The Strait of Georgia or Georgia Strait runs from Cape Mudge all the way to the Lions Gate Bridge.

After the whole parade had made it through the Narrows everybody swerved out into the wide open spaces of Georgia Strait. Because the ships have not all the same engine configurations, they do not all run the same speed at the same time. Some go a bit faster first and then stop one or more engines to adjust for the final ETA; some go slower first and then speed up using their most ideal engine configuration. During the night the ships were all over the place but when coming closer to the Lions Gate Bridge they all started to line up again.

The picking order then depends on the dock that a ship has been assigned. We are all aiming for the same time alongside, one minute passed 07.00 hrs. and thus we all want to pass under the bridge at the same time. Obviously that does not work and thus the arrangement is that the ship that has to go the furthest into the port goes first. And that is the ship or ships that have been assigned to Ballantyne Pier, about halfway up the harbor. The next ship is the ship assigned to Canada Place East as it has to make a wider/ longer turn to line up for the hole between the container terminal and Canada Place. Lastly the ships follow that are assigned to Canada place West, facing Stanley Park.

All happily docked at Canada Place. From Right to left, Zaandam, Seven Seas Explorer, Celebrity Infinity. Photo courtesy, Lesley Schoonderbeek who somehow found out there is a webcam at the Vancouver Northside of the harbor, overlooking Canada Place.

The reason we all want to dock at 07.01 hrs. is because of labor costs. If we put a line ashore before 07.00 hrs. then there is a lot of extra cost involved to pay the longshoremen. So we come alongside, look at the time on the GPS and at 1 minute past seven the first messenger line goes ashore for the first rope. There is only one exception to the rule and that is when you come from deep sea or go to deep-sea. Then the lines are handled by dedicated linesmen, who work all over the port, and they get paid for 4 hour intervals and so it does not matter.  When you are coastal; which includes coming from Alaska, you can use the longshoremen who attend to the ship during the day, as you are using regular Canadian labor.  For departure there are similar rules, so we always try to be off the dock on time as well.

Today was a busy day in the port as we had the Seven Seas Navigator, The Celebrity Explorer and the Zaandam all at Canada Place and The World at Ballantyne. The World is more of a country club than a real cruise ship as the cabins are owned by the people inside them and all those owners together decide where the ship is going for its cruises. Which means that sometime last year or earlier, there must have been a vote that decided on a visit to Alaska. Because of this voting system, the ship quite often pops up in places where the Jet Set is gathering and she has been seen at the GP of Monte Carlo, the Americas Cup race, the Bi-annale of Venice, etc. etc. I do not know if it is good value for money as the maintenance charge is quite high but at least you do not have to pack and unpack all the time, because the cabin is only used by your good self and thus everything can stay in the closets.

Holland America ships most often docks at Canada Place West, or North, which is the end of the West side after the bend in the pier. It is also the best spot as far as the Navigators are concerned as on a Sunday, the boulevard is always full of people. The East does not have much of a boulevard or esplanade as has the utility doors and service openings for the Pan Pacific Hotel on top of Canada place.  Normally it is the men who are on the bridge ogling the ladies through the binoculars but today our Lady navigators joined in as there was some sort of Body Building competition going on and a whole parade of very muscular men came by under the portside bridge wing. However the consensus that brain over brawn was a lot more important.

The sister of the Zaandam, the Volendam sailing under the Lions Gate. The Volendam is calling at Canada Place tomorrow.

Tonight the slack tide at Seymour Narrows is at 01.28 in the morning and the current drops under 4 knots at 00.28. in the morning. Thus we will aim for that accordingly and then see how the traffic lines up for the hole to decide the exact time of transit.

Weather for tomorrow: rain in the early morning and a windy and chilly day later.

Once you leave Ketchikan, the voyage to Vancouver is dictated by just one thing: the slack tide at Seymour Narrows. And as the time of slack tide (the moment the current goes from Ebbing to Flooding or vice versa) changes every day, the planning for this section of the cruise has to be reviewed for every passage.  As the tides go up and down (and in and out) on a six hour cycle, the slack tide at the Narrows is moving to and from within a six hour cycle as well.  On average that boundary is somewhere between 8 pm in the evening and 2 pm. in the morning. There are 3 more slack tides in the day but the evening one is the important one for us.  Important because of the time needed to get from Seymour Narrows to Vancouver and after departure back again. At the minimum you need 5 hrs. as the distance between Vancouver / Lions gate Bridge and Cape Mudge (there where the approach to the Narrows start) is 96 miles and the normal top speed of a cruise ship is around 20 knots.

For today there was a slack tide at 18.29 hrs. when the flood went to ebbing and at 00.41 hrs. on Sunday morning when ebbing went to flood.

In this diagram each horizontal line indicates 2 knots of current. Thus the current on Saturday at 2.52 PM PDT came to 12 knots.

So the captain has to make a decision, which tide to take. 18.29 hrs. is very early and you have to race down the coast to get there on time and even then it is doubtful if you make it. So it makes sense to focus on 00.41 hrs.  This does not mean that you have to go through there at that time.  Normally the pilots are quite comfortable with anything under 4 knots.

Overview of the Seymour Narrows area. For us the approach starts near Brown Bay; then there is no place else to go anymore and it ends at Cape Mudge where we are back in open waters.

Thus the navigator sorts outs the times that work best for the schedule and then the captain decides on the window of opportunity. If you look at the diagram you can see that slack tide is at 12.41 am on Sunday 9^th of July between there is a curve in the tide.  Each line gives two knots of current speed and thus the first moment for the ship to go through would be 23.45 hrs. Saturday evening.  So the captain sets his initial sights on this time. When the pilot’s board, there will be a Master Pilot discussion and a decision is made if this time is the best. Taking into consideration, the local knowledge of the pilots, the latest navigation information, expected traffic at the Narrows and along the road and anything else which might cause delays. Once a time has been decided upon the speed for that time is set and the route decided. Maybe there is time for some sightseeing but maybe the ship has to take the shortest route just to get there on time.

During the approach to the Narrows, the pilots receive constant updates in regards to traffic near the Narrows from a VTS system that we have here in the British Inside Passage. Also by now they will have heard from their colleagues what the other cruise ships want (normally we all want the same) and have thrashed out a schedule among themselves of who should go first through the hole as there is only room for one ship at the time. For “who goes first” that has mainly to do with who needs to arrive in Vancouver first and that is normally the ship that is assigned to Ballantyne Pier which is the 2^nd cruise terminal in the port after Canada Place.

Once this is all sorted out, the cruise ships line up behind each other, normally 5 to 10 minutes apart, and they speed up and slow down then depending on any issues the first ship has with tug and tows or fishing boats which are also in the transit.

With a passage time of 23.45 hrs. the ship will then be in open waters again, passed Cape Mudge at 00.30 and that gives it then 6 hrs. to cover 96 miles to be under the Lions Gate bridge at 06.30 for a 07.00 hrs. docking.  More about that tomorrow. We are looking at a sunny day in Vancouver with temperatures of 77oF and 22 oC.  That is about perfect for a Vancouver Sunday.

Note: both diagrams are courtesy of a tides website called: tides.mobilegeographics.com/locations/5757.html

Nicely on time we arrived in Ketchikan and of course that is something everybody expects. However as we sail the Inside Passage of Alaska it is not so straight forward. Between Juneau and Ketchikan we have a couple of bottle necks where the ship might have to slow down for a prolonged amount of time and then suddenly you arrive half hour our late, instead of being a little bit early.

There are three areas where there is a bigger chance of this to happen. Cape Decision, Point Baker and Snow Passage. At these three locations there is less room for a transit at full speed because there might be opposing traffic, or fishermen or wildlife (whales). Then you will have to slow down, or even stop.

Sumner Strait. Starts at Cape Decision Passage (A), then turns at Point Baker and becomes very narrow at Bushy Island Light / Snow Passage.

Cape Decision can be a challenge because you make an almost 180o turn around the Cape. The ship is coming south along the coast and then goes back up north again. Opposite traffic can do the same thing and everybody is trying to stay as close as safely possible to the cape to travel as few miles as possible. There is no vessel traffic separation here and thus the ships curve around the Cape as close as possible. At least as close as safe navigation allows.  Ships and boats that go into the Pacific from here will have already set a course for their next destination and might thus be on a track of where an inbound would like to be. An inbound ship will try to stay more to the south of the Cape to avoid opposing traffic coming out which will hug the Cape. But ships going south into the Pacific might decide to go wide as well and thus meet the incoming ship.  Thus opposing ships might be all over the place in the entrance and if so, it means slowing down and time delay.

Once inside the ship sails north through Sumner Strait and then has to make a 90o turn to the East at Baker Point. That 90 degree turn is not a problem, the fact that it is a fishing location can be. In the old days of the 1980’s we always had challenges here.  Fishermen just ran their nets all over the place and we counted ourselves lucky that we did not tear up more nets than we did. But the indiscriminate fishing depleted the stocks and regulation was introduced and now, while the fish stocks are coming back, things are regulated a bit better. There are now specified fishing openings in various areas and the fishermen also learned that if they are sitting in the steamer track with their net, there is no insurance company that will buy them a new one. Still when the fishing fleet is there we slow down and sail by at a no –wake speed. Good for everybody but it costs time.

NOAA Chart 17383 covering Snow Passage between Sumner Strait and Clarence Strait. You can also go north of Zarembo Island but it takes a lot more time.

The last bottle neck before Ketchikan is going through Snow Passage at the south side of Zarembo Island. Looking at the chart it does not look very difficult but the challenge is the current, which can run up to 4 knots, and pushes you off your regular track line. We normally slow down here to about 14 knots, to have more time to adjust for the way the current sets, and also to have more time to curve around the buoy while being pushed over by the current. Because there is current, there is food and thus Whales like to hang out here and they go fishing in the middle of our intended track line. A 2^nd reason to slow down. Give them time to recognize us and move out of the way.  Then there are the fishing boats and the Tug and Tows.  The tugboats normally join in and give a timely warning on the VHF that they are in the vicinity and are going to make a transit. Then the pilot on board will make arrangements which ensure that we do not meet in the middle.

Fishing boats are a different matter, there is not much fishing here, too much current, but they transit the area. They do not always adhere to the VHF protocols or hear the announcements (we see many a fisherman happily sailing by with headphones on for music) and they will go through the passage right in the middle where they know the water is the deepest.  We plot them on the Radar and then we slow down even more.

These happenings are the main reason when you suddenly realize your ship did not arrive on time in Ketchikan or in Juneau if it was making a transit between these two ports. Today all was well in the world and the Zaandam arrived very timely at berth 1B and docked behind the Oosterdam, which makes a morning call here, before returning to Seattle. We even had a bit of sunshine on arrival and for Ketchikan standards that is something to cherish.

There are several hotels in Juneau but Holland America prefers to use the Baranof in the Main Street as it is a Westmark hotel which is part of the company. It makes sense that if you have to spend money on travel for your employees then you might as well put it back in your own pocket. It is a pity that Holland America has no air transport capability otherwise travel would be a sort of enclosed circulation of all its own funds.  But we do not have that and thus I was flown by Alaskan Air from Seattle back to the Great Land. The Baranof has been in operation since 1939 and has become a sort of landmark of Juneau, together with the Alaska hotel (much older) and the Red dog Saloon.  Juneau had two days of no-rain in a row and that gave me the chance to walk to the ship pulling my suitcase. I somehow find it a bit over the top to get a cab to travel the distance of three blocks from the Hotel to the docks.

When ships are on a 14 day cycle opposite it each other and the other ships are on a seven day cycle you get some strange situations; as if nothing has changed. I had been with the Noordam in Juneau and docked next to the Celebrity Infinity. Today I approached the dock and I see the Zaandam docked next to the Celebrity Infinity. The Zaandam with its one funnel looks of course different than the Noordam but that made the only difference. For reasons totally unknown to me, we have an R class ship, the Zaandam sailing opposite a Vista Class ship, the Noordam. You would think that with the Seward run it would have been easier to have two of the same class to run the Seward cruises as the interior would simply deal with the same size guest flows in the interior. But it must work for marketing as the ships are full and the guests are happy.

The Zaandam as seen at anchor at Cabo San Lucas in 2014. Note the single large funnel.

The Zaandam was the last of the R class. It followed the Rotterdam, Volendam and the Amsterdam. They are all considered sister ships but in reality the Rotterdam and Amsterdam are sisters and the Volendam and Zaandam are sisters. From the outside you can see the difference easily as both the Rotterdam and the Amsterdam have two funnels side by side. Not that this was necessary, one funnel for those ships would have sufficed as well but the company decided that the Rotterdam VI was going to have a reminder from the Grand Dame of the Seas, the Rotterdam V. And this was done by copying the twin smoke stacks of the Rotterdam V. The Rotterdam VI took over the (world) cruises of the Rotterdam V and the Amsterdam (III) was also planned for long cruises. Hence it has the same funnel configuration. The Zaandam and Volendam which have a slightly larger guest capacity were designed for the shorter cruises. With the idea of 3 week period or less firmly in mind. And that is still more or less true with the Amsterdam and Rotterdam doing the long voyages and the other two around 14 days or so, not counting repositioning cruises.

The ms Rotterdam VI, flagship of the company. The twin funnel gives the ship a totally different aspect.

Keeping completely in tune with this, the Zaandam is now on 14 day up and down Alaska cruises before it sails south again to start her winter program around the southern part of South America. Captain in command is Chris Norman who joined Holland America half way through his career as in an earlier life he was a fisherman. Recently he was on loan to P&O Australia when we handed over the Statendam and the Ryndam. As those ships are now completely integrated in that fleet most of the Hal Officers involved in the transfer are now coming back to the mother company and are being re-assigned in the fleet.

The Zaandam sailed at the regular southbound time departure of 18.00 hrs. and will then aim for 10.00 hrs. first line tomorrow morning in Ketchikan. Official arrival time is 11.00 hrs. but the captains like to be here a bit earlier, if the weather and safe navigation allows this, as it is a short stop and it takes the pressure a little bit off the initial rush ashore. Ketchikan promises a chilly but sunny day and that is GOOD weather for Ketchikan.

For all American readers, happy 4^th. of July. I hope you had a great day as I had while in Seattle. Historically speaking I always feel a sort of Dutch – American connection during this day as the Netherlands were the first country in the world to recognize the independence of the new USA. It did so by raising the flag when an American warship came to the island of St. Bartholomew in the Caribbean shortly after the declaration. During the day I had a walk around the Space Needle area which is a congregation place for outdoor activities with buskers and huskers. One fixed group are Peruvians, I can see their Inca descendants, who for several years already have a fixed location opposite the entrance to the Space Needle.  In the evening  I went to see the Fireworks of Seattle over Lake Union and to my great happiness there was an outlet where they sold Summer Ale made by the locate Fremont brewery. There is nothing better than watching culture with a pint in your hand. Seattle had perfect weather for a 4^th. of July celebration which to the utter amazement of the locals has now been the case for three years in a row.  No rain but sunshine………………………..

Our new Seattle Head Office. The main entrance is behind the silver car halfway up the hill.

The day before I reported to my head office as I had to renew my security card, had a meeting with the Sr. Director of Marine/Nautical Operations and took the chance to see our new office building. Holland America moved buildings in January 2017. The new building is one block higher up the road and now has great views of the Pudget Sound when you are in the Restaurant on the top floor. 300 Elliott Avenue West is now empty for a larger part and there is work going on inside to make it ready for new tenants. Holland America had in the end three offices in Seattle but now everything is back under one roof.

Looking Down in the Atrium from Deck 3. To the left the :”bridge” to the North section of the building.

Our new office which is called 3^rd on 3^rd, as it is located on 3^rd. Avenue is not owned by HAL but there is a very long lease. Long enough to make it possible for HAL to be part of the design team. As a result the architect has tried to give the interior a nautical flavor. There is an Atrium with bridges on each level to connect the North and South Pier of the building and in various areas lights and other fixtures look like portholes. The floors are called decks and named after continents.   The whole complex is a big improvement on the gloomy aspect of the old building. My only observation would be that for my taste it does not look “shippy” enough. Too many bare walls but maybe that will change with the years. There are ships models on every level and to my delight also one or two old ones. There is a model of the Haelve Maen, the sailing ship which until recently graced our Ships logo and a model of the Homeric before it became the ms Westerdam. And of course all the blue hull models of our current fleet.

I sent the Rotterdam V Bell to Seattle in 1997 where it found a place in the entrance of the old building. Now it is standing here in the new buildings lobby,

The designer choose for an open office plan, which means everybody has a work station and not an enclosed office anymore. The old building had a large number of”Aquariums” as I called them arranged around central areas with office cubicles. Now Sr. staff and Jr. Staff have work stations in the same area and in the central nave there are meeting rooms (named after ports of call), telephone rooms and sitting area’s to meet people.  As a shipping office runs on coffee, on each level there is a coffee station with a sitting area next to the central staircase. I think that is the most successful part of the design as it gives the option to do some informal business without having to hang around the coffee machine or sit in a stuffy meeting room.

The building is occupied by Holland America Line, Seabourn and a section of Princess Cruises. The latter’s main office is in Santa Clarita but as we share the overland tour business with Princess and all three are now part of the HAG (Holland America Group) Princess also has a presence here which is mainly noticed by white hulled ships models in the waiting area’s around the Atrium.  For the rest you do cannot see it as the computer work stations look exactly the same.

What has not been moved yet is the old Veendam anchor which is still standing outside the old office. Nobody could tell me if there were any immediate plans for it to be moved closer to the new building. There is a little of space outside the main entrance to the new office so it would be possible. We just have to wait and see. It is not easy to walk away with 12000 pounds of steel so I assume the owners of the old office building will not be in a hurry to have I removed.

The builders model of the ms Westerdam which came to Holland America when it took over Home Lines in 1988.

Tomorrow I will join the Zaandam in Juneau and then we will return to the Alaska Cruise schedule of calling at Seward. The Zaandam sails the opposite way of the Noordam and they will pass each other tomorrow evening when the Zaandam comes down from Haines and the Noordam goes up to Skagway.

The oldest piece of history in the office. A Jacobson painting of the ms Maasdam II of 1889. It hangs outside the Board room. Around that time the locals in New York had the tendency to call a line serving New York after it’s home country. So there was the French Line but Holland America was often called the Netherlands Line and even promoted itself as such.

Due to the time difference I currently post my blog the day after the date. That results today in a conflict of interests as I am leaving the Noordam and  transferring to the Zaandam, via a short visit to our NEW head office in Seattle.

So I will try to catch up tomorrow as I am flying today.

Thus today there will be no blog but hopefully there will be one tomorrow with some photos of our new head quarters.

Best regards

Capt. Albert

As mentioned yesterday the ms Noordam was on a tight schedule to get to Ketchikan on time and thus we raced through the night from Juneau, via Cape Spencer and Snow Passage to Ketchikan. As there was no traffic to hold us up, the ship docked nicely on time at Berth 4 in Ketchikan. Berth 4 is the farthest to the north and also the farthest away from down town. (Although is there is shopping board walk to guide you there) We have been assigned to this dock because we were the last one coming in. On berth 1 we had the Oosterdam which arrived early and left at 13.00 hrs. Her spot was then immediately taken by the Celebrity Infinity. On berth 2, facing north was the Seven Seas Mariner, and on berth 3 was the Norwegian Pearl who had left Juneau earlier than us and thus could dock earlier as well. Four ships, four docks and the port was full again. That leaves one anchorage space in the middle of the harbor but it is normally only used on congested days. I think they have the first one on July 3 when then Grand Princess has to anchor during a full day call.

Tongass Narrows as seen from the south out of an airplane. (Courtesy: thank you to the unknown maker)

Ketchikan is partly sheltered by Tongass Narrows and to get there you have to sail through it completely during the journey either Northbound or Southbound. As there are houses and docks on either side of the Narrows there are speed restrictions. So we have a whole protocol to abide by. The pilot is the person ensuring that we do abide as it is his license on the line as being the Government Representative on board. Only if the captain would ignore the pilot’s advice in regards to the regulations, then the ship would be held responsible. The whole of the South East Alaska ports are covered by a rule book. The S.E Alaska Waterway Guide.  All who are involved in navigating have to know its contents and if something changes, we will hear about it via the pilots, the ships agent and the Notices to Mariners; although the latter can be quite delayed in coming to us as it has to go through governmental pipe lines.

The Nautical Chart of the Tongass Narrows. (Courtesy Noaa 174286)

The north point of Tongass Narrows is defined by Guard Island (A), a clever name as indeed the lighthouse on top of it guards the entrance. At this point the ship will slow down its speed to full maneuverable. This means the engines come down from a most economical sea setting to where we can pull the handles without causing any issues with the propulsion. (The ships engines are always ready to slow down but a gentle way is preferred when high temperatures are involved) Then it is about two miles until we come to Rosa Reef (B) which is a small reef sticking out from the southern shore. There we have to be down to 16 knots. The next location is Ship Island (C) where we have to be down to 10 knots. This speed is universally considered a no-wake-speed and that will protect the boats and floats along the sides of the Narrows which are now becoming more and narrower here.

Next step is when we pass Tongass Dry-dock (D) opposite the airport. Due to the floating dry dock, the Narrows are now really narrow and thus we have to be down to 7 knots. Here is also a small ferry crossing for people to go from Ketchikan to the Airport and vice versa.  The seven knots speed limit is in force for the whole port area and thus we can adjust the speed for the rest of the distance to the dock to our own liking. Normally we approach the dock (E) with a speed of about 3 knots and then let the Azipods trail astern to come to a standstill in the right position.  That right position is where the gangways will be located and as dock 4 has a floating pontoon to accommodate a tide-less gangway, that is where we have to aim for.

Downtown Ketchikan, with cruise ships in port on a congested port day as also the anchorage is occupied.

Ketchikan did let us know a few times during the day that it is the Rainy Capital of the World but there was no wind, so it was not that chilly when being ashore.

We will sail after 18.30 hrs. to get back to Canada ad after an hour forward to get back into the Canadian Time zone we will sail the Inside Passage from around noon time onwards. It is expected to remain a bit rainy.

During the night we sailed slowly towards Juneau to join the parade of incoming cruise ships. Today it was not so busy; only three ships arrived at more or less the same time. The parade was led this time by the Celebrity Infinity who had to go to the Steamship Dock, the dock furthest in before they put the new floating dock in position. Alaska Steam was always the dock for the smallest cruise ship and thus most of the time the Holland America S and R Class docked there.

The ms Noordam docked in Juneau today. this photo was taken from the ships tender as I was conducting sailor training today. In the back the Celebrity Infinity.

Now we have this new and very long dock there is space for the big boys as well. Next in line was the Noordam which docked in front of the Infinity at what we still call the Cruise Terminal although the name is now outdated. The name dates back from the days that the Alaska Ferry dock was converted in a cruise ship dock and if there was only one cruise ship in, it went to that dock. The Alaska State Ferry had by then moved to a new terminal at Auke Bay sometime in the early 80’s. Far out of town but much easier for cars and trucks to reach and park.  In port as well was the Norwegian Sun and in the afternoon we were joined by the Carnival Legend and that meant that all the major cruise docks were occupied.  There were no small cruise ships in port today which is unusual as there are a lot of wildlife enthusiasts who want to go very far off the beaten track. Something we do not offer with the larger ships and not even with our shore excursions.

The port of Juneau as seen on the Electronic chart. The red lines in the chart are the safe boundaries for the ship to sail in between. The little roundals indicates the moments for changing course and speed.

Carnival has committed one ship to Alaska since a number of years, although it’s focus is not on Alaska as such. As we are now one big family with the various brands under the Carnival Corporation Umbrella, Holland America and Princess are spear heading the Alaska cruise experience. But Carnival Cruise Lines is a big cruise company and thus they have sufficient clientele to offer one ship for the Alaska summer while having “fun” at the same time. It is for the same reason we see other company’s popping up with one ship for one or more cruises. Thus we have seen the Silver Shadow and the Seven Seas Mariner but also one of our own Seabourn Ships. Seabourn delivers a six star cruise experience and goes everywhere from the Artic to the Antarctic and from Europe to the Far East. It has only a few ships and so has to offer a few cruises everywhere which is also something its guests expect. Something different all the time.  I might be able to blog about Seabourn a bit more next year, as plans are that those ships will be become part of my fleet rotation program.

A bald eagle had taken up a prime look out spot on top of the rope winch for bringing mooring lines ashore.

Juneau provided an overcast experience today but the clouds stayed up in the sky and thus the Cable Car to Mount Roberts could show Juneau from the air. It is not unusual for the top to be enclosed in clouds. It does not stop the cable cars from going up and down but it limits the experience at the top to visiting the little attractions (shops) on the platform. But Juneau is getting more and more attractions closer to the ship in the form of Wildlife. When I came to Alaska for the first time in 1982 seeing a Bald Eagle was big news. We made announcements and slowed down the ships. But with the years the conservation projects have paid off and now we see them everywhere. Even on the docks. This afternoon we had a full grown specimen sitting on the bow bollard of the dock watching the world go by. There is ample fish in Gastineau Channel and all around, not to mention all sorts of small animals (and they seem to like French fries as well) for them to live the good life.

We left just after 17.30 as all the guests were nicely back on board on time and the extra 30 minutes will help the captain to arrive timely in Ketchikan. It is a high speed run between these two ports and as you never know how much you have to slow down at Snow Passage, a bit of extra time up the sleeve does help. We are looking forward to real Ketchikan weather with temperatures around 55oF or 13oC and around noon time a 100% chance of rain. The locals must get worried as even for Ketchikan there has been much less summer than normal.

Haines is special place. It really should not be there and you can see that as it looks totally different than the other Alaskan towns. And that gives it, its charm. Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway are now the major tourist towns, while Haines in its little sheltered corner of Lynn Canal is somehow only a small part of it. Holland America was the company that started calling here on a regular basis, as it decided in the late 1990’s to make Haines the Southbound stop on its 14 day Alaska service to Seward giving the guests who made the 14 roundtrip from Vancouver at least one different port to look at. (If they need more T shirts, they can still take the ferry to Skagway which is available to those who joined in Seward for the southbound trip only).

The metropolis of Haines was originally an Indian Settlement and to put it simply the Indians choose the Valley on which edge Haines is located to sit out of the wind and to enjoy some good fishing. The wind can whistle up the Lynn Canal as a funnel wind with speeds of up to 50 or 60 miles an hour and it is not much fun if you have to face that every time you open your front door. When the United States bought Alaska they bought with it a border dispute with Canada. That resulted in the building of the William H. Seward Fort just south of the town.  As far as I know Canada has never invaded the USA over “the Haines Question” so it must all have been settled.  Haines got its names from a Mrs. Haines who was instrumental in providing funds for a mission school which was built here in the 1880’s.

Haines as seen from the ship with the ex military houses against the mountain ridge.

The fact that the town looks so different from any other town is caused by the Military houses against the hill above the dock. I suppose the military had some sort of standard house design and brought that with them when the fort was built and the subsequent expansion of the military activities through the years. One big difference between these military houses and the average Alaskan house is the size of windows. Everywhere along the inside passage and in the various towns, the locals construct their houses with as large as possible windows to let as much light in as possible. Understandable as for half the year, the weather is gloomy to very dark for most of the day. This area of Alaska does not have the midnight sun but it comes very close to it. A few days ago we had the day with the shortest night here in Alaska. On the ship the sun set at 22.50 and rose again at 03.20 hrs. In those 4.5 hours it never went really dark it was more of a prolonged dusk. During the winter it also works the other way around. It never gets really day light. So the more light that is being let in, the better.

The electronic chart showing the ships approach and subsequent docking at the pier in Haines.

The port has only one dock for cruise ships although there are moves afoot to construct a second one. It is standard for us, to dock nose in, portside alongside. Partly because we do not like the ships Azi pods to come close to shallow water, partly because the first tours are leaving at 06.30 and going nose out / swinging over starboard would mean coming in another 30 minutes earlier. That means a lot of people have to get up even earlier than is already the case. If we swing in the evening, it will go faster as we move the ship away from the dock and into open waters and a lot of crew are still around working anyway.

From Haines there are tours to be made all over the Lynn Canal and Skagway. Quite popular is the local tour as there is a fair chance of meeting Moose. Our tour today spotted a Mama Moose and a baby Moose. Great excitement of course. Moose are not universally liked though by the locals. One of our pilots lives in Haines and when she is ready to harvest her tomatoes, a local Moose tends to come down and “help” with the harvest.  Our company also offers bike tours in Haines, as the Chilkoot valley is near flat and traffic is not such that you risk life and limb while peddling around.  Top of my Agenda is the local brewery (bring your own bottle) and the Hammer Museum. The latter is not a joke but has an enormous collection of everything you can hammer with from all around the world.  Deep in the archives of this blog you will find an entry where yours truly (instigated by the Art Auctioneer) donated an auctioneers hammer to the museum.  And they also sell a T-shirt, called”I got hammered in Haines”.  And that is one you cannot get in any of the other T shirt shops in Alaska.

Tomorrow we are in Juneau, where the plan is to arrive at 07.00 hrs. Weather: it is supposed to be an overcast day but with not much or any rain. Temperatures will soar up into the high fifties.

The weather turned out to be quite decent in the end. Not much sunshine but also very little wind and that is important for good sightseeing. If we have a wind that blows into the bay and somewhere goes over a Glacier while coming in, then it becomes a very cold wind and that makes being on the outside deck a bit of a challenge. But not today. It was nice and quiet in the upper bay.

We normally pick up the Rangers between 06.30 and 07.00 hrs. at Bartlett Cove which is a small village at the entrance of the Bay and where also the Ranger Station is located. We return them between 16.30 and 17.00 hrs. after a full day in Glacier Bay. The Rangers come out in their own boat, called the Shirak, and they board via the pilot ladder. Normally there is a minimum of three Rangers, one for the announcements, one for the desk and shop they run in the crow’s nest and one who does the lecture in the show lounge. Then there is often an Indian interpreter from the local tribe who have lived near Glacier Bay for centuries and very often we also have a “spotter” on the forward deck. A Lady or a Gentleman who spends all day looking at wildlife and counting the sightings. I have the greatest respect for this person as he or she stands there all day long in wind, rain and cold, looking around and counts and observes. I always think how lucky I am to stand on the bridge behind glass and a steady temperature.

It is so simple to say” pick up at 07.00 hrs. and drop off at 17.00 hrs.”, but there is a whole puzzle behind it, a puzzle which the captain has to solve and adhere to. First of all there is the requirement of spending 4 hours in the upper bay, where the glaciers are. This 4 hour requirement was instigated in the past as there were captains who raced up and down the bay and managed to sail past all the glaciers in 2 hrs. time. That does not give the guests much time to enjoy the experience and thus the 4 hr. rule was imposed quite a few years ago.

Then we have to deal with “Whale Waters” as I mentioned last week. At the moment we can still do 20 knots in the middle of the bay but in the near future it will be reduced to 13 or 10 knots. As soon as more wildlife is taking up station in the Bay area. Then it will take much longer to sail up or down the bay. Finally the Rangers also give a presentation and during that time they want to have everybody as much as possible in the lounge, so we try to be in an area where there is not too much to see, because if there is wildlife, then we like the Rangers to be there to explain it.

That all together gives for the fact that it takes a bit of doing to cobble a workable schedule together. However we have been at it for a long long time so the guest does not even notice that they are being ran on a very strict schedule in order to comply with a lot of different rules (*)

Marjorie Glacier with a ice pinnacle sticking out into the bay. Very unusual.

Marjorie Glacier had calved a lot since last week and today there was a long straight pinnacle heading into the Bay. It will not stay there very long, a few times with the tide going up and down and it will break off. But at the moment we have two curved gaps in the face of the Glacier, where once Marjorie was one straight wall of ice. It will be interesting to see how this develops and if one day we can walk in front of the Glacier on dry land.

Tomorrow we will be in Haines where we will arrive before 06.30 in the morning as that is the time the first tour is leaving. The weather is supposed to be overcast but dry, so it should be a good day for everybody to be out and about.

(*) and of course do not forget the bingo a 17.00 hrs. as it would be lethal if we would have to cancel that one.