To our utter amazement and enjoyment the good weather seems to be holding. Not just for today, but for the coming week as well. We might even get a dry day in Ketchikan if things continue to go as they are now developing. The only thing that is indicating that the season is over is that we do not arrive and depart in daylight anymore. The sun rises around 06.45 if visible and sets around 19.00 hrs. so we arrive and depart in “the dark days before Christmas” as we call it. Christmas might still be far away, although in England the first large supermarket chain has already opened their Christmas grotto on September 1st. so Christmas cannot be that far away, at least according to them. It must look very quaint though to see Father Christmas selling pumpkins for Halloween. I am glad I do not understand this sort of deeper thinking and I try to keep myself to the simpler things in life such as parking the ship in Haines. Continue reading

 The good weather was nicely holding and thus we arrived on schedule at the Cape Spencer pilot station to pick up the two Alaskan Pilots who will be with us until Friday evening. Once they were on board we proceeded to Glacier Bay. The sun was coming out, there was no wind and the only thing we really had to focus on was that the currents were very strong today, 4 to 5 knots against us. That means that you have to pay close attention to the way the ship is being set when going around the corner. Especially when you sail with a slow speed into Glacier Bay to meet the Rangers. The slower the speed, the more pronounced the drift is. Ahead of us was the Westerdam with a 0700 Ranger pickup and we were scheduled for 10 am. And it all worked like clockwork. Regulations stipulate that only 2 large ships are allowed in the Bay at any time and 25 small ones (sailing yachts, local sightseeing boats etc.) By spreading the arrival time it makes it possible that we are not at the same place at the same time. By the time we were approaching Marjorie Glacier, the Westerdam was just sailing away. With two ships of the same company that is never a problem but in general all cruise ships follow the same routine and stay out of each other’s way. Continue reading

Indeed the weather did follow the forecast and after midnight wind and waves started to calm down. By 05.00 the wind velocity was down from 40+ to less than 20 knots and the combined wave and swell height reduced from 27 feet to less than 16 feet. So we could sail. By 05.30 we had our pilot on board and I could then back the Statendam out of the slip. Goodbye Seward, until next season. This is our last Alaska cruise of the season, 7 days southbound to Vancouver. Then we start our 14 day Panama Canal cruises again from San Diego until the end of November. Followed by a 30 day Hawaii and South Pacific cruise which will last until December 21st. Still that is still a long time away, first we have to deal with the autumn weather of The Gulf of Alaska and South East Alaska. Continue reading

 Reality is calling again. After 3 months of vacation it is time to become part of the wonderful world of Holland America again and I did so by falling out of the air in Anchorage. After being bussed down to Seward I boarded the good ship Statendam again for my next three month contract. All was well on board and after the ceremonial hand over of the captain’s pager my colleague went on his well deserved vacation and I could focus on the challenges of the day. For today that was the Alaskan weather. Continue reading

Time to say good bye.

Thank you to all of you for being such faithful readers. Hopefully you will log in again when I return on September 16^th.  I am writing this from home, as I could not get on line properly yesterday due to the travel pattern and the need to “collapse” in bed as soon as I came home. It takes me just over 24 hrs. (including the time change) to get home by plane from Vancouver to Norwich via Amsterdam.  I normally fly via Amsterdam as there is a direct KLM connection with Norwich, England. If I would fly to London then I would still face 4 to 5 hours by Train, Bus or car. Therefore Amsterdam works much better. Continue reading

By 9 pm last night, the updated weather forecast showed that the frontal system by now laying over the whole of British Columbia and the Ketchikan area, was deepening.  It kept raining and gale force winds lashed over the ship.  Looking outside it was more like autumn and this with the longest day of the year only 5 days away !!!. With the wind persisting, the waves were getting higher and that in the Dixon Entrance and Hecate Strait is very unpleasant. The water is relatively shallow here, not more than 150 feet, and that means that there is less water to disperse the wind energy into. The waves get short, high and with a very choppy surface. That makes the ship ride the waves not in a regular cadence of pitching or rolling, but in lurches and jumps.  Interspersed there is a deeper wave and then the ship suddenly pitches once or twice and is then quiet again for a moment. Not a movement that you can get used to and also hard to prepare for.  Not a good ending to a cruise that already did not have much good weather to offer in the first place. Continue reading

I have been sitting behind my computer for the last 24 hrs looking totally puzzled at the weather forecast for Ketchikan. It kept changing about every 3 hours. At one moment I had 3 forecasts that were totally different so in the end I gave up. There is a low pressure system building over the Northern Gulf and it seems that nobody can get a good handle on it. My main concern is always the wind on arrival and thus I looked at the real time wind; e.g. wind at the moment at Ketchikan airport. That is just across from the cruise ship docks and gives a very good indication of what to expect. Thus I was very happy to see that it read CALM at 07.00 hrs. By 9 am we started our approach through Tongass Narrows and slowly but steadily we saw the wind increasing. That was not in the planning and not to my liking either. By the time we approached the dock, it was gusting up to 35 knots. However it was still dry and that is for Ketchikan already a major thing. Continue reading

 Juneau had today its own micro climate courtesy of being wedged in between the mountains flanking Gastineau channel. In Auke Bay to the North West and in Taku Lodge to the South East the sun was shining and we had rain. Even the chief officer, always a fan of rain to wash the salt off the ship, is complaining as his sailors cannot paint. At least the guests cannot say they did not see the real Alaska. It is almost getting too much of a REAL Alaska. Maybe Ketchikan will be better tomorrow. I pulled four different forecasts off of the computer this morning and that indicates that they do not have a clue what the weather will be there. A good indication that it might not rain there for a change. We were bright and early in our approach to Juneau dock. All the other ships were behind us and thus we could sail unhindered towards our dock in the corner and the closest one into town. By 06.10 we were docked and 30 minutes later the Celebrity Century started her approach, followed 30 minutes later by the Ocean Princess. Continue reading

Haines is an early morning arrival because the first tours are leaving at 06.30. Thus we approach around 05.30 a protrusion sticking out from the western shore into the middle of Lynn Canal, called Battery Point. The name comes from the fact that in the 2^nd world war, guns were placed there to protect the area from a possible Japanese invasion. Haines was an army town and that is still visible with a whole series of large houses all more or less standard in design, overlooking the cruise berth.  The Japanese never came; the army is long gone but the name Battery Point is still there. From this point it is a sharp turn to port and then three miles to the dock.  We had a very strong southerly wind blowing up the Lynn Canal and that makes Haines a very nice port as it is completely sheltered from southerly winds. So it can blow 40 knots in Lynn Canal and in Haines itself there is not much more than a gentle breeze.  Fine for me as it makes docking so much easier. In the winter there can be very strong northerly winds coming down from Skagway and then Haines is a windy place as well. Today we had a gentle but nippy breeze curving around the mountain but in the afternoon it died down to wind still. The rain stayed away and that was perfect for our flag raising ceremony for the Pilipino Independence day. Continue reading

 As mentioned before, Glacier Bay has its own micro climate and that showed today. Over the mountains in the south the rain clouds were still lingering, but the further up we came into the bay, the brightness increased and by the time we were at the glaciers the sun was brightly shining. For the first time this season we could see Marjorie Glacier all the way up the mountain and when we sailed down the bay again it was the same for the Lamplugh glacier. This glacier comes down under a more gradual slope but far above it is a sheer vertical cliff which is very imposing when the sun shines on it in the afternoon. Although there was too much ice to get close to Lamplugh, I stopped a mile off for a few minutes to give the guests the chance to see this impressive sight. So we enjoyed a very nice day from the beginning to the end with hopefully many more to come. Continue reading