Day 27, somewhere along the inland waterway to Yakima,WA, 235 mi

24 July 2015

One thing that has really surprised me is how protected the inland waterway waters are.  One could easily travel from Seattle, WA to Alaska by small boat, almost entirely in protected waters.  There are only a few relatively short passages exposed to swells from the open Pacific Ocean.  For the most part, travel by boat is quite comfortable and smooth.  Again, without the distractions of email/cell phone/television/internet, it is very contemplative.  I never felt bored or lacked for something to occupy myself.

After a good night's sleep (the sound of the engine no longer keeps us awake, and the gentle motion of the ship seems to promote sleep), we all awake feeling refreshed.  The day is overcast and cool, with periods of rain.  The tent people get their tents packed away early,  before we are in another rain shower.  Luggage is loaded on the bike at the first access to the car deck at 8:15am.

Note:  Access is allowed to the car decks only at certain times of the day so that passengers can attend to their pets which must remain in vehicles on the car decks while underway.  During these times one can also access their vehicles to retrieve items they may need.

One can 'feel' a different attitude on the boat today.  People are antsy to get back on the road.  We all know that the relationships we have made will soon be dissolving as we prepare to return to our regular lives.  Some exchange contact information with others so that they can keep in touch.

There isn't a whole lot new to take pictures of this morning, just a few lighthouses spaced a few miles in from Vancouver, Island.

Vancouver Island in the background

Ferry terminal in Bellingham, WA

We eventually get to Bellingham, WA and watch as the ferry is docked.  Curiously, everywhere else the ferry docked side-to so that cars were loaded from the side of the ship.

However, in Bellingham, the ferry docked such that the door in the stern opened so that vehicles could be unloaded.






  

Working the lines

This is quite the process, which the workers carry out with real professionalism.  Final positioning of the ferry is handled by winching the stern of the ship to the dock using 2 inch thick lines.


First, a thin messenger line with a monkey's fist (knot) is thrown to a dock hand.  This line is used to haul the heavier dock line which is made fast to a bollard as shown in the photo.

No tug boats are used when docking or un-docking.  Just the engines and bow thrusters.

We were fortunate to be in this group of bikes that got off the ferry early

While passing through the Seattle area we stop to visit with a friend, Ash who now lives in Redmond.  Some famous Seattle coffee was enjoyed while we got caught up on each others lives.

After all, when in the Seattle area, one MUST have coffee, right?






From there we worked our way to Yakima, WA.  The highway just climbs up, up, and up from the coast.  As it does, the weather clears and gets warmer.  Soon we are shedding layers that we have worn almost constantly for the last couple of weeks.

Eventually we reach Yakima, have a couple 12-ounce bottles of muscle relaxant and a plate of nachos for dinner.  When we return to our hotel I am too exhausted to use the hotel's Internet to update the blog, so we just lose consciousness until morning.

Day 26, Ketchican to somewhere along the inland waterway

23 July 2015

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...

A beautiful 3-masted schooner

Coast Guard exercises

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...

These guys usually transit in the night

Just a view forward

Spectacular location

Day 25, ferry day 1 Haines to Ketchikan with stops in Juno and Petersburg

22 July 2015

Exploring the ship in the morning we find another deck that allows tents, two down from the solarium deck that we pitched our tent on.  This location is much better protected from the weather (being under the dining room), exhaust, and engine noise.  We quickly decided that this would be our new home, so we moved the tent to the lower deck and re-erected it using previously used Gorilla Tape scavenged from the deck.  Even previously used Gorilla Tape is better than the tape that we brought.  Gorilla Tape is RECOMMENDED for use on ferry decks!

Ours is the Marmot

At the Juno stop some more marine campers joined the impromptu Hooverville.  Soon our little enclave is well occupied.

At this point we felt that we needed to establish an HOA to keep the riff-raff out, and to make sure that tents that didn't conform to our color palette not be allowed to move in.

Despite being accessible only by air and water, Juno appears to be a fair-sized city.  The ferry terminal is some miles away from the city, precluding our ability to just walk off the dock and explore, so we just hang out while cars unload/load.

As we pull away from the ferry terminal and make our way out to the inland waterway we can see the Mendenhall glacier just to the east of the city.




Continuing on our way, we are notified of sightings of porpoises and whales.  Out come the cameras to shouts of "Thar she blows"  "Over there, a breach"  "I see two of them!"  As is usually the case, by the time one clicks the camera shutter, all that is caught is a splash.  We do, however manage to capture a few whale images.

A whale of a tail

Petersburg is a picturesque working town of fishermen.  Since our stop here was very brief, we didn't go ashore here either, but we did take some photos.

I've never seen a dock for float planes before

As we make our way down the inland waterway the water is very calm, and the views typically fabulous.  We learn from one of the ferry employees that we will be traveling through the second most narrow passage approved by the US Coast Guard for large vessels such as our Ferry, the M/V Columbia.  I think he said that the ferry is the only ship of its size approved to go through the narrows. When we reach this passage shortly past Petersburg we see that it is indeed quite narrow, and the ship has to make quite a number of turns through the narrow passage.  There are many parts where it would not be possible for two such ships to pass each other.

As evening arrives, some of our Hoovervillians are prompted to play a little music.  One couple from Canada on their honeymoon play mandolin and fiddle, while a third from New York brought along a guitar.  These musicians had never met before, but like the true professionals that they are, they soon were making great bluegrass music together to the delight of their audience. Some of the tent people offer to buy them dinner for their entertainment and we are asked to join (we just had pie and coffee). It was a fun evening all around.

Bluegrass on the Inland Waterway