Day 77 - On the Ferry

Here is the “cabin”. What is shown is pretty much the whole thing. I do have a couple of electrical outlets and the electric kettle works fine. I made a cup of coffee before we got underway. I was actually able to get to the car. I don’t think they are running at full capacity yet so the car deck wasn’t packed. 

Here is the stellar view from the cabin window. I guess it’s better than nothing. There are a number of people camped out on the deck as all of the cheap rooms were sold out. I visited the cafeteria as soon as I got settled and the prices were on the high side. I’m glad I brought some food with me. I can feel the boat move but it’s a pretty smooth ride.  

The short video shows the ferry leaving Bellingham on the way to Alaska. I’m typing this on Saturday evening while I still have cell signal.

Later - I had breakfast and made coffee in the cabin before wandering around the ferry. We were just reaching the northern end of Queen Charlotte Strait and I made short 30sec video. After this, we will be in open water for a short time before ducking back between islands along the Canadian coast. The ferry would normally stop in Prince Rupert, BC, but not now due to Canadian Covid rules. The first stop will be tomorrow morning at 7am in Ketchikan, AK. 

There is a bit more pitching and rocking though not sufficient to trigger sea sickness. It’s wet and foggy outside with quite a bit of water on the deck. So I think it’ll be a quiet, inside day. 

Around noon, it had warmed up a bit out on the deck so I went for a walk around deck 7 aka the “boat deck”. This was the only one where you can do a lap without doubling back and was around an eighth of a mile per lap (285 steps). After fifteen laps I headed back in for a drink and to cool off as my laps were starting to get faster. We are between islands again and there is no rolling or pitching.

Four times per day, they escort groups down to the car deck. I think this is primarily for those with pets in their vehicles. But I plan to take some stuff back down to the car. I ended up renting their sheet/pillow/towel package as it was only $3. So the sleeping bag isn’t needed. And it’s an opportunity to drop off my dirty laundry. Of course, it is also something to do as there isn’t much to do on the ferry beyond watching the water slide by. They do show Alaska tourism videos in their theatre but given the number of families with small kids headed for the theatre, I decided to pass. Quite a few people are sitting on deck looking for wildlife. So far, those that I’ve talked to haven’t seen anything.