It is a very tight schedule that we have to make to Haines on time and the distance does not allow us to arrive any earlier than 10 am. alongside. On the other hand we stay until late in the evening, so there is ample time for everybody to go ashore and enjoy the sights. The weather was as predicted, with the rain clouds remaining on the other side of the mountain and the day being overcast. Continue reading

Approaching Ketchikan took place under gathering clouds. The closer we came to Tongass Narrows the greyer the sky turned and by the time we were five miles from the dock, it started to rain and drizzle. Ketchikan lived up to its reputation. Luckily for all of us, the rain later moved away and by the time we sailed the sun was shining and it was a beautiful sail away. Continue reading

After a nice morning sailing past Alert Bay and later disembarking the Canadian Pilots, the weather turned grey and drizzly. Whales were out in abundance and some came close enough to the ship to be clearly seen by the guests onboard. Since coming Alaska, my first year was 1982, I have seen a great increase in wildlife. In the beginning we made an announcement when we saw a Bald Eagle, now there are so many that we should make an announcement when we DON’T see one. It is the same with the Whales. In 1982 we had to search for them, now they are everywhere and we now have an active policy not to come too close. Continue reading

As was promised to us by the weather forecast, Vancouver day was a nice and sunny day with no wind at all on arrival. It was busy with traffic though. English Bay (that is the anchorage just outside the Lions Gate Bridge) was full with bulk carriers. They were raising anchor one by one to follow the cruise ships in. It seems that the grain exports from Canada are picking up again as thus far there have not been that many bulk ships waiting for a dock. In between also a containership entered the port so it was a busy morning that must have pleased the port authorities. Continue reading

In the course of the morning it started to blow through Queen Charlotte Sound and that swept all the clouds away. The wind was from the North West and as we were traveling South East it was prefect for us, as it was a following wind for the ship. So while the ship traveled at 18 knots and the wind blew at 26 knots in the back, we had a relative gentle breeze of 8 knots blowing over the deck and with the sun brightly shining is was a perfect ending to the cruise. Continue reading

Today we had a very elaborate “dance of the cruise ships” in Ketchikan, as there were more ships than normal. Through the week I had already received docking schedules, revised schedules and revised revised schedules about this day, although it did not affect the Veendam as such. Continue reading

Skagway had been on the sunny side of the mountain, as during the night when we sailed South East and passed Auke Bay, the weather started to get more and more miserable. By the time we ended the turn into Gastineau channel, rain was falling and wind was blowing from the South East and it looked more like the dark days before Christmas than high summer. Continue reading

I have now been coming to Skagway since 1994 and I have seen it rain, I have seen it blow hard (a lot of the latter) and I have seen the sun shine there all day. However today Skagway offered a very peculiar weather pattern. The weather forecast was wrong but I do not think that they would have been able to get it even remotely right anyway as the depression of yesterday threw everything out of kilter. Forecast had been very little wind in the morning and rain for most of the day. When we arrived it was blowing 25 knots off the dock and the sun was coming out. Then the normal wind pattern is that it increases in velocity in the afternoon, funneling up the Lynn Canal. Instead the wind abated to a steady 15 knots for most of the day and died then down to a whimper by the time we departed. Continue reading

It started indeed to blow during the night and the ship moved around a bit each time it hit a wave. Waves that were pushed up by the wind, so luckily not that much long rolling ocean swell as that can make the ship really move. It made for an a rocky arrival but did not delay us getting into Sitka. But the approach was windy, very windy. Normally the Sitka anchorages are very well sheltered by from the wind but this wind had just the right angle to blow over the anchorage area. Continue reading

We arrived at Yakutat with flat seas and sunny skies, so things looked good to start with. The pilot boat was on time with pilots, Rangers and the Indian Interpreters but we had to leave Ted in the boat as he had forgotten his ID card and Ed had to do it all by himself. While we were sailing up the bay, a North westerly wind started to blow, which made it a bit chilly for the guests but great for me, as it pushed the ice to open water and that meant that I could go faster towards the glacier than is quite often the case Continue reading