Vancouver gave us one of its beautiful days again with an overcast sky on arrival but a bright sunny day for the rest. We were docked right on the mark of 7 am. and by 07.30 the first guests left the ship after what had been a very good and……sunny………cruise.
I had the plan to run ashore in the course of the morning, as there is a very good second handbook shop near the ship with lots of nautical books but I always seem to have the problem that when I plan in advance, something comes up that stops me from doing so.

Thus this morning we had Canadian Public Health Inspection. 3 inspectors boarded the ship to do their seasonal inspection to see if the Veendam was in good order. This inspection is similar to USPH of the USA and takes about the same amount of time. We had the USPH one about a month ago with good results and now the challenge was on; to repeat our performance. The ship is checked for constructional issues in food area’s, to see if everything is in good repair ,to find out if sound and healthy food preparation procedures are being followed and if the crew knows what it is doing. At the end of the day we receive a report and an overall score.

By 14.30 hrs the result was in and Team Veendam had scored 99 points out of a maximum 100 points. We lost one point on some drain pipes that led into the gutters and where an inch too long. The rules require that there is a sufficient air gap between the drain pipe and the deck drain in case of a black flow and in this case the distance was just a little bit too short. Hence we had never noticed it. We fixed it with a hack saw in 5 minutes but the rules are the rules and one was point deducted. Where it however mattered was that all our procedures were in order and thus the service to our guests. The inspectors were very happy with that, hence the 99 points. I feel proud about this achievement and happy that all the training given and inspections done, worked out as intended. Compliments to TEAM VEENDAM.

At 17.00 we left the dock, slightly delayed due to a late arriving bus with guests but once they were onboard we set sail for Alaska again. All went well until 18.30 when I got a call from the ships doctor about a patient that he was not very happy with and would prefer to be seen ashore where some specialized equipment was available. As the case was not an emergency yet, but could become one, I concurred with his request. In this case I did not need the help of the Canadian Coastguard but could order a water taxi as the patient was still ambulant. Our Agent in Vancouver was lightning fast and by the time I had made the call to him and had turned the ship around, he had a fast boat on the way.

For the guests onboard it was a bit of a startling experience, suddenly they saw Vancouver in front of the ship instead of behind him. We disembarked the patient with spouse 5 miles west of Vancouver on a glassy calm sea and then turned around again.
All went well and the patient was timely on the way for further evaluation in a shore side hospital. Due to the very quick action of the ships agent the whole operation took less then an hour and I was still able to make the Seymour Narrows slack tide time on time and therefore there will be no delay to our cruise.

The weather for tomorrow looks good again, the current is with us and by 07.30 tomorrow morning we should be passing the largest totem pole in the world at Alert Bay. (At least that is what they say, several other towns claim similar)

With such nice weather we had a pleasant ride down from Ketchikan to the Pine Island Pilot station. Not the wobbly weather that we had last cruise southbound when I had to cancel Ketchikan due to strong winds. Now we had a nearly smooth sea. The smoother the sea, the easier it is to see Whales and other wild life and we spotted flipping tails on several occasions. The ships speed was too fast for porpoises to enjoy themselves by riding the bow wave but we saw them later in the afternoon when we entered Johnstone Strait via Blackney Pass.

As mentioned before, the scenic cruising that we do in the BC Inside passage is all dictated by the times of slack water at the Seymour Narrows. The earlier the slack tide, the faster I have to go to get through Johnstone Strait to be on time. If the early tide is too early, then I have to take the late tide and that will happen next cruise southbound. This time the early tide was still preferable but earlier than last cruise, so I had to take a slightly different route. That route is called Black Passage. It does not go by the Indian Village of Alert Bay, as that requires a long period of slow –no wake- speed but it has the interesting attraction that it is much narrower and you can see the current eddy’s twirling around the ship.

I had set my pilot boarding time for as early as possible which in this case was 14.00 hrs. as the pilots had to come from the Seven Seas Mariner which was going Northbound. The pilot boat was on station to facilitate the transfer and by 14.05 hrs we were on the way. We saw some sea lions while nearing Blackney Pass, including one that showed the whole world how to catch and eat a fish while at the same time keeping a leery eye on a large blue cruise ship coming by. Nature in full action.

Blackney Passage is not difficult to navigate. It just means paying careful attention to the way the ship is pushed off-track by the current. There was about 3 knots of ebb flowing through the passage but as it turns into eddies while the water is pushed through, the set of the ship is by no means in the direction of the average current but sometimes even opposite. Thus we slow the ship down a little bit otherwise it might list when we have to give a sharp rudder command and for that we also have the stabilizer out. Normally takes only two large course changes to get through and the ship is in Johnstone Strait.

I went through here for the first time in 1982 when I was a starting 3rd officer and the pilots were the real old timers from the days before Radar and GPS. They navigated on a magnetic compass and visual bearings and listened to the fog signals from the large and small lighthouses along the coast. I remember the first time when I met one of those pilots and saw him in action on the bridge. His name was Captain Wodzyanik and he was by that time already close to retirement. We called him the teacher as he was always trying to teach us things the old way. He hated radar and if he had half the chance he would switch the machine off, when we looked the other way. He would point out the hills, the trees and the rocks that he used as reference points for course changes and even did the trick with the echo of the whistle when going through a narrow passage lined with mountains on both sides.
Those tricks I still remember and sometimes still use, also in Blackney Passage. Here when you have to make the second turn, there is a sight line that can be used. If a little beach comes just into view from behind a rocky ledge, then you can never run aground if you make a normal course change. In the early days that is what you did and it went well, now you can check it on your radar to see if the ship is on, and stays on the track line. The little beach came just in view when the pilot made course change and indeed the ship lined up exactly for the next course. Only later on we had to compensate for the changing current. As Captain Wodzyanik would say: “What do you need a radar for”.

A quick anecdote about this same pilot. He was a very friendly, quiet and polite gentleman but one afternoon he burst out in stream of profanity while we were about to make a course change. All of us on the bridge were quite startled as it was totally out of normal behavior. We made the course change of about 90o but the ship overshot a little bit. Nothing serious, but again out of fashion, compared to the normal meticulous navigating of this pilot. After he had finally calmed down, we asked him of course what the matter was. It turned out that somebody had cut down his favorite tree, the tree that he used in line with a certain rock to ascertain the right moment to make his course change. As he could not find the tree, he only started to change course when he realized it was not there anymore and thus overshot. Captain Wodzyanik retired shortly after; but lived to the ripe old age of 91, passing away last year.

We sailed through Seymour Narrows at 20.30 while the sun was still out and then sailed on a slow bell towards Vancouver for a scheduled arrival at 0700.

On our way to Ketchikan we pass through Snow Passage, which is a 90 degree turn from Sumner Strait to Clarence Strait. As there is normally quite a bit of current here, this is a standby point for the captain to be on the bridge. If the current would catch the ship and the pilot does not react to it, the rocks are very close by. Thus the captain is on the bridge with the hands on the throttle and an eagle eye on the quartermaster who is steering.

It is also an excellent area for whale watching. The currents seem to churn up sufficient food for whales to feed on and normally we have a few sightings. As we only arrive at Ketchikan at 2 pm. in the afternoon I went through Snow Passage at the decent time of 8 am in the morning so the guests could be out and about. The whales were present and we were shown a number of tail flips and deep dives. The sea lions, which can be seen quite often on the rocks and on the buoys, were not there as there were Orca’s in the area. Sea lions do not like Orca’s as Orca’s enjoy eating Sea lions. We saw the Orca’s later on in the morning further to the south.

The weather forecast was not correct, again, but in this case to our advantage. The 50% rain that was forecasted was nowhere to be seen and we had a dry but over cast day, a dry day is a very good day for Ketchikan so no reason to complain. We were scheduled for a
2 pm. arrival as the Amsterdam was at our berth and had to leave first. Also the Infinity next door had a 1300 hrs. departure and wanted to get out before we arrived. Thus the plan had been drawn up that I would wait off the berth until the two ships were safely out of the way.

If this is to works schedule, depends on the fact if all the ships tours are back on time. One delayed bus and they cannot leave and I am docking late. This time it seemed that all the tours had returned early as the Amsterdam pulled out 15 minutes ahead of schedule. They have a tight schedule to make to get to Victoria so each minute helps. The Infinity left soon after and thus I could dock the Veendam on time with the gangway out at 13.50 hrs. By 14.20 hrs we had 1100 guests ashore. For the coming weeks, there will be my personal challenge to improve on that docking time of 13.50 hrs. Which, I think I can do if the other ships will continue to leave on time or early.

With the other two ships gone, the Veendam docked at berth number two, which is the most central berth in the town. The Coral Princess, which had a departure time of 15.00 hrs, was at berth number four and that is quite a walk from town. However by next year there will also be a shopping mall at that berth, so for those who only need a Ketchikan trinket to complete their journey, it is not such a bad deal. Berth nr 4 is a brand new dock and has the advantage that the gangway goes up and down with the tide, so no moving of shore gangways and platforms to adjust when the ship goes up and down. We still have to fuss around with putting a platform under the gangway and then removing it when the tide went down and vice versa. That is not much of a problem in principle but it stops the traffic over the gangway for about 10 minutes until the gangway is repositioned.

We left nicely on time and I cranked the Veendam up to full speed, as the tide at Seymour Narrows is an early one and thus I have to be on time at the Canadian Pilot Station at Pine Island. We are getting the pilots from the Seven Seas Mariner, which is northbound and will meet us at the same time at the pilot station.

It is supposed to be dry all day tomorrow with no fog predicted and thus all is well in the world.

We were blessed with another extraordinary day of sunshine and clear skies. For me no fog to worry about as the light breeze kept it all away and for the guests glorious sunshine to enjoy the port and all the tours that were on offer. We were aiming for an early arrival again as we had to dock furtherest into the port, which is also the best spot and thus we had to be the leader of the pack. 11.400 eager shoppers were descending on the town today and the Veendam carried the first 1200. At least that was the plan, to be first that is. However the Infinity had once again a medical evacuation and requested to dock first. A similar occurrence as last cruise. Last time the linesmen were not on time and in the end we were both delayed in docking. This time the linesmen were on time and the Infinity could slip in quickly and get the patient off the ship. We could just follow in and park at our normal spot but with only 45 feet clearance to work with, it took a bit longer than originally planned as you cannot simply sail the ship in anymore

With temperatures reaching 70oF in the sun it was a pleasant day for us and high summer for the locals. It looked as if half the school population was in shorts and gathering in the little park under the bow of the Veendam to enjoy the weather. I suppose all is relative. Summers for us are Caribbean temperatures but Alaskans (or are they called Alas-kanians???) find that boiling. What is normal weather for them is considered outright grotty by us. I spent the day on inspections, doing my teaching class and catching up with paperwork. All followed by an afternoon nap, as sunshine normally indicates the chance of reduced visibility (fog) later in the evening and during the night.

My wife went on a shopping expedition as rumors had reached navigation deck that a new Wall-mart and Home depot had opened. My wife’s interest was in Wall-mart, the chief officer wanted to know about Home depot. The latter for buying small bits and pieces to keep the onboard maintenance going. It is most of the time cheaper to buy small quantities of nails, bolts, nuts and brushes locally and direct, than to order it through the company system. That works best, when you order bulk. Hence a direct interest in the existence of these stores. Nobody better than to send than my wife; who has a major degree in shopping, graduated cum laude, and also has a minor degree in finding the lowest prices.

Both shops indeed existed and can now look forward to a steady stream of visitors. One store can be reached with local public transport for the other we still are finding out what the best way is to get there.

Another person who was out on a fact finding mission was my second officer, he was inspecting the local fire fighting school in Juneau. Next week we start with a training/refreshment course for our firefighting squads and by having a look first, they can now be properly briefed on what is going to happen. He came back very impressed, so it looks like a useful investment in time and money.

On departure we had two boats from the USCG giving us an escort out of the port. This is part of their Homeland Security Program and they form a no-traffic-zone around the ship. The idea behind it is that if they do it in every port it creates a warning to deter enemies. If it works is something I will leave to the proper assessors but I find it handy for another reason. They help us to keep the boat people away who might stray into our path out of ignorance or curiosity. We just have to ask them to go to a motor boat or yacht that comes too close for comfort for collision reasons and off the USCG boat speeds to move the boat out of the way. They do not escort ships every time and they never announce when they are going to do it, but when they do, they are always useful to us.

We are now on the way to Ketchikan. Rainy capital of the world. As expected the weather forecast does not promise us sunshine tomorrow but a 50% chance of rain. I just hope that this 50% will fall on the mountains and not on the port.

The season is now really underway. Skagway had a full house today for the first time this season. Rhapsody of the Seas, the Queen of the North, Veendam and Millennium. (The last one has not been in dry dock yet, so it does not have the pre-fix Celebrity yet) All docks were occupied although the Queen of the North, which is a paddle wheeler, occupied a space that could have been used by a bigger ship. However all docks had a ship alongside and thus it was a full house.

Fitting all the ships in means; that the harbor master makes a planning and sets a sequence of arrival. The Veendam as an example has to arrive ahead of the Millennium as it would be very tight to for the Veendam to squeeze by if the Millennium was already docked. With a wind still day you could do it, with about 30 feet clearance between the ships but it is hardly ever wind still in Skagway and you cannot plan the dockings that way. So there is a pecking order established and the agent sends the sequence out to all the ships. While approaching Skagway in the early morning, the ships line themselves up accordingly. In our case, the Millennium which came from Juneau had to slow down to let us pass. We were coming from Sitka which is a longer distance and with the average speed that we had to maintain could simply not meet the Millennium’s schedule. The bumpy seas of last night did not help either of course.

Thus while our official arrival time was 0800 for Skagway, we were set for a first line ashore at 06.00 and be docked by 06.20. The Millennium, who has an official arrival time of 0700 hrs, can then dock at 06.30 right behind us. They have to wait for the Veendam, but will still be on time. There is a similar puzzle going on in the other ports. With Alaska being so popular and serviced by so many ships, it is a major challenge to get them all in on the right day and the right time. Sometimes it requires “hot berthing” with one ship departing and the other one already waiting to takes its place. We will do that in coming Ketchikan, when the Amsterdam will leave and the Veendam will take its place.

We had a glorious day in Skagway. Nearly wind still on arrival and with temperatures rising to 70oF out of the wind. The sun shone from the moment we arrived until the moment we left. If it is sunny, the wind can blow considerably in the afternoon through the Lynn Canal which acts as a funnel and increases the momentum of the wind while it travels up the Fjord. But today it did not come higher then about 20 knots and had died down by the time we left. Making it a very easy departure.

The Veendam docked at Skagway with the Millenium docked next door. The ferry dock is empty as the Malaspina had just departed. The next ferry was due late this evening. Foto courtesy of Leah Fehr, wife of the Chief officer. Taken while on a Glacier Bay Helicopter tour.

Also the departure of the ships is done in a pre-arranged order, again set by the harbor master. That means that the official departure time might not be the sailing time. This evening one of the ships tried to sneak out before the other, contrary to the schedule and a chorus of voices rose over the VHF. Although the captains are the ones who are doing it, it are the pilots who take the flak for it. There are two on each ship and all from the same pilot association. When the ships are docked they normally meet up during the day for coffee ashore and then some arguments will be settled about what happened during a certain departure sequence. This time the ship that tried to sneak out first was stopped in its tracks, before it had released its lines, and the departure sequence took place as scheduled.

Although all my guests were on board by 20.15 hrs. I had to wait because of this until 21.00 hrs. as we were the last one scheduled to leave and so we did. It is only a short run to Juneau, 15 knots average for the whole night, even with an early arrival, so I was not unduly concerned about leaving late. For Juneau our official arrival time is 08.00 hrs. but we will be docked by 05.15 am. again due to this scheduling of all the ships coming in. Weather for Juneau looks great as well, so the cruise is getting better and better all the time.

After a quiet night we approached Sitka in the early morning. It was still a bit hazy but we could see it directly; this is going to be a fabulous day. Mount Edgecumbe was visible from bottom to top and that almost by itself guarantees great weather. By the time we had dropped the hook, the sun was out and the scenery was breath taking.

We were in today with the Celebrity Infinity and as they came in later, but wanted to go to the inner anchorage, I had to keep the stern thruster going so that the ship could pass by our bow to the anchorage. When you are on the 7 fathom bank and the tide goes out the ship ends up blocking the complete approach to Sitka and no large ship can get by anymore. So we thrustered the ship away from the approach path of the Infinity until she was past and then let the ship settle on wind (hardly) and tide (a lot)

Our tenders went to the same dock as last week. This time the shopkeepers lost out from the local Salmon Derby that was going on. Crescent harbor was packed with all sorts of fishing craft and was full of eager people trying to compete for the top prize. Luckily most of them did not leave the harbor until we well at truly at anchor as it is always disconcerting to sail into port. You never know what they will do when they see a big ship and sometimes we think that most of them do not even know what they should do.

It was an un-eventful day but in the course of the afternoon we saw low white clouds gathering around the base of Mount Edgecumbe and that normally spells the arrival of this white stuff called Reduced Visibility. It is the captain bane in Alaska. You want sunshine for the guests but you know you have to pay for it with long hours during the night. Normally only wind can prevent the fog from forming but there was not much wind predicted in the weather forecast.

We sailed on time and when we made the turn into Sitka sound there was indeed a high white wall on the horizon near Cape Edgecumbe. However when we were barely 10 miles out of the port, it started to blow and the Veendam started to move on the swell that was rolling in. Not forecasted, not expected, but there it was. Later on in the evening I could reconstruct from the updated weather forecasts that a low pressure system in the North Pacific had intensified and moved closer too the shore than expected. By the time we had rounded Cape Edgecumbe we were rocking against waves of 10 to 12 feet and facing wind of up to 40 knots on occasion. Amazing; going from wind still weather to 40 knots in under an hour. It was not a great storm but still a good gale and the quick build up of the swell made it look quite bad.

In the course of the evening I slowed the ship down a bit and that helped the ships movement. By 11 pm. we were back inside at Cape Spencer which gave the guests a quiet night and the ship could make good speed again for a timely arrival in Skagway. I am slowly starting to get fed up with these un-expected weather changes. You can not pre announce it to the guests, as you do not know it is coming and it can really spoil the evening for a lot of people.

Tomorrow should make up for it though. It promises to be a sunny day with no wind in the morning but a strong breeze in the afternoon. Temperatures in the sun of up to 70oF.

We had a very wobbly departure from Seward. When coming out of the bay, there was suddenly this swell that greeted us. It caused the Veendam to pitch considerably. There had been nothing in the weather forecast and only after we had experienced the large swells (up to 16 feet) it finally showed in the weather charts when the new carts were published. It turned out that a wave system caused by a Mid Pacific storm had ventured further north than had been anticipated by the meteorologists. Sometimes Mother Nature can still surprise the scientists. During the night the waves abated more and more by mid morning there was only a very long and low swell running that did not really affect us.

I had the Veendam going full out. It is a bit of a tight schedule to the Hubbard glacier as it has been laid out of average speeds and the ice flows might not make it possible to maintain those average speeds so I try to built up a bit of “plus” that can be spend at the glacier. During the morning we could see the sun shining on the Fairweather mountain range on the portside and that bode well for good glacier viewing. We arrived early at the pilot station but as I had forewarned them, the pilot, Ed and Ted and a park ranger were all waiting to step on board. After briefly slowing down for the pilot boat the Veendam was flying again towards the glacier. This time we could see Hubbard glacier from about 20 miles away. Cold air and the sheer size of Hubbard (it is about 6 miles wide and goes for about 50 miles inland and up the mountains) made it possible to see the Glacier even from outside the bay.

About 10 miles from the Glacier we came across the first band of ice, a north westerly wind was pushing the ice to open water. Luckily the concentration was not too thick and I could push through it with about 10 knots of speed. It was quite a nice sight, as the ocean swell reached all the way up the bay to here and the ice rubble was gently riding on the waves. Think they call it an undulating motion. After the first band of ice there was about 3 miles of clear water so we sped up again until we came to the edge of the solid ice field. We were still 4 miles from the glacier face but as the glacier is soo enormous in scale, the view was awesome. It is only the beginning of the season but thus far the Veendam has been the closest to the glacier face of all ships visiting. Hopefully our luck will hold and even improve in future voyages.

I had promised the photographers of the Veendam that if the conditions were good, that I would lower a tender so they could take some shots of the glacier with the ship in the fore ground. So while we were viewing Hubbard at its most impressive, the little tender sailed around the Veendam taking photos. After 30 minutes they were back on board and I could swing the ship around so that could have a good view of the whole bay. The Park Ranger gave a narration in the mean time and this was followed by Ed & Ted, the Indian Interpreters with their lecture in the main show lounge.

Veendam at hubbard Glacier and a “small” ice cube. Photos courtesy of 3rd officer Symen van der Veen, in charge of the tender.

On the way back we had to go through the ice band again, which due to tide and wind was now thickest where we came through first, so we found another thinner band more to the west and then we sailed back to the Yakutat pilot station. Here we disembark the Ranger and the two Indian Interpreters again. The pilot is staying with us, as we need him on board for sailing into Sitka. It had been a beautiful day and the guests were very happy. More good things are to come. The weather for Sitka is predicted to be glorious. No wind, sunshine, blue skies and temperatures in the high sixties.

Seward is an early morning arrival. The first guests leave the ship at 6 am. to start their overland portion of the trip, or to be bussed up to Anchorage for the flight home, so I have to have the ship parked by 05.30. The town and the dock are located at the end of Resurrection Bay and it takes about an hour to sail from the pilot station at the entrance to the dock. Thus I aim for the pilot to come onboard at 04.00 hrs.

Approaching Seward. The dock area on the left and the lights of the State Prison on the right.

The pilot boards at Caines Head which is a small cape that forms the geographical boundary of the bay. He normally comes out with a small tugboat called the Junior which also acts as the line handling boat for the stern lines when we dock. The ship docks at the Railroad dock which was built in 1964 after the big earth quake. Since then not much has happened to the dock apart from sprucing up the cargo shed on the pier so it can be used as a cruise terminal. It was built with the aim to accommodate ships of the size that was normal for those days. Ships that were noticeably smaller than the current cruise ships. As a result the ship sticks out from the pier and needs to use two dolphins which were built in the 1990’s by the cruise companies. It is called the Rail road dock as trains were be able to roll onto the dock to discharge to or load cargo directly from the freighters at the dock.

Later on a coal terminal was constructed on the west side of the Rail Road dock to export coal from the interior. This is where the fun begins. If a bulk carrier is docked at the coal terminal, it is nearly impossible for a cruise ship to come alongside. When a cruise ship is scheduled they try to alleviate the problem a little bit by moving the bulk carrier as much to the end of the coal terminal as possible and so create the biggest gap possible for the approach but it still not very pleasant, especially as it often tends to be very windy in Seward. Thus when a coal ship is in, the captain prays for wind still weather the day before. When I send my ETA to the agent in Seward, my first question always is, is there a coal ship alongside???

This time there wasn’t, as the agent told me and what a cheerful pilot confirmed. However when coming closer, there appeared to be barge parked alongside the pier. Unknown to the agent and to the pilot, a local operator had parked a barge at the coal terminal for the night, oblivious of the fact that it might hamper the docking of the Veendam the next day. Well, there is not much that you can do at 4 am. in the morning so I had to get the ship in with this obstacle in the way. Wind was blowing a good 20 knots on the funnel but luckily mainly from astern. In the end we squeezed in with 30 feet clearance on the port and 15 feet on the starboard while at the same time angling the Veendam around the end of the pier towards position.

Due to the lay-out of the pier, we have to park the ship in line with the conveyor belt which is used for the luggage coming and going from the ships marshalling area. A gap was made in the side of the pier and a conveyor belt descends through the gap into the open break door of the ship. It is designed in such a way that the conveyor built goes up and down with the ship when it is moves with the tide. Luggage trucks are standing right behind the conveyor belt and the off coming luggage is quickly and efficiently transferred. Luggage that comes to the ship goes the same way, only then a container with an X-ray machine is parked in front of the conveyor built to screen each bag and suitcase before it comes onboard.

It was a bit of a miserable day, with rain and wind, but the good thing was that all boarding guests and luggage had made it by 7 pm. so I could leave on time. Except the barge was still there. Our ships agent, who is a very feisty lady, had been on the phone all day to get the thing moved but the operators only got convinced about the necessity of it all about 45 minutes before sailing. Finally a tug moved over and started pulling the barge away. As the tugboat captain went totally out of communication with the Veendam pilot we could not advise him how the Veendam would leave the dock. In the end the barge moved exactly in the same direction as I had to move the Veendam in order to swing her around safely and head for open waters. So while the Veendam kept coming astern, the barge kept moving further down the bay in the same direction. By the time the Veendam went south the barge was about 2 miles down Resurrection bay, while the tug could have moved the barge just 500 feet to the south and all would have been fine.

After disembarking the pilot we sailed east the same way as we came last night as we are heading back to Hubbard Glacier. Tomorrow we will find out if the fog has lifted.

On this cruise Hubbard glacier is the only glacier that we can get up close to. We pass several other glaciers but always at a distance as they are not on the route of the ship, or are land locked. Hubbard is a spectacular glacier as it calves constantly and that is also its problem. Sometimes it produces so much ice that we can not even get close it. Compared to that, Marjorie glacier in Glacier Bay is a “drive-in” glacier that we always can reach. It is beautiful but it calves intermittently and never in large pieces. Hubbard is a spectacle that calves in enormous quantities.

Hubbard glacier is located at the top of Yakutat Bay

By 06.30 we had entered the Yakutat Bay and stopped to pick up the two Indian Interpreters, who would do a lecture while we sailed up and down the bay and who were available for Q&A during our time in the Yakutat. They introduced themselves as Ed and Ted and to me looked the way old and wise Indians should look. By 8 am we entered the upper bay and to my utter amazement and disgust the fog came down. This was most unusual. If there is fog it is normally in the lower bay and near the glacier it clears as the glacier produces so much cold air that the fog cannot sustain itself.

So there I was, sitting at the edge of the ice field with maybe 300 feet of visibility and nowhere to go. I need about 1500 feet visibility before I can even decide to enter the ice field and dodge the bigger pieces but if the visibility is less I have to stay out. Ice does not show its size on the radar and it is not a good idea just to enter the ice field and assume that there are only small pieces and rubble out there. Hubbard is known to occasionally calve off pieces half the size of the ship; and you do not want to bump the ship into those. So in consultation with the pilot we skirted the eastern shore and tried to get a bit further up but the ice only got denser, even where it did not show on the radar. Time to stop the ship and hope for a miracle, e.g. that the fog would lift.

It looked like I had used up all my miracle powder in Ketchikan with having that glorious weather there, as the fog stayed and the ice started to move down the bay as the tide was changing. In the end I had to give up and swung the ship around and head southbound again. Hopefully Ed & Ted would be able to convey the grandeur that Hubbard is to the guests. They held a lecture in the Show lounge and then disembarked the ship near the town of Yakutat. Also our pilot left here as it is a different pilot organization that covers the ports in South west Alaska. He had his birthday today while with us in the Yakutat, so we got him a little birthday cake, with one candle, as life only starts at 60. Hubbard glacier remained a hidden treasure for this call.

The pilots who do Ketchikan and Sitka are called South East Alaska Pilots or SEPA, the guys who do Seward, Homer and Anchorage are called South West Alaska Pilots or SWAPA.

The weather outside the bay was very good, sunny and in the afternoon the sun shone on the Fair weather mountain range with only the tops being obscured. We saw Humpback Whales and also Fin whales, which are not always that prominent in this area. By 1900 hrs we passed Cape St Elias, which is a very prominent Cape, as it juts straight up from the sea for a considerable height. It is the edge/ bow of Kayak Island that is called that way as it just looks like a Kayak when seen from above.

Cape St Elias as seen from the ship during sunset.

Kayak Island as seen on the Radar screen

The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be overcast and dry according to one weather forecast and rainy according to another. But both agree on a very chilly day. We will find out when we get there. The pilot has been ordered for 4 am with a 5 am docking.

From Juneau to Sitka it is a long and winding road to sail. First you go south from Juneau through Gastineau channel, then North through Saginaw channel, with a sharp turn down again heading for Sumner Strait. This strait leads west towards North Inian pass which ends in Cross sound and then it goes south to Sitka. Nearing Sitka it goes east rounding Cape Edgecumbe and it ends with a Northerly course up at the Anchorage. What an airplane can do in 40 minutes as the crow flies, takes us all night. But as the sun set late, it was a very scenic trip with great views on either side of the ship, until the ship entered the Pacific Ocean but by then it was dark anyway.

We were together with the Oosterdam in Sitka today. She is a seven day ship sailing from Seattle and we meet up every 14 days on our northbound cruise to Seward. Sitka has four anchorages of which three can be used at all times. Number one is only safe during nice weather as there is not enough room to swing around on a stretched anchor chain. However it is the closest one to town so it reduces the tender distance. Again there is a pecking order; ships that call most often get preference. If there are ships that call with the same frequency, the biggest one wins. The Oosterdam carries approx. 600 more guests than the Veendam, they call every week and thus the Oosterdam Captain had the choice. As it was nice weather today, he went for the inner anchorage; closest to town and I took his officially assigned anchorage number two.

Thus for the approach I had left night orders for the Officer of the Watch to keep an eye on the Oosterdam and if they were on time, to line up behind the ship and follow it in. The Oosterdam was on schedule and we had a nice Holland America Line parade into Sitka sound. With keeping a distance of about a mile from each other we approached the anchorage one after the other and while the Oosterdam backed into anchorage number one, I dropped the hook at anchorage number two. This anchorage is called the seven fathom bank as, until recently, it was thought that it was located 7 fathoms; that is 42 feet below water. Recent soundings have established that it is only 35 feet below water but as sailors are sticklers for continuity we still call it the 7-fathom bank.

The Veendam on the seven Fathom bank.

The trick is here to try to anchor in the gravel and not in the mud. If you anchor in the gravel, the holding ground is as good as in mud but you do not have to clean the anchor chain as much as otherwise would be the case. Through the years I have figured out more or less where the gravel is located on this bank and I try to drop the anchor on this spot and then lay the chain in the gravel as well. Nowadays with GPS and thrusters you can do that without too much difficulty and it pleases the Bo ‘sun who keeps his chain locker and forward deck free of mud.

The tender run into Sitka is a little bit longer then from anchorage number one but it is quite scenic. The weather was quite good, no drizzle as had been predicted and this gave the guests a nice ride. With the bonus of having the chance to have a look at the Oosterdam. They used their tender platform on their port side, so the Veendam tenders passed by at the starboard side to make sure that there was no wake running along the platform. Both ships were tendering to the floating dock under the bridge. Normally the shop keepers demand one ship under the bridge and one in Crescent harbor so the “shopper flow” descends on the town equally from both sides. Today the tour operators won out, as with two ships of the same company it was much easier to coordinate the tours from one location. Let’s wait and see where I have to tender to next call.

We sailed from Sitka on time, heading for Hubbard Glacier in the Yakutat Bay. The Oosterdam, who just came from there, reported a lot of ice and could not get close to the face at all. Maybe the Veendam will have more luck.