Alaska/Canada 2017 - 1: The Ferry

June 24-29, 2017

    After prepping for our trip to Alaska in every way we could think of; helping to move Doug's son Andrew and wife Devon from Quantico, VA, to Bellingham, WA, where they now rent our house; and spending time in Washington with friends and all of Doug's kids, it was almost departure day.

     Doug decided to move Father’s Day to our departure day, and so on Saturday, June 24, for the first time ever, all of Doug's family were together: daughter Katie and husband, Javier; Andrew and Devon; and us. We had lunch at Mambo Italiano in Fairhaven, the more upscale area of Bellingham, where the ferry terminal is also located.

Drew, Devon, Katie, Marilyn, Doug, Javier

    Too soon, it was time to check in at the ferry terminal—then sit and wait for a couple of hours in the sun and 85-degree temps, an unusually hot day for northwest Washington. When it was finally our turn, it was start your engines and board!  

Boarding the MV Kennicott, our home for the next 5 days.

Loading vehicles on a ferry is a science. For our5-day, 1,400 nautical mile voyage to Whittier, the crew nudged the cars, vans, RVs, U-Haul trucks, and motorcycles as closely together as possible and strapped them down front and back. 

The Traverse, tied down for the voyage

    With the Traverse strapped in place, it was time to take our gear to our 5 x 7 roomette. This necessitated four trips up the elevator to the Sundeck, level 8, and left us with little room for ourselves. We'd be able to go to the car deck three times daily to retrieve and return items to the van. For many, going to the car deck meant walking their dogs, who unfortunately were restricted to the vehicles the rest of the time. 

Doug got the top bunk and Marilyn the bottom.

    The first thing I did the next morning was to cart things back to the van that we definitely could live without on the ferry! 

Bunks converted to table & bench seats.

The table and bench seats converted to one bunk and the other folded down. If either of us sat up in bed, we would hit our head. For each bunk, there was a tiny shelf, a light with outlet, and hooks on each side. The bottom bunk had a porthole that provided light and a view of the legs of passersby on the deck. The bunks took up most of the roomette, and we didn't spend much time trying to keep it neat, a losing battle.

  

It was nearly impossible trying to keep the roomette neat, between hanging towels to dry and storing food and clothes.

    Shortly before 6:00 PM we were on deck as the ferry pulled out. It was amazing watching one of the deck hands, a diminutive woman with spiked black hair and mirrored shades, haul in the 3-inch bow rope, and stow it. Then she took up the position on the bow of an extra set of eyes as the ferry began to navigate among the many small sail boats and kayaks in Bellingham Bay. 

 

This tiny woman at the bow had just pulled up the 3" bow rope.

Navigating out of Bellingham Bay.

Doug finally fulfilling his dream of taking the ferry to Alaska.

We slid past Bellingham, watched snow-capped Mount Baker until it disappeared, and were soon moving up the coast of Washington toward Canada. 

Mt Baker east of Bellingham.

    Awhile later, passing between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, we recalled sitting in a hot tub a few years back at the bed and breakfast of my cousin's inlaws in Courtenay, Vancouver Island, watching cruise ships race up the Straits of Georgia. 

Passing Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 

We both remarked how pleased we were that once again we were not on a gigantic cruise ship. Instead we were on a ferry with only 497 other passengers. In our midst were numerous young Coast Guard families who were traveling to new duty stations in Alaska for the next three to four years. Many had taken advantage of the move to drive across the country, visiting family, friends, and sights along the way. All were so positive and excited about moving to the small Alaskan ports. 

    We so enjoyed chatting with the parents and watching the kids play--the ferry was so accommodating to young families, with numerous play areas. Some babies were just learning to walk, and should be stars after mastering their first steps on a rolling ferry! Being around these folks made us proud again of our men and women in uniform, who go where they are called, even remote duty stations in Alaska, where in winter these young families will have to adapt to days with as little as three hours of daylight. 

View from our porthole.

Sunset, 9:15 PM 

    Doug had always said that he would be happy sleeping on deck. The first night he grabbed his sleeping bag (a car camping bag, not a warm down one) and headed out to the deck right next to our room. There he found a plastic lounge chair near two other hearty souls and nestled in. With the ferry making 17 knots (think 20 mph) and a good head wind causing his sleeping bag to flutter vigorously, he drifted off to sleep—thinking that perhaps this was not the best scenario. Around 4:00 AM, he awoke to realize that he was the only one left, grabbed his bag, returned to the room, and climbed up to the warm top bunk. 

Inside Passage

    We continued all that night and all the next day, traveling into the Inside Passage, where land seemed so close at times that someone with a good arm could throw a ball to shore. We walked the multiple decks, sat and read in the various lounges, met fellow travelers, ate food we’d brought aboard and food from the cafeteria, and slept rather well in our bunks.  

 Inside Passage

    We found our fellow passengers and the ship’s crew to be very open. We especially hit it off with Chuck and Diane, Kenai Peninsula residents. It didn’t hurt that Chuck and Doug are the same age (Chuck is actually eleven days older) and both Vietnam vets. They invited us to join them for breakfast when we docked in Ketchican the second morning. The four of us took a taxi to the Cape Fox Lodge on the hill at the top of town and watched float planes land in the bay. After breakfast, we walked back down the hill and wandered around until it was time to return to the ferry. We had dinner with them that night in the cafeteria, and they exacted promises to visit them in Ninilchik when we go to the Kenai later in our trip.   

Ketchican

Totems at Cape Fox Lodge, Ketchican

Float plane landing in Ketchican Harbor

    I wanted to stay up all night as we continued to cruise through the Inside Passage the third night, but despite the night sky that only darkens somewhat more than twilight from about 11:00 PM to 2:00 AM, we slept soundly and awoke to the ferry docking in Juneau the third morning. Doug debarked and walked a bit, but I stayed on board, counting on our planned visit to Juneau en route home. 

Leaving Juneau 

View from cafeteria.

    We departed Juneau at noon and were soon out in the open water of the Gulf of Alaska. It was colder and rainy. Our numbers had decreased to only 126 passengers. People read, played cards and games, did jigsaw puzzles, visited. Then suddenly the ferry was in a tight channel and passengers were pouring out to the bow to marvel at the crew’s skill and enjoy the views of the multiple towering islands. 

Lislanski Inlet near Cape Bingham, where the ferry hung out a bit then made a U-turn 

We would later learn, as the ferry made an amazing U-turn in the narrow channel, that because we were ahead of schedule we either had to stop for an hour to cede the lane to other vessels or, as the captain elected to do, make a left turn into the channel and allow the crew to get some more practice time under their belts. 

    Back in open water, the gentle swaying and undulating we had so far experienced became more of a rock and roll. Doug retreated to his bunk, but I wandered the boat and read a few more hours before climbing into my own bunk.

Docked in Yakutat

    We hit calmer waters in the morning as we docked in Yakutat at 6:00 AM. Doug walked and ate a little before taking more Bonine and sleeping. He will quickly tell you that motion sickness is no stranger to him, even if he was in the Navy. I walked to the roadside information booth, which was run by a cheerful young woman who had moved to Yakutat as an Americorps volunteer and stayed when she met and married her husband, a fisherman. The general store up the road across from the courthouse was impressively stocked with everything: fresh (expensive) produce, canned and dry goods, hardware, t-shirts and sweatshirts, and the DMV was in a room next door. I bought a few plums and donated to the local school fund.  

Yakutat General Store

 

    Soon after leaving port, we were rockin’ and rollin’ again. Walking the decks proved too difficult, but I did venture out once or twice and met Cary from Brisbane, Australia, a grandparent like us, who had begun his first bike trip ever in Vancouver and was rendezvousing with friends from home in Whitehorse, Canada. He was taking the train in addition to riding his “push bike,” as they call it Down Under, but he’d put in some long cycling days on Vancouver Island, including cresting a hill to see a bear cross in front of him. 

11:15 PM our last night on the ferry

    The fifth morning, the ride again smoothed as we entered Whittier Passage. Breakfast was served early, at 5:00 AM, prior to our 6:00 AM arrival. 

Passage Canal, Whittier

    By 6:20, the van was skillfully maneuvered off the ferry and we were driving around the tiny town of Whittier. 

Exiting the ferry in Whittier  

Now-abandoned Buckner Building, built during the Cold War to house military personnel in a "city under a roof": housing, stores, theater, rifle range, jail, library, church, etc. It is said to be haunted.

Begich Towers, where most of Whittier's 160 residents now live. 

    

    Leaving Whittier, we offered a ride to Tag, a fellow ferry passenger, and wished we could give Cary a ride, too, but we didn’t have room for his bike.  

Whittier Tunnel entrance 

   We were in luck, as the one-way Whittier tunnel was open our direction. This unique 2.5-mile-long tunnel serves both trains and vehicles, one mode, one direction at a time, and is definitely a tight squeeze. 

Inside the 2.5-mile-long Whittier Tunnel. Train tracks run down the middle. There's a big rig in front of us

Exiting Whitter Tunnel

    We dropped Tag at Girdwood, then continued north along the Turnagain Arm, famous for its bore tide that surfers ride. We hope to see it when we go south again to the Kenai Peninsula later in our trip. 

Turnagain Arm, where surfers ride the 10-foot-high bore tide

    We saw our first wildlife of the trip, dall sheep on the hillside along Seward Highway.

Dall Sheep along the Seward Highway

    Arrived in Anchorage, we did laundry, bought groceries, and had lunch with friends from home who were visiting their grandson. 
We’d thought to overnight at Cabela’s in Anchorage, which is one of several businesses in the country that often offer free overnight parking. However, we found their parking lot overrun with 50 or so RVs, meaning lots of generator noise, as there are no quiet hours imposed in such facilities. 

    So we headed back south, found a spot at Bird Creek Campground in Chugach State Park along Turnagain Arm, and settled in for our first night on land in Alaska.

1st night in Alaska: Bird Creek Campground, Chugach State Park, south of Anchorage