Yacht Charter in Alaska: Memories to Last a Lifetime

I've stepped aboard sailing yachts and superyachts, monohulls and catamarans, in destinations ranging from the glittering Côte d’Azur, to the wilds of the Costa Rica rainforests, to the sands of the Fijian out-islands. I've covered the luxury yacht charter industry for the past 13 years, and I've been lucky enough to go on somewhere in the vicinity of 50 cruises all over the world. But there is one experience that stands out in my memory—and that makes my friends drool with anticipation when I recount it. I was aboard the 120-foot motoryacht Kayana somewhere near Tracy Arm in Alaska, watching the glaciers go by from the sun-drenched warmth of the upper deck.

The scenery was astounding, with skyscraper-size walls of ice and earth towering high above both sides of the yacht. It sounded like Poseidon was opening a trench to the planet’s core every time a chunk of the stuff calved off and crashed into the sea. In the midst of this powerful display of nature, one of Kayana’s stewardesses checked the bubbling hot tub’s temperature, suggested that I indulge in a soak, and offered me a cocktail. The ice chilling inside the glass, she said, had been chipped from a broken piece of glacier earlier that day. It was thousands of years old. The deckhands had gotten it for me. Would I like it served with rum, champagne, or something else?
I mean, really. Where else in the world could something like that even possibly happen?
Alaska is a destination that offers truly unique experiences, but alas, not so many crewed yachts. The vast majority of luxury charter yachts spend their winters in the Mediterranean, where business is booming and the summer season is long. Some boats hang out in the Bahamas or the North East United States from June through September, but precious few make the trip through the Panama Canal and up America’s West Coast to the upper latitudes. The season in Alaska is short, the trip to get there is expensive, and most yacht owners decide that the place just isn’t part of their overall plan.
The good news is that during the past few years, a number of good-quality motoryachts have made Alaska their summertime home base. There’s Kayana, which is marketed by CEO Expeditions, along with the 98-foot Broward Reflections, which is marketed by Infinity Yacht Charters, and the 122-foot Crescent Shogun, which recently got a new owner but is expected to continue chartering through Northrop and Johnson.
None of these motoryachts are the newest in the world, but all of them are nicely maintained, have reputable management companies, and cruise with captains and crew who possess exceptional local knowledge—the kinds of guys who know where to go to carve off a piece of glacial ice for your sundowner.
I can’t stress enough the importance of local knowledge in Alaska, where everything from salmon fishing to crabbing can transform from a fun few hours into a life-bending experience if you’re with people who have spent years scouting out the best spots. Some of my other Alaska and Pacific Northwest memories include watching a bear scoop spawning salmon out of a river as if at a buffet, and my fellow charter guests screaming with delight as Kayana’s captain edged the yacht’s bow beneath a melting-glacial waterfall. These are not the types of things you want to try with captains who have never before done anything of the sort. They’re definitely not the types of things you want to do with a crew who has more experience making shoreside restaurant reservations than they do with donning bear bells or survival suits.
If you haven’t yet been to Alaska, whether it be cruising into Ketchikan or a yacht charter in the remote and wild northern region, then my suggestion is to go—and to go aboard a charter yacht that spends plenty of time in the area. The options among larger yachts are slowly but surely increasing year after year, and the memories that these yachts are offering are only getting better by the day.