As expected we got the low swell against us the moment we came in open waters, but the weather chart looked good. At least for the Gulf of Alaska, good for the time of the year and good for our situation. After September 1st the weather here becomes a bit more un-predictable. The first autumn storms are starting to develop in the South West Aleutians and it all depends on how they move to the East for the weather that we will get. Thus far the weather systems roll East with bending to the South East, then head for the coast of Oregon where they produce quite a bit of rain. But it just a matter of time that they will bend to the North East and start following the arched coast line of Alaska until they hit land just outside Glacier Bay. That is the moment that you do not want to be in this area anymore.
Therefore we are having our last call at Seward tomorrow and we are closing the season here. Slowly but steadily the interior will go in hibernation; the hotels will close down for the winter and the busses and trains put in storage until the next season. Only some of our company hotels that we have in Anchorage, Juneau and Skagway will remain open but most of them will have it much quieter than during the summer period. For the guests it does not have to be too late yet as far as the weather is concerned as quite often there is a nice Indian summer to enjoy. The train ride to Denali Park could even be more spectacular than in the summer, due to the turning of the leaves. I will hear in two days from our south coming guests how it was in the interior.
For us it looks like that we have caught the weather cycle just right. Foremost because the weather systems are still staying to the south but secondly because we are sailing in between the weather fronts. Today we had the swell and wind from the tail end of the weather system that was moving down. A maximum of 25 knots but following, and a long low swell from the South West that diminished during the course of the day. With that weather front moving out of the way, the period of calm sets in before the next storm/weather system comes passing by. So tonight and tomorrow it will be quieting down in the gulf and then the day after tomorrow the next wave field and rain system will start to roll in.
The light blue is the good weather we should have on the way back. That is just fine for us, as we will then be sailing through this calm patch of weather and will only experience a bit of wobbly weather during the night before we go back inside again. At least that is the current take on the weather forecast. If a weather system or storm decides to move up and then along the coast, then we might have a totally different situation. Then we get in the eye of the weather system, or at least fully in the rim of the center and then you have real bad weather. I had that situation last year, when the ship was in Seward. The full storm just came by just at the moment that we were supposed to leave. So I decided to stay overnight and wait until it had moved along. With the swell diminishing during the night, I could then sail in the morning and just stay behind the storm while it moved east. I am not expecting that problem this time.
We left the entire swell by 6 pm in the evening and that will stay until we are safely docked in Seward.
The weather forecast is very optimistic, very little wind and a sunny day with temperatures reaching 60oF/16oC. A great way to close the season.
September 23, 2013 at 9:52 pm
I still remember how you came with the announcement over the PA, Captain. “We are going to sail to Glacier Bay, but today we are going nowhere” [over and out 🙂 ] Going North outracing the storm coming behind us, I’ve made a picture of the stern flag blowing straight up into the sky! Wherever the wind was coming from … That was sailing still under the command of Captain Frans Consen. What a deep impression that back-to-back cruise has made on me full of exceptional experiences.