I have always had a soft spot for Haines. Maybe because it is still so original without all the tourist shops and other happenings caused by the cruise boom. Haines became more prominent when it became an army base and until the current day the white clapboard army houses dominate the skyline. As there were no great tourist attractions such as the train in Skagway, it never gained much prominence in the cruise business. As a result Holland America is one of the few, and I think this year the only cruise company calling there. Guest’s reactions are always mixed; those who need to be entertained in order to be happy complain about the lack of activities but those who come for the real Alaska love it, as this is still a real Alaskan town. (For those who need more stimulation, we do run a tour to Skagway from here with the Fairway Explorer) I love the place as it is nice and sheltered for the ship to dock and also as it is the home of the world famous Hammer Museum. (There is not another one like it in the world) Continue reading

We had dark, rainy, clouds looming over the valleys east of the Fairweather mountain range but they remained where they were and it did not rain. Instead it became sunnier and sunnier while we approached Bartlett Cove Ranger station. Which was an interesting happening as the tides, and thus the currents were completely out of synch with the tide tables. It is a phenomenon that occurs occasionally, when the moon and the sun and the earth together are not exactly behaving as the calculations expect them to do. Last year we had a similar situation when there was the period of the “blue Moon” and the tides were more than 90 minutes off from what was predicted. That is a lot if you plan a safe passage through the Seymour Narrows and you find out that you are 90 minutes late. Today it was less dramatic but at the time that we were supposed to have slack tide (the change from ebb to flood) the ebb current was still running with 2 knots of velocity. It changed in time for our passage up the Bay and that was nice as a following current saves fuel. Continue reading

We had a beautiful day today. Sunny and not too warm. So no chance of haziness appearing that might make our life miserable. It was nearly wind still and thus we could clearly see the ocean swell running in from the south. If there is a bit of wind then the swell can easily be mixed in with the waves produced by the wind, making it harder to discern what is what. Today there was no wind and thus the only thing that made the sea move was the swell. Two swells today, one from the South East and one from the South West. The one from the south East was short in time period and had been caused by the wind we had the day before yesterday. The swell from the south west was higher but also longer in time period. It must have originated all the way down in the Japan area. By the late afternoon it became really pronounced and the ship moved a little bit; even with the stabilizers in operation. But this was a gentle movement and no doubt it helped everybody have a good nights rest. Continue reading

Arriving in Seward is always a mixed blessing. The bad side is we all have to start so early, the good side is that around that time of the day it is still mostly wind still. And so it was in this case when I came on the bridge at 03.15 in the morning. The pilot had already confirmed that he was out of bed & on the way and in the far distance we could see the dock with all the flood lights on; so they were awake as well. It was almost wind still in the bay and that is the way we like it. Rain is not an issue for safe maneuvering, wind is. The weather forecast for the day indicated drizzle all day long and that is what we had on arrival, during the day and on departure. Continue reading

Today we sailed through the Gulf of Alaska and the weather was not exactly exciting. Overcast and gloomy with a lot of showers. Strong winds from the East but as they were following winds, the relative wind on the deck was merely a gentle Breeze. There is very little sightseeing on this part of the voyage. When the weather is very clear you can see the Fairweather Mountain Range but that is about it. In the afternoon you pass Capt. St Elias on Kayak Island and then it is only open water again. Even the whales are not that prominent here; most of them are closer to the coast where the feeding is better. Near the end of the season, when the migration starts again, then we will see more of them. Continue reading

Today we paid the price for the beautiful sunshine of yesterday. When we arrived at the entrance of Glacier Bay, it was rainy and gloomy with very low hanging clouds. It reminded me a little bit about The Lord of the Rings. Frodo on the way to the Misty Mountains. It took a while before the Rangers Boat had found us in the low hanging clouds but by 07.00 they were all on board and we went north towards the glaciers, greatly helped by 5 knots of following current. The tides were with us today. Northbound we had the flood and southbound we had the ebb and that saved us about 20 minutes of travelling on the engines. That translates quickly into a saving of a $1000 on fuel so the Chief engineer had a good day. The schedule that we follow with the Rangers on board is quite strict and as a Captain I can only deviate if Navigation (ice & low hanging clouds) demands so or if I can add something extra within the allotted time frame. Continue reading

A whole line of mighty ocean liners glided serenely towards the Promised Land. In this case Skagway. During the night the ships had all lined up in their required position so that they could all dock at their assigned berth without hindering somebody else. First in was the Island Princess who had to go all the way forward on the Railroad dock. Once she was out of the way, the Golden Princess came in, who decided to swing on arrival and dock with her nose out . That makes for a quicker departure but sometimes the reason is because the Staff Captain wants to paint the other side of the ship. Skagway is blessed with some nice docks and the cherry picker company there makes good money with renting out four or five cherry pickers each day when there are ships in. The next one was your Statendam, destined for the Broadway dock and last was the Disney Wonder. She was going to the Ore dock and had to wait as you cannot get at the Broadway dock if there is a ship already docked at the Ore dock. The opening left is simply too small. By 07.30 all the ships were in place and thousands of eager tourists could stream ashore and invade the town of Skagway and its surroundings. Continue reading

When dawn came, it became clear that it was going to be a glorious day in Juneau. We were scheduled for a 10 am arrival in Juneau and that meant that the guests could see the approach through Stephens Passage and Gastineau Channel in bright and sunny daylight. As explained yesterday, our approaches and departures are regulated by the Voluntary Waterway Guide. So it also dictates our arrival speed going into Juneau. Hence the approach starts around 08.30 when entering Gastineau channel. That brings us by 0930 at the dock and then it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get the lines ashore and the gangway out. Continue reading

Against my better knowledge I had promised our guests in Ketchikan a sunny day as that was in the weather forecast. However during the night, the (light) winds shifted a little bit to the South giving a rain system the chance to lay over Ketchikan. That made it a drizzling day all day long. Tonight the wind will shift again and that will mean that Juneau, where we are tomorrow, should be dry and at least partly sunny. At least the guests could see Ketchikan as it is for 332 days of the year. It is a typical pattern here in Alaska that when they predict bad or rainy weather they are always right but when it comes to good weather, the reliability goes down a little bit. Same as at home in England where the Met Office is also really good at predicting the weather that has happened already. When you wake up in the morning and you find snow on the grass, what do they say on TV: it snowed during the night. Well we had seen that already by looking out of the window. Continue reading

As we were going for a late tide at Seymour Narrows, the trip towards it was a slow one. With the sedate speed of 10 knots we trundled north following the coast of Vancouver Island, while staying more or less in the middle of Georgia Strait. The latter being the body of water that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland. Then the closer you come to Discovery Pass, in which the Seymour Narrows is located, the closer our course line comes to the Vancouver Island side. Finally we come to the point that is called Cape Mudge and that is where the start of the Narrow Passage begins. This is also the location, where I arrive on the bridge. Here the opposing traffic comes quite close to the ship and decisions that have to be made, in principle by the pilot as he is conning the ship that might go beyond the authority of the navigator to approve. There is normally quite a bit of traffic going either way, as every ship, boat or tug aims for the period that the currents in Seymour Narrows are at least below 4 knots. For the cruise ships, the pilots make arrangements before we come to Cape Mudge. Each cruise ship is on a different schedule and wants to maintain a different speed as soon as it is though the gap. Each captain discusses his needs with his pilot and then we normally come to a mutual arrangement. As we have a fairly slow average speed to maintain to get to Ketchikan, I prefer to go last and to get all the boys that are in a hurry ahead of me. That is easier for a second reason as well. Those that are ahead have to deal with all the traffic, while the Statendam following in the slipstream does not have a care in the world.  In this case there were only two cruise ships, the Celebrity Century and us. The Century is in a hurry as it has to go to up to Alaska for her first call and thus she went ahead of us as soon as we cleared the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver harbor. Then it is just a matter of joining in the parade. Normally you stay about three miles away from each other, so there is room in case something happens. When you get closer to the Seymour Narrows, the line up becomes 5 minutes apart, which means that every 5 minutes a ship pops through the hole.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   In the Seymour Narrows there is the right of way for those who are on the following tide as it is much more difficult to stop or to hold position. When going northbound you have the round island – Maud Island- on the Starboard side. Here the current curves around the bend, which makes the approach so dangerous with strong currents. The tide will keep pushing you ahead, sometimes with five or six knots while you are on the approach. If you are bucking against the tide, it is much easier. You just put your bow into the current and maintain position on the engines. This time we had the tide with us, so everything north of the Narrows had to wait. In this case, log barges and fishing boats. We did not have any pleasure craft this time and that always makes life easier as not every yacht owner prepares for the voyage as good as they should and quite often do not have a clue what is going on. Becoming a danger to themselves and to others. At 03.20 we sailed through Seymour Narrows 20 minutes before slack tide with only 2.5 knots of current left. Then for the remainder of the night we sailed through Johnstone Strait, entering Queen charlotte Sound around 10 am. After a little haziness in the early morning it turned into a very nice day. A good day to start the Alaska cruise. Tomorrow we will be in Ketchikan and also there the weather forecast is calling for dry, even sunny weather, not too warm and very little wind.