Thursday - the million dollar view

Slept like a baby last night. The ferry bunk beds seem so comfortable. Woke up to seas that were calm as a bathtub. Just a slight ripple on the water. We were in the protected INSIDE PASSAGE south of Prince Rupert.

Hundreds of beautiful islands quietly glide past us. In every direction we see snow capped peaks on the larger islands. We pass several barges towed by sea going tugs. Barges are the main source of goods from "outside". OUTSIDE to an Alaskan is anyplace other than our home Alaska. Most of the communities in SE Alaska don't even have road access. Cars are barged in from "outside" or they ride the ferry like us.

It is a bit early for fishing but soon now the commercial fishermen will be out on the water after the prized salmon. We saw a couple boats today. When the salmon runs show up so will the fishing boats.

We had a wonderful lunch with the million dollar view from the great restaurant on the stern of the ship. We had fabulous clam chowder. Just could not ask for anything more tasty.

Leaving Ketchikan

We left the dock just after 5 pm Wednesday. The Captain called us all to our muster stations for emergency training. I think that every sailing the Columbia trains the passengers on emergency procedures such as how to put on life jackets. The Captain warned us all to switch our wireless devices such as phones and IPads to airplane mode before entering Canadian waters. Otherwise we should be prepared for a big financial surprise of shockingly large roaming charges for Canadian data service. I am writing this in airplane mode and I will send it out tomorrow when we cross into US waters and reasonable data charges.

The movie theater was showing the latest James Bond movie. But we got there too late for a seat. All filled.


Ellen and I decided to watch the water from the forward observation deck. The seas picked up just a little bit when we hit open Canadian waters south of Ketchikan. We talked and watched us rock and roll for the evening. Watching the ocean is a bit like sitting around campfire and watching the the fire pop and crackle. Very calming and relaxing. I was looking and I did not see even one person "chumming for salmon" over the side. By the time we were ready for bed we were back in the protected waters of the inside passage. Back to our normal calm seas. It was a good day for us.

Meet Steve our Purser

The Purser aboard a large ship has tremendous responsibility. We were happy to see Steve was with us this trip. We have known him personally for many years. Aboard the ship, he is the public face to AMHS.

MEET STEVE:

Ellen fantasizes in the historic Creek Street of Ketchikan

Ellen poses a fantasy welcome from Creek Street in Ketchikan's historic red light district.

SWEET MERMAID

This strawberry crisp was heavenly. Consider tasting it at the Sweet Mermaid in Ketchikan.

The afternoon in Ketchikan

This morning out of Sitka, we had lots of fog and overcast Seas were very smooth. Amazingly no fishermen -sports or commercial were seen. Too early in the season I guess. Pulled into Ketchikan about noon. We had a 5 hour stop in Ketchikan so we got off and rode the bus to town. About ten minutes away. April is free bus month in Ketchikan!

Ellen and I ate a sandwich at the nicest bakery there. SWEET MERMAID. Try it sometime if you ever pass through. The pastries smelled so good. We were "forced" to take a small sample of strawberry crisp back to the boat. Just to be polite. :-)

First leg to Sitka

The First Leg from Juneau to Sitka

We needed to be at the ferry at 1 am on Tuesday so we did not even try to sleep at home.  We had everything packed and checked off our list early.

The ferry was packed with trucks, buses and campers of all sorts.  It took a lot of skill and patience to piece everything together right. Our camper fit with just a couple of inches to spare. See the photo. I am glad that Diesel Truckin' Ellen was driving. She did a great job. Not much room for me to get out though.

We finally got to our stateroom about 4 am. Ellen couldn't sleep she was so excited. We loved it. Neat and clean. Bath and a shower.  I crashed and woke up at 11.  I still got to see some beautiful views of the hundreds of islands near Sitka.

Some of the islands were so close you could almost reach out and touch the trees as we sailed by.

After we arrived in Sitka, they kicked us off for an hour so they could give a better arrangement.  We drove around Sitka for about a half hour and then went back to the ferry.

After getting back to the ferry, Ellen finally caught up on her sleep .