We sailed out of Sitka with nice weather and found that the swell had indeed abated very much during the day. The Veendam was still gently pitching but it was minimal, more visible to the eye than to the senses when away from the outside. For the first time there was a total absence of whales outside Cape Edgecumbe. It took until we were about 15 miles off shore before we saw the first spouts in the distances. None of the whales came close to the ship so we could keep our speed heading for Yakutat bay.
We are scheduled to be in Yakutat bay from 0700 until 1100 on a northbound cruise which includes the visit to the Glacier and the narration and lecture by the Rangers and Indian Interpreters. I was hoping that by now some of the ice would have left the bay, so I would be able to go further up to the glacier, so I came in an hour earlier to pick up the Rangers and Indians. This time only one Indian interpreter. Ed and Ted were in Juneau, attending an official gathering of the Indian tribes of the Alaskan coast. According to the pilot this is a yearly happening and representatives travel from far and wide to attend this meeting for political and cultural exchange. They are supposed to be back next cruise.
Indeed the ice was less dense than on previous cruises and we managed to get past Henke Island which sits in the middle of the upper bay, just south of the glacier. We were together with the Millennium and as they were an hour ahead of us at the pilot station, the Veendam followed in.
The glacier is wide and big enough to accommodate more then one ship, but as the ice is not in a straight line, it looks sometimes as if one ship is closer to the glacier than the other, while this is not really the case. While the Millennium sat to the East, the Veendam was more in the middle but had the view of both glacier sides. There is always a large outflow of ice coming from the glacier due to the melting water, and with the movement of the tide there is a lot of ice movement going on. So when we were leaving the glacier the ship had a lot of this ice flow around it. This is not dangerous to the ship; it just takes a while to carefully maneuver away from it. Ice is only dangerous when you make speed and collide with it. When you gently nudge your way through it, it will be pushed aside without any problems, even with larger pieces.
So while the guests were enjoying the lecture and talking to the Rangers we sailed back to the Yakutat bay pilot station, again together with the Millennium. They were really in a hurry and blasted out of the bay with full speed. That ship has a higher speed than the Veendam, and they need that higher speed as they are supposed to dock two hours earlier in Seward tomorrow. That means making up 40 extra miles in a lesser time span.
The Gulf of Alaska was nice and quiet so we had an easy ride in the direction of Seward. As there were rain clouds hanging on the Fairweather range we could not see Cape St. Elias this time, which was a pity as it is a very pronounced Cape and easy to see. The weather should be good tomorrow. Overcast in the morning, but if the southerly winds sets through it should become sunny.
June 7, 2008 at 5:50 am
Seeing a cruise from your perspective is both interesting and informative. Thank you for taking the time to post.
June 7, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I like your daily reports as you travel north/south thru Alaska.
I’m taking my wife and 91 yr old dad on the Veendam for 14 days
on Aug 22/08 . I’m sorry that you’ll be on holidays . I would of liked
to be on board when your there.
I have a question , when are formal nights held on Northbound and Southbound cruises?
June 7, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Just a question, Captain.
When sailing from Tallinn to Helsinki during the winter, the ferries there follow first the paths opened up by the local ice breakers. But sometimes, when the ferry comes to a halt for reasons of ice built-up, we did back up and then seemed to ‘ram’ the ice pieces. Would the ships have a special, stronger hull and bow?