My modified Sitka forecast turned out to be right. Overcast skies really meant glorious sunshine; and for the whole day. It was accompanied by hardly any wind so the guests really enjoyed a true Alaska high summer day. At least the guests of the Veendam and the Oosterdam enjoyed it; the locals were complaining about the warmth and were hoping for cooler weather.
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Happy Canada Day to all Canadian readers as it is the first of July today. As the Canadians are normally the second largest group of guests on board, their National day is recognized by us in one way or the other. This cruise we have 99 of Canadians on board and the Cruise Director Chris Butcher, who is a Canadian as well, threw a “Canadian Sail Away Party for the group on departure Juneau. It sounds a bit strange to do a Canadian Sail-away party from an American port, but with the ships program so full activities you have to think outside the box to get everything done that you want to do. 90 Canadians showed up, so the country was well presented on its birthday here on board.
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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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