The weather guru’s must have heard me moaning and groaning about Skagway as they did their best and this morning the weather was wonderful. Flat calm seas and far ranging vista’s showing the Fairweather mountain range in all its glory. In the upper bay we saw some low clouds hanging but it was a very good start to the day. Today we were expecting only three rangers, compared to the 10 we had on board last cruise as their training is over, the supervisors have verified their schedules and the season is settling down into routine. One Ranger stayed in the crowsnest, one ranger on the bridge for the commentary and the 3^rd ranger was shadowing the 2^nd one for the narration part. That narration is part set, and part own inspiration by the Ranger.  There are fixed parts, pertaining to the route that has to be pointed out, pointers of where to start the narration and where to stop and pertinent information that should not be forgotten. But each ranger has a certain freedom in adding information depending on what route the ship is taking or what can be seen during the day. Then titbits can be added about their personal spheres of interest. I have heard rangers getting all excited about flowers, trees, or bears or whales. As long as it provides the audience with the real Glacier Bay experience it is all good to go. Continue reading

So the weather guru’s has promised me south winds 5 to 10 knots. And what did I see when I arrived on the bridge at 05.15; 25 knots gusting to 30 knots. At least they had the direction right. Which is not that difficult as it can only blow from two directions here. North or South.  But it did not make me a very happy camper as the Broadway dock, where we are scheduled to go to, is fully exposed to that wind and you have to move against it. It gives no issues for the Railroad dock as it is protected by the mountain; it gives no issues for the Ore dock, as you just land with a controlled drift but it gives issues for Broadway dock. The wind pushes you away from that dock and then you drift directly onto the Ore dock on the other side. With only 200 feet of space between those two docks, that is not much, even if you have tugboats to help you. You’re only hope is, a. that the wind has the right angle and is more on the stern than on the side, b. that it is a consistent wind so you can find a balance with powering against the drift and c. that the wind is not too strong as you have to slow down as well, when entering the u-shaped berth area.  The only way to find out is to go there and see what it looks like right on the spot. Continue reading

With the wind in the back we sailed up Chatham Strait heading for the Kake Pilot station at 0900 hrs. Ahead of us where the Norwegian Pearl, sailing for 1400 hrs. and the Century Celebration heading for Icy Strait. Behind us was the Oosterdam, going for an afternoon call at Tracy Arm. We are now seeing the first fishing boats of the season sailing up and down the coast. Among them there are always skippers who have a peculiar idea of how to apply the Rules of the Road or are completely ignorant of applying them at all. So we had one this morning, who was clearly heading for a collision and not doing anything. When 5 miles away we called him, with the question what was he planning to do, pass on the portside or pass on the starboard side. The answer was “I like to run a straight course” Well, don’t we all?? but if there is a big blue wall of steel in the way, that might not be the wisest course of action. To keep it simple, the big blue wall moved and our fishing boat could happily continue on his straight course. Which was not that straight at all as the wind pushed him quite nicely all over the place. Continue reading

With the tide at Seymour Narrows being as it is, it is a late night affair and nothing we can do about it. Slack water at the Narrows dictates our lives. Four ships lives to be precise. Thus after departing from Vancouver, the whole convoy trundled up Georgia Strait towards the magic moment of –near slack tide–. The Norwegian Pearl, followed by the Celebrity Century, followed by the Zaandam, followed by us. Everybody lining up in regards to the rush they were in and the speed they were planning to do after the Narrows. For us that meant that eventually we would overtake the Zaandam again as they would later run at a lower speed for a timely arrival in Ketchikan, which is closer than Juneau. This we did at 05.00 in the morning and then we left the Zaandam far behind as we were racing up the coast. The weather in the inside passage was really nice. Flat calm seas and a pitch dark night, showing all the ships lit up against the sky as if it was Carnival in Venice. Cruise ships, tug and tows, fishing boats, lighthouses and buoys all twinkling in the night. At times like this I do not find it too bad that I have to stay up all the night to sail the ship through. Continue reading

The season is now coming into full swing. This week the last cruise ship will arrive to make up the full complement of regulars for the summer. Today we had four ships in Vancouver and that will remain more or less the same in each port.  3 in Juneau, 4 in Skagway and 4 in Ketchikan. The Zaandam is starting the run up to Seward, which we will join next cruise as the alternating ship. So this evening she will sail to Ketchikan while we go to Juneau one more time as the first port of call. This week our buddy will be the Norwegian Pearl which we will see in Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan.  Then we will lose her as she is becoming a Seattle based ship. This means that by next week it will be quieter in Vancouver on a Sunday with only two ships in port, the Statendam and the Celebrity Century.  Vancouver lost some ships to Seattle this summer and also there are now some ships calling on Friday and that distributes the load a little bit. I believe the shift to Seattle has more to do with the domestic flight arrangements that are available if you stay inside the US than with the attractiveness, or lack of it, of Vancouver. It remains a great city to visit and to sail from. Continue reading

 After all the nice weather in Alaska we had a windy and rainy day today in the Inside Passage. While sailing through Queen Charlotte Sound the wind breezed up to 35 knots and with it came the waves. Everything in line with the weather forecast, so we were not surprised and I was running the speed that was best for it. We kept the outside decks closed, mainly for the rainy spray that swirled along the ship and all was well in the world. Northbound we had the same weather, blowing from the north, now we had it again but blowing from the South. Adverse winds again. It is supposed to remain windy here for the coming days but from the same direction. That means that when we go north again, the day after tomorrow, it will be following winds. Pushing us in the right direction and making the weather less inclement on the ship. Every cloud can have a silver lining……………… Continue reading

Sailing from Glacier Bay to Ketchikan, you leave the Inside passage for a little while when nearing an area called Cape Decision. That gives the strange feeling of a moving ship while you are supposed to sail in the sheltered Inside Passage. It only lasts for about an hour or so while we move from one part of the Inside Passage towards the next one. This time the Pacific Ocean was nice and quiet and there was hardly any movement at all. But it can be different, especially near the end of the season when the Alaska storms are starting to pick up. Then I have to warn the guests about the –sudden- wobbly period that occurs in the middle of the night. That gives me a strange but challenging situation. E.G. making announcements. Most ports in Alaska do not like announcements to be made, either in port or when approaching or leaving. They like our money; they do not like our announcements. So I have to be careful otherwise the ships agent gets inundated with telephone calls. That makes it challenging on this cruise as most ports we are leaving late and I cannot make noise either when the show is going on so I am very limited. Another reason to hope that the weather stays nice. Continue reading

As we had done for the stretch from Juneau to Skagway, we did for the Skagway to Glacier Bay route. Sail around a mountain range again by going down the Lynn Canal and up into Glacier Bay. So that is what we did during the night. The Zaandam came racing by as she had a longer stretch of distance to cover because she had to go to Tracy Arm which is south of Juneau. We will see her again tomorrow. Once out of the Lynn Canal you turn into Icy Strait. Named so by Capt. Vancouver in 1793 when he sailed there, basically because there was a lot of ice around. Ice produced by the Glaciers that covered the whole of what we now know as Glacier Bay. With the retreating glaciers the ice disappeared and only the name remained. We entered the inlet at 06.30 to pick up the Rangers at 07.00 hrs.  Although the pick up area is located only 5 miles inside the Bay, it took 30 minutes to get there as we had “Whale Waters”. Continue reading

If you could drive from Juneau to Skagway it would be about 40 miles as the crow flies. However nature planned, most inconveniently, a complete mountain range in the way and thus we have to sail around it.  That means travelling all the way up the Lynn Canal at which end the town is located. The strange thing is, that with Juneau being the capital of Alaska, it is completely locked in and Skagway has access by road to the whole world as you can hop over the Canadian border and drive anywhere from there. For Juneau it is either the Ferry or the Airplane. Once again we followed the Zaandam at a safe distance of 3 miles and lined up for a first line arrival at 06.30. As the season is just starting, we are the only two ships in Skagway and thus we were parked together at the Alaskan Railroad dock for the day.   Tomorrow we will split up as the Zaandam goes to Tracy Arm and we go to Glacier Bay. The day after tomorrow we will rejoin again in Ketchikan after which we sail together back to Vancouver.  This is the first time in my career that I am sailing in tandem with another company ship for the whole week but it will stop next cruise, when the Zaandam will go up to Seward. We will wait another week before we do the same and then alternate with her. Continue reading

The wind kept blowing and blowing while we sailed back into the Inside Passage. Coming up via Cape Decision the Alaskan Inside passage runs north to south providing an excellent funnel for an already strong wind. The only positive part about it was that it provided clear and sunny skies, so we had a great view of the snow capped mountains all around us.  We caught up with the Oosterdam who was on its way to Tracy Arm and thus ended up at the pilot station at the same time. It saved the pilot boat an extra run in and out of Kake, which is a little hamlet that is just conveniently located at the lower end of Stephens Passage. There is a little hotel there, where the pilot stays overnight after they have flown in by water plane.  That makes it difficult sometimes to get the pilots there, if it is foggy or very windy.  But not today, the wind made for clear skies and very long views with snow capped mountains all around. The moment we lined up for the pilot station, we left the “funnel” and it became wind still. I thought well we are in business, I will not be delayed that much. But later on the wind came back and with it the adverse current and that meant that we did not arrive in Juneau on our advertised time. Luckily for the rest of the cruise, the average speed to maintain is low enough, that we can deal with any adverse weather that might be thrown at us. Luckily none is expected for the next few days. Continue reading