The 50% chance of rain day turned into another dry day with a bit of sunshine as well. Only in the early evening it finally started to drizzle and rain. We left Ketchikan in dry weather and had a fair amount of wildlife near Snow Passage including breaching whales and some agitated seals sitting on the buoy. This morning while sailing up the Lynn Canal we saw again numerous whales, although very little tail flipping or other wild behavior, just slow swimming whales. All going about their business without a care in the world while we were sailing past Eldred Rock Lighthouse, just south of Haines.
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The 50% rain must have fallen somewhere else as it was a sunny and nice day. We were lucky; two days earlier the rain clouds had dropped 10 inches of rain in one day resulting in a lot of un-happy campers returning early to the ships that were in Ketchikan that day. We have had now quite a few sunny Ketchikan days this season, about 5 and with the season not yet half way through we must start to run out of our allotted quota. On average Ketchikan only has 33 completely dry days in the year and not all of them are in the summer.
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One thing with the weather here is predictable; if it is sunny in Ketchikan and it is sunny in Vancouver then it is foggy in between. We had a beautiful night sailing north through Seymour Narrows and Johnstone Strait. It was a clear, starry night and the water was calm, flat calm, and as smooth as a mirror. Campbell River, just south of Seymour Narrows reflected itself in the water as if it was a mirror, until we cut through it. It is a pity that most guests are tired from traveling and go to bed early after coming on board, as this was one of those nights you really want to stay awake. It was magnificent.
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There were a lot of happy people today in Vancouver, as it was a sunny day and thus far they have not had many of them. We docked at our usual spot on the West side of Canada place with the nose to open waters. I personally prefer to dock with the nose towards the city as it is a more natural approach but doing this way works out better with the passenger and provision flow in the terminal. For me it is just unnatural to dock with the stern towards danger (the end of the pier) when the other way is possible.
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We had a repeat of last cruise southbound, very windy and rainy weather, on our way down to Vancouver. While Vancouver city itself was bathing in summer temperatures; in the Queen Charlottes it was autumn weather, if only just for one day. It is amazing what one mountain ridge on Vancouver Island can do to the weather. Sunshine on one side, rain and storm on the other side. Apart from the rain and the wind, fog banks had formed between the islands and that meant that there was not much use to go sightseeing to Alert Bay. So we took the other route sailing via Blackney Passage, which is very scenic as well but not as confined as the approach to Alert Bay.
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During the night we had the real first fog of the season. Very low clouds in combination with drizzle and rain. So between 3 and 6 am. the Veendam’s fog horn sounded through the inside passage reminding everybody that we were around, even if we could not be seen. It required my presence on the bridge and unfortunately it adds more hours to an already very long day. But safety comes first so there we were. Last cruise the fishing season opened and that meant fishing boats in some of the area’s that we cruise through.
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Today at little story about the lay out of the port of Juneau, as I have two air pictures to share, courtesy of the Chief officer and his wife who went for an afternoon flight. We arrived nice and early in Juneau being the first ship to dock. By the time these photos were taken the Celebrity Infinity had already departed for Ketchikan but as she occupied the berth behind us, she was the major reason for us to be first. If that ship would already have been there, I would have had about 45 feet of stern to stern clearance when docking. That is not a big issue but as safety comes first, it is of course much easier if that ship was not there yet. Thus we came into port first.
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In most ports we are leading the cruise ship parade into town, here in Skagway we are the last one coming in and that means that we can set our own pace sailing up the Lynn Canal. With an official arrival of 0800 hrs we can approach the dock around 7 am and be all fast by 07.30. That gives the shorex department enough time to check if all the buses are there and take action if they aren’t.

We docked again at the Ore dock and although it does not look like the best dock in town, I am starting to appreciate this dock more and more. For navigational purposes it is exposed to the wind and thus more difficult to approach but also it is easier to abort in case something goes wrong. Every captain likes a plan B in case something happens and here you can just give full astern and get out of there. The distance to the town is about the same as from the other docks with maybe the exception of the Broadway dock but we are talking yards here, not miles. It is definitely easier for the tours. It is 200 yards from the gangway to the apron where the buses load and the Skagway Mountain train pulls up very close as well.
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We made up some speed during the night but not enough to off-set the time lost during the ice navigation in Hubbard glacier. The ship was doing quite nicely until a weather system located about 100 miles south of Sitka started to move north and brought wind force 8 and 10 feet swells for most of the late night and early morning. The wind was full on the bow and that meant that it slowed down the ship by about a knot. Same for the pitching, it again costs speed. As result we arrived an hour late in Sitka.

Not much of an issue, I just decided to stay an hour longer. All the guests had as much time in port as normal and none of the tours needed to be cancelled. The latter can be an issue sometimes when there are more ships in port or when the morning busses are used for different tours in the afternoon. Holland America does not have that much of a problem in this case, as most of our tours use buses owned by ourselves.

The fishing season is slowly gathering pace and there were more fishing boats out than in the previous weeks. Still nothing compared with the heydays of the 1980’s when hundreds of boats would clog the channels and fairways. In those days the boats would not move if a deep sea vessel would come through a passage and that resulted often in cut nets and a lot of acrimonious exchanges on the VHF. With the good days of fishing gone, the fishermen cannot afford to loose any nets anymore so they move nicely aside. We follow the Rules of the Road as much as we can but in a small channel we cannot always change course and stopping the ship does not make the nets go away. Also there is an understanding in Alaska that the cruise ships will stay on mid channel courses and that the rest of the traffic will work around it. It works very well and we have not had any problems.

In Sitka Sound most of the commercial fishermen are trawlers and they simply choose a track that does not interfere with us and for the rest there are sport fishermen and charters in small and fast boats. These small boats do sometime bother us due to the different perception between them and us. They move around a lot while fishing and although they have no intention to be in the way, their different perspective on what a “safe distance” is makes us high up on the bridge worry sometimes. 100 feet is a lot for a speed boat of 15 feet, it is less than a ship width for our side and so not much at all. Most of them are very good, they have followed USCG approved training classes and can see the bigger picture………..but there is always one.

Leaving Hubbard late yesterday; also meant that the Captains Welcome onboard Toast got changed. The Cruise Director did the toast as from the ships staff only the Hotel Manager and the Environmental Officer would have been able to be present. Captain, chief officer and chief engineer still busy with ice standby on the bridge and in the engine control room. As most guests still like to see “who is driving the boat”, I did a walk-on this evening with the staff and the employee of the month, just before the regular show started. I do not know if the Comedian Entertainer enjoyed it to have such as intro, but the guests appreciated it. No complaints about a late Sitka, only happy faces for a good Hubbard day.

By the time we left Sitka the waves outside had subsided and the Veendam sailed without wobbling about, northwards towards Skagway. It is supposed to be a windy day tomorrow, but the wind is from the south and thus not as cold as it could have been when blowing from the North.

The morning started gloriously with just a gentle breeze and sunny skies. The low clouds over the Fairweather mountain range did indicate that something was afoot and by the time we entered the Yakutat Bay, it started to drizzle. We picked up the pilot right on time and he brought two rangers and Ed & Ted, the two Indian interpreters, with him. One of the Rangers had gotten sea sick as the pilot boat operator decided to go fishing while waiting for the Veendam. He stopped the boat in the middle of the bay where there was still an Ocean swell running and the wallowing of the boat in the waves was not enjoyed by our lady ranger. However, when on board, she perked up quickly.

We put the pedal to the metal going up the bay, but we only made 10 miles in the direction of the glacier, with another 10 to go, before we came across the first band of ice. In the middle of Yakutat bay is a ring of shallows, a sort of threshold which marks the beginning of the upper bay. It is still 100 feet deep but on each side it is 300 feet or more so it forms a sort of rim or threshold. This affects the currents in the bay and as a result the ice, that makes it to the lower bay, will linger in this area. This time it was not just a bit of sludge and rubble but big pieces and in a very wide band. So we had to slow down and pick our way through it.

Once through we could do 15 knots again but not for a long time, as at the corner of Cape Latouche the next band of ice showed already. Luckily at the East side of the bay the pieces where mainly big and reasonably apart and so we could move through it with slow speed. Henke Island (see blog of two days ago) was acting as a current blocker again and by staying close to the West side we managed to get right in front of the glacier. I just took a very long time to get there. By the time that I was approaching the glacier I should have been on the way out again to stay on schedule. However we sat for 20 minutes right in front of the glacier and saw some big pieces coming down. At least it was worthwhile the effort. Although we did not get closer than last time, we now could sit more in the middle which gave a better view of the Russell Fjord entrance.

By 5 pm. I had to leave as I had to work my way down again through the ice. That turned out more difficult than before. The ice flows had moved in the mean time, so the way we used coming in was partly blocked and that meant slower speed for traveling and now on top of this, the fog came down. As it had been a glorious morning in the Yakutat now with the evening falling, the air mixed with the warmer rocks and then with the cold ice and created what we call Artic Sea Smoke. That made me go even slower, as the ice was harder to see with this grey haze hanging over the bay.

When we finally made it to the pilot station to say goodbye to Ed & Ted and the rangers, I was running nearly two hours later. So pedal to the metal to make up time. It had been a drizzly day, interspersed with periods of rain but the scenery did not look the worse for it. I hope that the guests appreciate what Mother Nature showed today. Due to being late, it meant that I had to cancel the captain’s welcome champagne toast but I can always do a quick intro tomorrow night.
For me, as always, I remain fascinated with the Yakutat. It is never the same. Compared to Hubbard, the glaciers in Glacier Bay are “drive in” glaciers. You can always get there, as the calving is less, but then Glacier Bay has other attractions that make it worthwhile to visit. Hubbard is as “raw” as a glacier can be but the amount of ice that it produces can make life rather difficult.

When back in the open the ship started to pitch as the wind and waves suddenly picked up. A disturbance located a 100 miles south of Sitka suddenly decided (without approval of the weather people) to start moving North. With the pitching and a strong wind, full on the bow, the speed is going down, so we have to see what this does for our arrival time.