Cruising the Inside Passage to Alaska
Food! We could eat all day long if we were so inclined, with 24 hour room service and the numerous buffets and dinning room hours. Each evening the daily activity sheet is slipped under our door, along with tomorrows dinner menu. We also receive a small ship's newspaper with the world news of the day.
After dinner our seatmates decide on the live Las Vegas- like show. Mother and I decide to take in a movie. " You've got mail" The movie theatre is rather jazzy, with it's yellow and brown, tiger striped seats. And of course there are bags of popcorn, waiting at the entrance. There are quite a few seniors attending the movie and as the plot progresses, the music on screen is accompanied by the sounds of gentle snores.
As the ship sails up the coast of Vancouver Island, I sit on our balcony and take in the beauty of our surroundings. After dark I bundle up and watch the stars and the lights of small towns which are few and far between. I listen to the waves as we cut through the water and try to imagine what it was like for the early explorers as they navigated these waters of discovery, with only the light of the moon and stars.
We slow to a crawl as we pass through Seymour narrows, which brings the shore very close on each side of the ship. It also has a 16 knot tide, so the cruise ships must plan their schedule according to these tides.
Seymour narrows is famous for Ripple Rock, a huge rock that used to be in the middle of the passage . At least one ship a year met a watery fate, due to this impediment. In the 50's the B.C. government commissioned an engineer to blow it up. They did so by tunneling from Maude island on one side, under the narrows and up into the rock. It was the largest non-nuclear explosion ever.
The first full day aboard, we are at sea all day. The scenery is typical west coast, with tree covered islands and the deep blue sea and sky overhead. We follow a northerly course
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