Dan wrote:
I seek to plumb the collective wisdom of this group.

Good luck.


(1) What is the optimum power craft for a couple's four-week trip up
the Inner Passage, in your opinion? Specify length, beam, hull
material, propulsion, essential features.


Your question is too general. It implies that only a certain type of
craft would be ideal for this relatively easy cruise. In fact, boats
from a wide spectrum would be capable of making the voyage safely,
comfortably, and reliably- so while there are going be a few obvious
concerns (like range, for example) the "optimum" choice will be at
least as subjective as objective. A boat that you didn't like very much
would be a poor choice compared to something that was 99% as
"seaworthy" but that appealed to you quite a lot. It's like walking
into the finest restaurant in town and asking the waiter, "What would I
like best from your menu?"

I would make this run in a diesel trawler. 36-feet is a comfortable
"couples cruiser" and more than enough boat to handle anything a
sensible boater would deliberately set out in. But that's the same boat
I use for everything else. :-)

There would be nothing wrong with a guy deciding to do the Inside
Passage in a 30-foot
express cruiser, a 50-foot motoryacht, you name it.



(2) What is the most *minimal* power craft in which you'd feel safe and
comfortable making such a trip?


It's done all the time in boats as small as trailerables, provided that
the boaters are willing to wait for a "weather window". If you check
th C-Dory website, I believe there are accounts of making a cruise like
this in a C-Dory. I know that regional author Dale Petersen has taken
his C-Dory "Day by Day" to Alaska and back, sort of. He has never made
the entire cruise in a single shot, but trailered to different points
to begin various legs. He has covered all the water for the entire
distance, but not in a single 3-4 week jaunt.