No land day

Sunday, September 6^th

Distance travelled: unknown

Cumulative distance travelled: not counting

Top speed: 33 km/h

Average speed 33 km/h

I know these details because I took the GPS unit out on the deck and got the speed. This also gives us the opportunity to get a sense of our location and to identify landmarks and islands around us. As I write this, I am able to get a faint signal from inside our berth and see that it is 109 km to Prince Rupert and the last of Canada for a week or so.  Tomorrow morning, waking up will be near or in Ketchikan and we will get off the boat for 3 hours of getting back our land legs.  

We are awake relatively early, but not as early as some. I am contemplating getting a bit of exercise when the PA announcement comes at 7:00 a.m. that we are heading into Blackie Sound, an area known for orcas, or killer whales. That name ”killer whale” is really a misnomer because whales they are not but rather, members of the porpoise family, which would explain why they are carnivores. I decide I can wait to work out and hurry Nan to getting dressed to get out there to take a look. It is cool, cloudy and foggy and we are both thankful to have warm clothing, especially head gear.  

The view over the bow of the Kennicott, first thing Sunday morning.

Almost immediately we spot a small pod swimming a ways from the boat; they look mostly like youngsters but we see bigger ones after. In fact, we saw orcas multiple times today, so we really were very lucky. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any particularly well, but we did see them swimming at the surface the opposite direction of the boat and it was enough to be interesting. 

At breakfast, I notice that the same people that are serving breakfast were serving dinner last night. It is a boat, a closed environment, so no people are staying on the boat to do one shift in a day, staff put in long hours in exchange for time away. Our Purser Eric tells me the shift is two weeks on, two weeks off and he is off in two days, in Juneau. Eric has been on the Kennicott for 8 years but been “in the system”, which means working for Alaska Marine Highway, for 28 years. When I ask him how he is going to spend his time off, he tells me that winter is coming so he is going to be getting his house and yard ready for winter weather.

Laura is a cook in the galley. She is a twenty-something gal that has only been in the kitchen for the summer but “in the system” for four years and since it is the second time I have heard the expression, I think there is a point of pride in being able to state longevity. 

Laura is the only young woman I have seen working on the Kennicott, though she told me there are others. It seems to me like a lonely existence for a young person because there would be only the superficial exchanges with passengers, and then whatever other crew with whom to make friends. There are two main ports where staff reside: Bellingham and Juneau and she lives in the latter, so she will probably be getting off

That's Laura. She's smiling because she is off in two days!

in a day or so. Despite the fact that she has taken culinary arts at school, Laura’s dream is to run a fishing boat with her boyfriend, on a boat they bought last January and have been working hard since then to refurbish. She doesn’t complain about being away two weeks at a time, it is just the pragmatic approach to getting the money together to make their dream become a reality. And she doesn’t seem daunted by the task either; it may be because she expects it to be ready to set sail in short order since she had already anticipated that they would have been fishing by now. Salmon fishing is big business in this part of the world and has been for hundreds – no, thousands – of years.

They have figured out a few things on the Kennicott, and one is posting a notice that warns of when the ship is crossing though open water.  There is a notice by the Purser’s office indicating a two hour crossing through  It looks very dramatic but also quite frightening, just thinking about how seasick I would be on that trip. I don’t think Jack would be yelling “I’m the king of the world!” from this vantage point. I wouldn’t either.

Queen Charlotte Sound, amongst others. So far, the water has been calm and at times, like glass so I don’t think it is a big deal, especially as I have drugs to aid me. However, once in the Q.S. Sound, there are waves that give the ship a different feel and I can feel my equilibrium out of whack. There is a picture in the galley, taken from the bridge, of the bow of the ship crashing through a wave in what must be a winter storm and there is a huge splash high above the boat.

The gang convenes for Happy Hour. Bar or no bar, we will not be denied. Since we don’t want to be busted and thrown in the brig, we discuss the merits of putting a sock on the door knob, the universal sign for “do not disturb” but we concluded that the message would be too disturbing. At dinner, we are joined by some other passengers, so we have a good evening telling stories.