05 May 2013; Vancouver; Canada.

It is 89 miles from Victoria to Vancouver/Lions Gate Bridge and thus we all happily sailed along with a speed of 15 knots through the inland waters. Sometimes being in the USA and sometimes in Canada. The border is roughly following the regular route but it means that we are constantly crossing the border to stay on the track when going around the corner. Only by the time we pass Vancouver airport we are fully in Canadian waters. During the night the pilots were talking to each other to set up an arrival sequence. The Celebrity Century who had left Victoria at 1800 hrs. and thus gone at a very slow speed had strayed too far from the route to kill the time, so that she could not get back in the planned sequence and thus she went in at number 2, instead of number one. The Zaandam took the lead and we were number three, which is as it should be as we were docking at Canada Place North, which is the NW corner of the dock. That brought us under the bridge at 06.35 and from then on we just stayed a mile behind the Century until she was putting her nose into the East side. In the mean time the Zaandam was swinging around in the harbor to dock stern in. If there are two ships docking on the West side there is a shore side issue with the passenger flow if the gangways are too far apart and thus we dock nose to nose.
It was a beautiful morning sunny with just a gentle breeze and so a fitting start to the Alaska season. With a new season you get the start up procedures of that season and that included a meeting with the pilot authority. It is partly a courtesy visit, partly a discussion about changes if any, and a chance to talk about concerns if any. As the industry is forever changing, so are the pilots and their way of doing things and a new item that started last year was the introduction of laptops with a dedicated route system for the pilots. There are several ways that you can do this and some pilots & associations use track lines (the dotted line to sail along) other use boundary’s. This means that you place no-go zones all along the route and as long as you stay outside those, you are in good shape. For the Canadian Inside passage that makes good sense, as it is nearly impossible to stay on a track line. There are too many tug and tows around and fishing boats who all try to sail the mid channel course and that makes it nearly impossible to be on a track line. In Alaska with the pilots there, we use the track lines as the traffic is much less and then you can much better adhere to sailing along a dotted line.

Canada Place North on the lower right hand side. East on the left side and West on the upper right hand side.

My main concern is always about after Vancouver. We have to go through Seymour Narrows and thus we are slack-tide dependant. And that tide was not keeping our cruise brochure in mind. The early slack tide tonight is at 21.30 and that the ship cannot make. Thus we are going for the 02.00 slack tide and that means another slow run up to the Narrows and then a fast run afterwards all the way up to Juneau. The maximum tide is 9 knots and that is too much to go through on schedule. Up to an hour before real slack water (03.00 hrs) the current is still running at 4 knots and that is about the limit of what is safely possible.

 
All three ships are going that way and that means that all three ships are going for roughly the same time. The one in the biggest hurry is the Century who has to get all the way up to Icy Strait. Then the Zaandam who has a 2 pm. arrival in Juneau, followed by us with a 3 pm. arrival. The Zaandam can go about 2 knots faster than we can and thus she can maintain a faster schedule. Still she will go nearly the same time through the Narrows as we do and thus she has to go full out afterwards as well.

So tomorrow we sail through the Inside passage and later on through Queen Charlotte sound. The weather forecast calls for a windy day. The good thing about that is, that it will keep the very low hanging clouds away and that will make life a lot easier. I will be on the bridge for most of the night, and that means going to bed by 8 pm tonight.