In the course of the morning it started to blow through Queen Charlotte Sound and that swept all the clouds away. The wind was from the North West and as we were traveling South East it was prefect for us, as it was a following wind for the ship. So while the ship traveled at 18 knots and the wind blew at 26 knots in the back, we had a relative gentle breeze of 8 knots blowing over the deck and with the sun brightly shining is was a perfect ending to the cruise.
The slack tide time window for Seymour Narrows was between 22.45 and midnight so I opted to go for 2300 hrs. with no fog around it gave me the option to do some sightseeing and we took the Alert Bay route. With such a sunny day we had to have a look at the tallest totem pole (allegedly) in the world. Just past Alert Bay is Robson Bight and Blackney Passage which are excellent area’s for Orca watching but thus far I have not seen them there and neither have been there many reports of sightings by other ships. Instead we have seen Orca’s in Snow Passage north of Ketchikan so maybe the Pods are on a northern holiday at the moment.
The fun part of following wind is that the ship gets an extra push in the back. Roughly the Veendam gains a knot of speed if we have a following wind of around 20 knots. On top of that we had a flood current, also going with us, and the two together gave us some extra momentum. The result was that we traveled through the Inside Passage with 18 knots over the ground and only 14 knots on the engines, gaining every hour 25% speed free of charge. I cannot take wind and current much into account when planning the cruise but it was a pleasant bonus as we saved some fuel. The oil prices are still going up and have recently breached the $600 threshold. Like all other companies Holland America passes on part of this extra cost to the guest by means of a fuel surcharge but it is with great reluctance and out of economic necessity. So the more fuel I can save the less there has to be passed on as a fuel charge to the guests.
It still amazes me what a difference the mountain range on Vancouver Island can make to the weather. All evening we had 25 knots of wind, until we went through the Narrows and then it was suddenly calm and the water almost as flat as a mirror. While we were approaching the Narrows, traffic got it’s self into a muddle with two tugs and tows and the Veendam converging on the Narrows at the same time, so we increased speed a little bit and zipped through 15 minutes earlier. Once on the other side there was sufficient room for everybody to pass each other. I did not mind, it just meant I could be in bed 15 minutes earlier. My normal safety margin for going through the Narrows lies around the 4 knots. So when I go through with 12 knots of speed, there is a maximum of 30% drift possible and that is easily dealt with.
Vancouver Island with Campbell River and Discovery Passage.
A rather startling piece of news was that the pulp mill at Campbell River is closing down. As long as I have been coming to Alaska this pulp mill has dominated the scene at Campbell River especially at night with all the floodlights ablaze. It is going to look different next year if all those lights are off. The pilot explained that this will be the fourth pulp mill in the area that is closing down in recent times. The lack of investments in modern production methods make these pulp mills only marginally profitable. Also the higher labor cost and the unsteady supply of wood chips do not help either. Approx. 450 people will be laid off by the pulp mill but the trickle down effect is much greater. A major tug and barge operator in this area, SeaSpan was basically taking care of all the supply delivery for the pulp mill so they must be affected as well. Let alone the Shops and other community services in the area. Thus we had a good look at this industrial scenery while sailing by as it won’t be there anymore next year.
Just before passing Cape Mudge and entering the Strait of Georgia we passed the Tahitian Princess who was northbound. This is one of the R ships that were bought by Princess Cruises when Renaissance Cruises went bankrupt in 2001. With 800 guests it is a nice size vessel, it is just a strange name for a ship sailing the Alaskan Waters. From Cape Mudge it was a nice and gentle 15 knot journey to get to Vancouver on time for a 7 am docking.
The weather for Vancouver looks good. Sunny temperatures of around 70oF and very little wind. A perfect ending to a good cruise.
July 11, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Dear Captain Albert,
I am very much enjoying reading your daily Blog. My mother and I have sailed to Alaska 8 times with HAL. On August 27/08 we will be embarking on our 9th cruise to Alaska aboard the Ryndam. Your Blog has us reliving all our past trips! Too bad you aren’t the Captain of the Ryndam! The information you have provided is amazing & I have learned a lot of interesting facts; such as docking procedures, weather patterns, lighthouses, etc.
Please keep up the wonderful writing!
Jana Arthur
PS: you may want to take a look at the attached link. It is from website that monitors the whereabouts of the Northern Resident Killer Whales (the ones you see in Johnstone Strait, etc.). It maybe a useful tool in locating them on your future cruises.
http://www.orca-live.net/community/index.html
July 11, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Hi Captain,
Very much enjoy reading your log. We are sailing on the Prinsendam on Thursday from the UK to Greenland – hope the Captain is as sociable as you!! This cruise is due to your log – Canada is too far for us, so we are doing the next best thing!! May even see a glacier without going to Alaska!!
Rosslyn
July 12, 2008 at 4:02 pm
We were in Blackney Passage on July 4 on a whale watch trip out of Telegraph Cove, and the Lukwa’s captain reported that the previous day a humpback whale surfed in the wake of a passing cruise ship, ending with a full breach. He didn’t seem to know which ship was involved. Wake surfing is apparently very rare behaviour for a humpback. Has there been any information about whose ship it might have been? – I think Ryndam was southbound in that area on the 3rd.