I've always fished boats that are on the small side, and with all the bat launches and places to run to in the Sound I'd say the 15 foot Alaskan with a 25 that I have now, or something similar with a long shaft and 27 inch or better sides, is a pretty good choice if you want to stay on the small side. I used this on Johnstone Strait and even out into Queen Charlotte Sound last summer with no problems. Just don't wait for the waves to come up - when the wind starts head in. When it gets rough you also have to get off the step - real drag if you have a ways to go. Finally, the Alaskan doesn't have a well - again no big deal if you pay attention, but getting hit by a big boat wake or two in the @ss can potentially sink you. For these reasons, and also because several rivits loosened up this summer and since it's still on 100% warrenty I can get 100% trade in value, I'm trading mine in on a 16 foot Lodge Series - another half-foot of freeboard and a well make me feel better. The reason I can't consider something bigger is that most of the time my wife has a 4 horse trailer attached to the truck, so if I want to fish very much I have to have something that I can haul with the minivan

Now what a lot of people don't know about freshwater is that it has less surface tension than saltwater and is a lot more prone to produce dangerous conditions even in a short fetch and moderate wind. Go out on Chelan some time in the 25 mph afternoon north wind we get all the time - with that 55 mile fetch and vertical sides it will give you 8 foot standing waves The Sound is safer.

I don't go in the ocean any more, but have in the distant past on a calm day in a 12 foot Valco with a 10 horse. Not an ocean boat however. I think I heard some "experts" say that because of the wave period in the Sound you would need a 21 foot or larger boat to keep from burying the bow in bad conditions. Probably would want something that size in the ocean also.