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.

With only one day to go to the longest day of the year, we arrived in Seward in day light. It really did not get dark at all while we approached the most northerly point of our cruise. Somehow it looks a bit unreal to approach the pilot station at 4 am. in the morning and to do this in daylight. It was a bit gloomy but that had more to do with it being overcast than with the presence of darkness.

The port of Seward developed itself around the dock of the Alaska Railroad which used Seward as both and entry and exit point for goods and guests to the interior. If you look at the photo you can see that the dock that we use now is simply the ending of the rail road. Until the 80’s trains would roll onto the dock and goods would be directly discharged into, or loaded from ships docking on either side. The dock is now considered too weak for trains to stand on; otherwise we still could have the Holland America train come alongside the ship for a direct transfer. Now guests walk through the terminal towards the train.
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It was a bit of a gloomy day in the Yakutat, but in principle that is not too bad for viewing. It is great of course to visit in the glorious sunshine as it makes the Glacier look like Aspen on a bright day. But how often does the Yakutat with the glacier look like Aspen on a sunny day ? You have to be lucky to catch a real sunny day. So today the scenery looked the way it is supposed to look like. Lush and Green with bands of low hanging clouds between the mountains and chunks of ice in various colors all over the place.

Literally all over the place. In the last 24 hours the glacier had been really active and most of the bay was full with big and small pieces of ice. We were quite lucky however as there was a small opening on the Eastern side of the bay to reach up to the top. We had our regular Rangers on board and both Ed and Ted the elderly Indian interpreters were with us again as well. By the time we came up to the top of the bay, the ice was on the move, caused by the out flow of Russell Fjord located on the East side of Hubbard glacier. So much water is coming out of there, fed by snow and glacier melt, that it causes a current of up to 2 knots in front of the glacier. When the ocean tide flood reaches the upper bay, this current is pushed back and flows past the face of the glacier. It then pushes the ice coming from the glacier to the North West corner and normally leaves a nice open space on the Eastern side where we can sit.

The Millennium who was ahead of us by an hour, could therefore slip around Henke Island on the west side and reach the glacier face that way. By the time that we came closer, the flood had turned to ebb and the flow from Russell Fjord was now pushing the ice towards the East again. Right in front of the glacier is Henke Island about 1 mile distance from the Glacier front. The presence of Henke Island is both a blessing and a curse. If the bay is full of ice and we cannot get closer; it blocks the view of the glacier. When there is not too much ice, it quite often acts as a buffer and keeps the ice on its west side. That is what it did this time. There is a channel on the East side between Henke Island and the mainland which we can use if necessary. It is quite small and you have to be certain that there is no ice at the other side that can lock you in. But here the Millennium came in handy. They were already on the other side and they were coming out through the channel.

So we went in that way. There was a broad band of ice north of the channel but it was not so thick that I could not slowly push through it and then we sat in the open space created by that current coming out of Russell Fjord. With keeping the nose in the current, we could remain in position and let the guests have a good look at the glacier. From there we worked our way out again, retracing the route we used coming in.

It gave the guests a very good impression of what Yakutat Bay and Hubbard Glacier really looks like most of the year. Most guests found the ice navigating fascinating to see, with the ship dodging the large pieces of ice and pushing through the small rubble. It costs a lot of time to do this, as you have to go very slow and in the end we were an hour behind schedule back at the pilot station. Here the pilot, Rangers and Indians left us and we changed course to the west heading for our final port of call Seward. The wind in the mean time had died down completely and so had most of the ocean swell. As a result the Gulf of Alaska looked like a gently rippling silver foil with the Veendam cutting through it at full speed. Tomorrow we are in Seward, we will be on time and ready to start another cruise.

Well, Sitka was not according to the weather forecast again, although we got some drizzle later on. Mainly overcast, it still proved to be a lot better than the weather guru’s had predicted. So all the guests took advantage of the situation and enjoyed the sights ashore.

We were together with the Oosterdam again, her occupying the inner anchorage. Sitka has four anchorages, with number one where the Oosterdam was today, being the nearest to town, but also being the fair weather anchorage. The latter means that during windy weather this anchorage cannot be used as there is no room to swing around on the anchor. The ship that uses this anchorage will either have to put down a stern anchor or keep the stern thruster going to keep the ship in the same position. For a ship as the Oosterdam with Azipods that is very simple of course. Azipods combine rudder, propellers and stern thrusters into one and with keeping one Azipod going the stern can be perfectly held in place.

Example of an azipod. The propellor,connected to the pod, can be swiveled around 360o (azi-mutal movement) so it can push or pull the ship and when flipped to 90o it can thrust the ship sideways.

The pecking order for the anchorages is that the biggest ship gets the nearest anchorage to town, as that ship has to transport the most guests to the shore. As the Oosterdam moved to the inner anchorage, the Veendam could move to the 2nd anchorage, which would normally be the all weather anchorage for the Oosterdam. The Oosterdam used the bridge float and we the dock in Crescent harbor and so the town was invaded from both sides by eager HAL guests. I think in military language they call it a two-prong attack.

When I came to Sitka for the first time in 1982, people only lived in the direct town area. No houses what so ever on the islands and none against the mountain slopes to the East. Since then, more and more houses have been built outside the Sitka town limits and since the last 10 years also more and more on the little islands in Sitka sound, there where our anchorages are. It is not cheap at all to build houses there; poles have to be anchored in the rocks to level out the rocky bottom of the islands so that a level house can be built.
All materials have to be brought to the building site by tug and barge and the same for man power. The house itself needs to be self sufficient with electricity, sewage, water and anything else that is needed to keep a house going. A floating dock is needed (to go up and down with the 10 foot tides) and you need one or two motorboats to get you to and from the town for shopping etc. All added costs which a normal house does not have.

A strange by-product of this Sitka-Suburban-Sprawl, is that it affects my announcements to the guests. Each day I make an announcement about “where we are and where we are going” so everybody knows what there is to be seen in the next period. I always used to do that 15 minutes before sailing time when everybody was out and about. In ports such as Ketchikan and Juneau the locals have already requested the ships to minimize announcements while in port, but this was never an issue in Sitka as the anchorage was way out of town. Not any longer, the town is now extended to right on top of the anchorages. This means that I now make my announcements about 45 minutes after sailing time, depending on the onboard activities. Before sailing time it was always easy, there were never any major activities going on that would be upset by a captain’s announcement. After sailing time it is different. The Cruise Director packs a lot of things in a day for guests to enjoy and I have to navigate through the various items, to find five minutes to do my thing. Today it was just before 5 pm, as we departed at 1600 hrs. At 5 pm. Catholic Mass and a lecture started and just before that, they got me.

The weather tomorrow in the Yakutat is looking like a mixed bag; it could go either way so maybe a little prayer during Mass might help to lift the clouds tomorrow.

To the utter delight of all the guests the weather forecast had it totally wrong. Not a rain cloud to be seen and the sun was present all day long. The temperature peaked into the 60’s and that meant that it was a warm day for the locals. While I was still comfortable in my (winter) blue uniform, the locals pranced around in their under wear so-to-speak. Thus it was a grand day for going ashore. With five large cruise ships calling during the day and two small ones, there where over 11000 guests ashore to enjoy Juneau.

Good news for the locals was that their electricity power has now been restored, after an avalanche took the hydro-power lines down in March. Since that time minimal power had been available by means of generators which sent the cost of electricity through the roof and or people had to improvise their own solutions. Mainly by means of individual mini power generators.

Now the summer has finally arrived in Alaska we see an increase in mega yachts coming for a visit. In the last 10 days we have seen one in every port and we meet them also in the Inside Passage. Today there was big here one in Juneau called the Polar Bear. Our lady pilot had to leave the Veendam to catch up with another one for a visit to Tracy Arm. I do not recall the name of that yacht but the buying price had been in the region of
$ 40 million so it could not have been a small one.

There is a trend in more and more super yachts being built, especially for Russian Owners at the moment and as a result there is a great demand for skilled navigators and skippers. Some of these yachts are so large that they are the equivalent of a small commercial ship and there have been several advertisements already for skippers with unlimited licenses such as I have. These yachts have all the latest toys and gadgets, quite often more than what is present on a cruise ship and as the owner has most of the time unlimited funds to spend on his or her toy, the latest is always available.

Some of my class mates from my Maritime Academy spend some time sailing on these yachts and always came back with mixed reports. The money was most of the time good to very good, way beyond what a commercial captain makes, on the other hand you had to deal with the vagaries and unpredictability’s of the owners. Some owners were great to work for, some viewed the crew as their personal slaves and hired and fired at will and without good reason. Main consensus was, money is not everything.

We missed the USCG escorts on departure this time, see my previous Juneau blogs. Maybe they will be there again next time. Sailing through Gastineau channel was as scenic as ever and now the summer is coming, there were a lot more boats out than before. Both sightseeing boats and private pleasure craft, all heading home for cocktail hour I suppose as we left a 6 pm. going the opposite way. We also saw the first kayakers of the season and they always merit close attention. Most of them stay close to the shore and out of the way but sometimes they decide to cross the open waters. This would not be much of a problem if we could see them. On a day when the sun is shining and the sea smooth, it is not such an big issue, but during overcast and rainy days with a bit of chop it gets much more difficult. The best thing that helps (apart from staying out of our way) is to wear real bright clothing, either yellow or fluoresant orange/pink as that stands out against the predominantly green, grey and blue colors of the marine environment.

Tomorrow we are in Sitka and it supposed to be rainy again. I will believe it, when I see it.

Haines turned out to be a much better day than expected. The rain did not show and visibility was crystal clear so the magnificent scenery of the Haines area was all around us. Although we were supposed to have the currents against us all night long, we hardly noticed any, apart from a short period near Snow Passage and so we made good speed and we were docked 25 minutes ahead of schedule.

Holland America Line is the only cruise company who is calling on a regular basis at Haines, each week we have a ship docking here. One week it is the Veendam, the other week it is the Volendam. For the rest, ships call there on an irregular basis, such as the Silver Shadow who has a more unusual schedule to start with. Then there are the smaller cruise ships such as the small ships of Alaska Cruise West who specialize in calling to destinations off the beaten track.

I personally think it is great to have one port during the cruise that has not yet been taken over by Diamonds International or T-shirt Emporium. No doubt in all the larger ports these shops fill a need otherwise they would not be there but it is just great to call somewhere that is still pure and natural Alaska. Some people complain that in the town there is nothing there, which I do not agree with, but if you come to Alaska to see the real thing, then Haines is still the real thing.

And there are more than enough things to do here. Our Shore Excursion list runs up to 64 items/ tours to choose from. There are two museums in town, including the world famous Hammer Museum ($3 entry fee, not to be missed) and the walking or hiking trails start almost at the dock. The Lady pilot we have on board this cruise lives in Haines and has the wildlife right at her doorstep. Currently she is at war with a Moose with two calves who are harvesting all her cheery trees. Where do you still get that, Moose with calves in your own back garden? I think that Haines is a great place.

The temperatures in Alaska are slowly going up and most of the snow on the mountains is melting away. As a result some of the towns still have problems with their water supply. The turbidity in the reservoirs is still too high for unlimited pumping and so tomorrow we still will not be able to load water in Juneau. Haines did not have any restrictions and we were able to load the tanks full with crystal clear mountain water. What you normally buy in the shops in plastic bottles; here on the ship it comes directly out of the tanks. This water is almost as good as what we make onboard. But ship made water does not have any taste to it as it is pure distilled water with just a hint of Chlorine. Local mountain water comes with its own taste, albeit we add chlorine to it as this is compulsory under USPH regulations.

The water that we load is tested on a regular basis by the Alaskan State, which issues test reports for all the towns, so we always know that we have good water on board.

Haines is a late departure due to late return of some of the tours but it makes for a nice sail away with dusk just falling. As we are now close to the longest day of the year, it does not get really that dark anymore, but enough to have the moon come out and throw a silvery shine over the water. Perfect ending to a very good day.

Tomorrow we are in Juneau, and it supposed to be overcast and rainy.

The tide at Seymour Narrows was slack this time around 01.30 in the morning and that meant I did not have to rush nor go too slow to get there. I like it when Mother Nature conforms to the company schedule. It makes life a lot easier. Thus we aimed for going through around 1 am, when there was still a little bit of flood left but less than 4 knots and that is safe to navigate. While approaching the Narrows we had to speed up a little bit as we had to overtake a slow barge and tow and on the other side the Serenade of the Seas was approaching. If we waited for him that would have meant a delay of 45 minutes, but by going through a little bit earlier we could be first.

I have now been writing blog after blog about the importance and impact of Seymour Narrows on our time schedule. Here is a little explanation of how it works.

http://www.dairiki.org/tides/daily.php/sey/2008-06-13

See above a diagram from today. I use myself the tables issued by the Canadian Pilot Association but the above is accurate enough to safely work with. The current at Seymour Narrows changes direction four times a day and each day it shifts a little bit as the tides are under influence of the sun and moon. Strong winds can have a little bit of influence as well but not that much. Where the color goes from yellow to green in the diagram is the moment of slack tide. When it goes from flooding (yellow) to ebbing (green). Flood is in the Narrows in the direction south, Ebb in the direction north. So this time we had to push against the flood while going through and later had the ebb current with us. A ship such as the Veendam can safely transverse the Narrows with currents of four knots or less. It can be done with more, but it means that you have to give sharp rudder orders and that makes the ship list, it drifts much more from the intended track and might come too close for any other ships that might happen to be in the area. The more current, the less control you have over the vessel.

From Vancouver it is 96 miles to the Narrows that means at least 5 hours at full speed plus slow down time. So the earliest that you can make a tide in the evening would be around 11 pm. This mornings slack (see line at the bottom of the diagram was at 1.25 am) Thus I went for that tide. Now look at the yellow bit. The diagram goes under the 4 knots between 00.30 and 00.45 am. Thus I aimed for 1 am. If you go for full slack the barges and log tows might be in the way, as they either like slack tide or the end of the following tide as they go so slow and have difficulty controlling their tows.

If I would be late for one reason or the other, the latest I could go through (see the green bit) would be around 02.30 am. If I would not make that, the next chance would be around 7 am. that would delay the cruise by about 7 hours compared what it could have been. It does not take much imagination to see what a seven hour delay could have for an impact on a cruise. It is almost a full port day. Thus the times of the slack tide are of paramount importance to an Alaska Cruise ship captain and the whole cruise schedule at the beginning and the end of a cruise is built around it.

I went through once with 10 knots of current but that is a story I will tell sometime in the future.

This time we went through at 00.45 hrs. and that meant four knots. We measured only 3 knots, but then the tides do not always follow the prediction or the diagram. Once through we met the Serenade of the Seas who was in a hurry southbound as she had a very tight schedule to make. I took the scenic route so at 07.30 we passed by Alert Bay for the totem pole viewing. With some whales showing in the afternoon and evening it was a good day.

Tomorrow we are in Ketchikan, where they seemed to have located the rains clouds again.

Today was Friday the 13th, so all of us superstitious sailors were on the full alert. It is the birthday of Murphy and he likes to reinforce his laws on occasion. Thanks to a gift of one of the readers of this blog, we have Murphy’s laws hanging on the bridge and close attention is paid to keep Murphy away from navigating the ship. Murphy almost got a hand in by upsetting the traffic sequence under the Lions Gate bridge this morning, with a container ship coming out while the cruise ships wanted to get in but in the end it only cost us 10 minutes. We had the gangway out by 07.15 hrs. while the target time is 07.10 hrs.

I cannot do it faster, as we can only give the first mooring line ashore at 07.00:01 hrs. to avoid overtime penalties from the longshoremen. When you can to Vancouver from Deep-Sea, then you have to have regular linesmen that normally get paid for a four hour work window. If the ship arrives within those four hours, it is just the regular charge. If you are doing Alaska all summer, you are considered coastal and then the longshoremen that load the ships are allowed to handle the lines. They start working at 07.00 but are already on the docks just before but if we throw the first line ashore for 07.00 then we have to pay extra. That amount is considerable and so all the cruise ships aim to have their first line ashore right after 7 am. The chief officer looks at the GPS clock and at the appropriate time gives the green light. The deck officers fore and aft keep a close eye on the sailors with the lines, in case somebody’s name just changed to Murphy.

This sailing under the bridge is regulated by the pilots in close cooperation with Victoria Traffic which is a Vessel Traffic announcement system that covers this part of the coast.
Pilot talks to each other and figure out the safest way to go under the bridge. If ships are approaching the bridge from both sides at the same time, then the pilots set up the best transfer times. A ship that is running with the current has the first choice, as that ship has more problems coming to a standstill if necessary. If more ships are inbound at the same time, then the ship that goes furtherest into the harbor goes in first. So on arrival Vancouver the Millennium which docks at Centerm/Ballentyne goes first because it has to go the furtherest. If there would be a ship that docks at Canada Place East, that would go second, followed by the Veendam as we dock at Canada Place west which is the dock nearest to bridge. The only exception is when a tanker or dangerous cargo barge is transiting. Then Victoria Traffic closes all traffic down until that cargo has safely passed the bridge. In this way a very small chance of a collision is reduced even further.
This morning we had a container ship coming out of the harbor with 3 knots of ebb current with it, so we all had to wait outside for that ship to clear the bridge and then we could move to the dock.

We dock starboard side alongside as it works better for the shore side operation. I prefer to dock noise in as I hate to turn the ships stern towards the rocks and the shallows at the end of the dock, but as we have the whole Westside to ourselves it is not such a big thing so I can stay about 200 feet away from the shallows. We hook two gangways in with this setup, the 2nd gangway is used for America-bound-guests who are bussed directly to the Vancouver airport for USA bound flights and they end up directly in the departure lounge. By sealing off this gangway part and the terminal, they stay inside the Canadian custom zone and are not considered to have landed in Canada and therefore do not need to see immigration. That speeds up the disembarkation process considerably and hence the request to the captain to park his ship the other way around to what makes sense for the casual eye.

Vancouver turned out to be a nice day, the first one they had in 14 days. It seems that when we left 14 days ago we took the sunshine with us and now brought it back again. Maybe not nice for the Vancouverians, but I will try to do this again for the coming cruise.