mind that it will be pretty cool on the salt until well into summer...and the water's cold all the time.
CRL
My RV is a 1946 PA-12
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