Monday, May 11, At sea
We spent the morning off the west side of Vancouver Island… The high point was orca on both sides of the ship as we passed the north end of the island.
Tuesday Morning May 12, Ketchikan Alaska
Its early, the ship is docked but not quite awake…
Low clouds, damp, very much what one expects in Alaska. We gained an hour last night, so it seems later than it is… what a bonus, sleep in and still get up early.
We are off kayaking today…
It turned out we were the only ones on the tour… they had had a group of 4 earlier, and a group of 9 later that day, but for the 9:00 tour we were it… So Tina and I shared a double and our two guides (one in training) each used singles… They provide full gear, rain wear, pfd, and a splash skit. They have poggies (cute neoprene hand protectors) for the paddles… fast boat out 3 or 4 miles to the “mother ship” where we got in the Kayaks… the tide was way down… a minus tide, so it was very much a tide pool trip via kayak… we saw a bald eagle an its nest, a couple of sea lions, and many, many star fish… Tina found the kayaking much easier than the sit on top we used in Jamaica. We walked about town for a little while before returning to the ship… The sail out is interesting… the channel is narrow so you get a good view. We passed through an area known for its hump back whales but they didn’t cooperate… possibly they are on strike until Kodak or Nikon raise the wage for photo model animals.
We found that bald eagles are known to swoop down and gather house cats and small dogs (aka rats in dog suits) for dinner… I am planning on supporting whatever group is working to re-introduce bald eagles to San Mateo County… It would make my life better.
Wednesday, May 13, Tracy Arm and Juneau
We started the day early, at 6:00 or so as the ship cruised the Tracy Arm… a narrow glacial fiord. It was full of burgy bits and growlers (small ice bergs, they are accepted technical descriptions tied to size) as well as pad ice, formed when fresh water freezes on top of ice water… in a sense thin pack ice, seen only at the beginning of the season… (the cruise season, aka summer) We could see both of the glaciers at the top, one fast receding, the other still apparently healthy. There was a smaller expedition boat in the area, and we met the Golden Princess, a sister ship on the way out. The Golden provided a sense of scale… she was tiny in proportion to the fiord… The weather was remarkable… clear, bright, virtually no clouds. They tell us it is never like this…
it is still cold, probably near 20 degrees. Its comfortable when there is no wind and you are in the sun. The seas are calm, but this doesn’t stop our fellow passengers from taking Dramamine, wearing the patch and talking about how rough it is… “I really felt the ship moving last night” was overheard this in 4’ swells, mostly less…
The best passenger question (upon seeing ice bergs) was “is this near where the Titanic sank?”… Clearly both geographically and historically impaired…
As we left Tracy Arm we spotted another orca. A bit after 11:00 we saw porpoises from our balcony.
After lunch we sat on the balcony, and watched the ship dock in Juneau. There are a couple of Holland ships here, as well as a Norwegian ship, complete with the graffiti that they call decoration. As I write this they are setting lines and assembling the gang plank… the tour buses, vans and taxis are starting to gather for the tourist hoards.
I doubt Governor Sarah will meet us at the dock… (she didn’t)
We braved the lines trying to get off the ship (note, really long lines, ridiculously long lines, guests getting restless, guests getting angry, staff getting angry, bad customer service all over again…) then walked over towards town and the Mt Robertson Tramway… a aerial gondola ride to the top of the hill behind the ship… maybe a 1,000 foot up or so… cost per adult $27.00 a person… no thank you. Further into town past the Diamonds International stores, past the Tanzanite stores, past the stores selling Spanish ceramics… past the stores selling tee shirts, and more tee shirts (several with signs stating they were Alaskan owned to differentiate themselves from the cruise ship chain stores) , and lots of Russian dolls… down to the old down town and the Red Garter saloon. We found a store named “Once In a Blue Moose (complete with a sign “Our founder was born in Juneau in 1928” where Tina bought a couple of things… I found a book store. They had a book on Alaska Bearing sea fishing which included a chapter on a boat my brother sailed on… It later sunk, (brother not aboard, but friends were) with some loss of life… the book made it sound heroic… my brother left because he didn’t trust the way it was run, and has stories of bad judgment, pride, and panic all of which contributed…
We thought about a drink at the red garter, but the crowd and the Disneyesque style drove us away… I doubt any self respecting local has been in the place on cruise ship day for years… so, back to the ship for a pleasant afternoon relaxing with a good book and a couple of drinks…
Thursday, May 14, Skagway
We docked early in Skagway… I got off at about 6:30, the first one off… I had to wait while the crew got the scanners and such set up… It was a Keystone Cops performance… one person would put a sign up, a second would move it and put something else there, then the first would move the something else and put the sign back, repeat… finally they say “we are ready” but the gangway is blocked by the ship’s photographers… Finally I am off…
Tina remained happily in bed.
We are docked at the old railroad dock, along the south side of the bay. It extends along a steep cliff. There a tradition of a particular, specific graffiti on the rock face. On the cliff are painted the names of ships who have called here, along with the lines logos, and usually the name of the captain. Some commemorate a captain’s retirement, listing all the ships he brought here. Most carry the date or at least the year they were painted. Collectively they have become a popular history of many ships, now gone, who have been to this place. The cliff is eroding, as cliffs will do, so some have been lost. Among them I find two, dated 1928 and 1929. I suspect these have been repainted. One dated 1979 is for the Prinsendam, later lost, sunk in gulf of Alaska after a major fire. She was the last ship to send an SOS in Morse code. I photographed many, concentrating on those ships on which we have sailed.
Off to the station/ticket office of the White Pass & Yukon Railroad… Of course it was closed until 7:50, so I walked about… Skagway, above and beyond its various diamonds and tanzanite stores, particularly above is a spectacular late Victorian wooden town… false front and Queen Anne commercial buildings, along with a few exotics like the Arctic Club, a faux stick building… now the cities visitor center… The original railroad station is now the National Park’s visitor center, while the railroad is in a newer building next door. Down side streets are even more buildings… Its clear some of the main street buildings have been extensively rebuilt. It is possible that some are really reproductions (at least one is) but the effect is a complete intact town. Most wooden boom towns burned, some several times. Apparently Skagway didn’t.
After walking around, I buy a train ticket for as far as they are going, the town of Bennett, with a bus return. I wanted to do the train both ways, but that wasn’t an option. On board the ship the same trip was mated with a corny lunch for twice the cost… On the train, assigned to a car built for the Sumter Valley railroad in Oregon about 1900, then up the hill… there was some snow in shady spots at sea level… we passed through one significant slide, then over the border and into the Yukon… The train turned back at Frazer. A water stop, and the location of the Canadian border station. A work train pulled up soon after, loaded with a snow plow and a front end loader along with bridge timbers and ties to work on the line beyond, towards Bennett and Carcross which was scheduled to open in less than a week, but that opening will be delayed due to snow and a major washout. The landscape around Bennett was firmly in the grips of snow and ice… the lake frozen over, and while spring was coming to the Yukon, it wasn’t here yet. The tourist busses were present in the parking lot… lots of tourist buses… A woman was parading about in a 1890’s lady of the evening… Just for us tourists.
The bus ride down was quick… we cleared US customs without a border agent coming on the bus… into town to the railroad station.
I walked back up along the railroad tracks… the tracks used to go up the main street but now run along the south edge of town… Towns generally don’t face the railroad, then back up to it, and Skagway is no exception… its back yards, power plants and the camp grounds that serve as housing for the temporary workers. along the way I find the high school operated fish hatchery, and an abandoned track with a steam engine, two cars and a pile of additional bits and pieces, once displayed in town, now set aside for future use. In the mean time they rust, and trees grow around them hiding the failure to care for them…
A bit further on I find the passenger car yard… among the cars there was a favorite, Lake As…. Built in Newark California in 1884 for a small railroad near Lodi (the Lodi of “Oh Lord, Stuck in Lodi Again”) then passed through several other lines before being sent to Alaska in the early 1930’s…. Its much rebuilt, probably beyond reasonable restoration to what it originally looked like, but it has survived. It has a grace and lightness when compared to the newer, heavier cars that sets it apart. Equally strangely all three passenger cars owned by the little railroad survive today, two in museums in California, and this car.
Just beyond are the shops of the railroad. They are modern, the original shops having burned in a disastrous fire in the 1960’s. They are the shops of a working railroad, with work equipment, projects, spare parts and scrapped equipment all spread about. I take photographs and explore, and find an employee to talk to. A friend has a tourist railroad on Kauai. He purchased 5 flatcars from the White Pass to build his passenger cars on, and now they need some spare parts. His operating crew don’t have a contact. Separately, I found wood frame passenger trucks in the scrap pile, and an thinking that they might be useful for a project or two in California… contact information in hand I walk back to town.
Town has changed since my walk about this morning… The streets are now crowded with tourist… tourists with video cameras blocking the sidewalks, tourists with bags, tourists with shopping maps. The buildings are still here, but the magic of the town is lost in the crowd…
Back to the ship, a bite to eat (cruising is all about the constant eating… ) as the weather deteriorates and the wind starts to blow. There are several stories about what Skagway means… but all agree it’s about the wind… The wind does not disappoint.
At 4:30 the ship sails.
As we pass through the Lynn Canal we see hanging glaciers, waterfalls, and sea lions hauled out. There are clouds and fog clinging to the high peaks making the views even more dramatic.
We are now pointed south… towards Seattle and home. We still have two full days to go, but we are now headed home.
Friday, May 15, At sea, 54.45 north, 134.13 west
Today its overcast, breezy, and cold. The seas are calm, a 5’ swell with no white caps. The passengers are taking their time wakening… the pool deck and other public areas are deserted. Of course the Lido, home of the buffet, is crowded.
We find that this ship is short on public space that looks outward… There is no enclosed area looking forward. At the stern there is “Skywalkers” bar, set high above the deck, much like a tail wing on a souped up car, accessed via a glassed in ramp, the whole thing having a strong resemblance to a hamster cage. It has a wonderful view to the rear but today it’s closed for a private event. It feels funny to be at sea and not have a view of the sea… particularly forward…
Tina and I are taking the “Grand Tour” today… 12 people, 3 hours, visiting the bridge, the engine control room, the crew space, the kitchen…
We can report on that later…
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