We slept much better in our new location on the lower deck, only awakened by the announcements attendant to our docking/undocking from Ketchikan at 3 a.m. For the first time in a couple of weeks I can see that the sky is actually dark! I had become used to going to bed (near midnight) and waking up to twilight.
When we wake up we notice that the passage has become more open and we can feel the gentle rocking of the boat to the muted swells of the Pacific ocean that manage to find their way into the waterway.
Today is laundry day. How nice that the boat has on-board laundry facilities. Two washers and dryers are located in each of the rooms for men's and women's showers.
One thing about the Inland waterway is that there is always something to see. Islands near or far. Boats of all kinds: fishing boats, sailing boats, barges, runabouts, derelict, etc. Birds of many kinds. Whales. Dolphins. Just a small sampling...
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| A beautiful 3-masted schooner |
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| Coast Guard exercises |
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| One of many lighthouses |
Traveling by boat has proven to be every bit as enjoyable as I had expected it to be. For very long stretches we are out of cellular communications range, which means no email, internet, or phone calls. This provides people the opportunity to have casual conversations and get to know one another.
I remember traveling by air before cellular phones became common. Upon boarding a plane I would 'test' my adjacent passengers to see if they were interested in conversation. If so, we might enjoy a pleasant conversation for the next few hours, making the flight pass quickly. Now everyone's attention is diverted to some electronic device, often attached to earphones effectively saying "don't" even talk to me. Without these distractions on a boat one is left to read a book, watch a movie in the on-board theater, watch the passing scenery, or visit with fellow passengers. Really quite civilized.
After spending several days on a boat, one observes little communities develop of people who have never met before, and will likely never see each other again. The tent people enjoy hanging out together. The motorcyclists can all identify each other and find it easy to start conversation about shared common experiences. The parents with children tend to hang together. A number of the same people can regularly be seen sitting in the open air on the stern decks, making it easy to notify each other about the latest whale sighting.
We end the day in the dining room with a couple in the process of retiring from Fairbanks to Washington state enjoying a delicious Alaskan seafood dinner of salmon, halibut, and local shrimp.
The day goes by slowly, pleasantly, presenting lots of opportunity for photos of the passing scenery. Just a few more...
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| These guys usually transit in the night |
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| Just a view forward |
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| Spectacular location |
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