02 June 2008, Haines.

Haines turned out to be an overcast day with a bit of drizzle on occasion but luckily not the sort of rain that bothered anybody. One of the reasons we dock there is that Skagway is full of other cruise ships, a second reason is to offer an alternative port during this cruise, so that the approx 300 guests who go up and down with us have other port to look at. A third reason is that when sailing from Ketchikan you cannot make Skagway before noon time but you can make Haines before 10 am with good weather.

And as we had good weather all night long we arrived on the minute at the entrance of the bay in which Haines is located. That corner is called Battery Point and named after the gun emplacements that used to be here during the 2nd world war. As mentioned in a previous blog, the military considered Lynn Canal one of the entry points to Alaska if ever an invasion would occur. The Japanese briefly invaded Alaska in the far west, but never made to the SE panhandle. All during the war there was a large military base located in and around Haines. The large white houses overlooking Haines still testify from that period.

In Haines most of our guests go on the various shore excursions and the first ones start sharply at 10 am., our official docking time, so it is a necessity to have the gangway hooked in before that time. We use a shore gangway in Haines, due to the 10 to 12 feet tides and that means that this is done by the linesmen who also tie up the ship. During the last call we just made 10 am. sharp, so there was room for improvement. Therefore I had requested the agent to ask the linesmen to break the tying up of the ships into two parts. First take three ropes ashore fore and aft, two head lines and a spring line, then hook in the gangway and then finish tying up the ship with four more lines. Those last four lines are the extra lines that are put out as a safety. 2 +1 Fore and Aft is sufficient to keep the ship alongside during normal weather circumstances and with the thrusters as a back up if a sudden wind would try to blow the ship of the dock.

All went according to this plan and it resulted in having the gangway hooked in 10 minutes earlier than last time. The moment the forklift on the dock let the gangway go, the shorex manager marched ashore followed by the first tours. They have to walk quite a long distance over the wooden pier to the main land. As the land gradually curves into the bay and with the tides causing such a difference in height, the ship has to dock quite far out to have sufficient water under the keel. That distance is bridged by an elevated pier. For those who are less agile, there is a little blue bus shuttling up and down the pier from the ship to the shore, all very nicely organized.

The cruiseship dock in Haines with the little blue shutte in the middle. Foto courtesy Security officer John Cabalde.

Departure looks a bit like the Miami line up of cruise ships on a Sunday afternoon. Although we are alone in Haines, we leave two hours later than most of the ships from Skagway and so we can join the parade coming down the Lynn Canal. This time we had the Tahitian Princess first, followed by the Radiance of the Seas, followed by the Rhapsody of the seas, followed by us. In between there was also an Alaska State ferry coming by. Great evening entertainment for those locals who have a view over the bay. All the ships stay in line until past the narrow part in Lynn Canal near Kelgaya point, then each can set its individual speed plan and a little bit further south the ships can go West via Icy Strait, south via Chatham Strait or East, as we did, going to Juneau via Saginaw channel.

Juneau is forecasted to be a rainy day tomorrow, caused by this weather front in the North Pacific. The first winds are supposed to come through during the night and tomorrow we will see if the frontal system is going to bother us, while going to Sitka or not.

Picture of ship docked in Haines. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!