Prince Rupert, Skagway and beyond......
I'll tell you the story of Dana and Barry, who departed Rupert on a 3(4) hour cruise, a 3(4) hour cruise...... The weather was clear and calm, the skipper sober and alert. Cut! This is not going anywhere...
We departed on schedule at 0300. This is an ungodly hour unless you are a grad and this is grad night. On board the SS Matanuska we obtained the keys to our stately room. Ooops. Make that State Room. Actually the room was very comfortable. The room had 2 bunks, toilet, sink a and a shower with hot water that will never run out, except for the last day when we wanted showers before we departed the ship...
Ketchikan was our first port of call (nautical speak for first stop.) We had 3 hours in Ketchikan so we left the ship and walked toward downtown K in search of birds and free wifi. No birds but we did get free wifi at McDonald's. We made it back in time for departure to Wrangel. From Wrangel we sailed to Juneau, Petersburg, Haines then Skagway.
Our experience on the Alaska State Ferry was mostly good. Our accommodations while modest was adequate for our needs. We ate cereal for breakfast and lunch from the food we packed for the trip. For dinner we ate ferry food that was not all that bad.
Our second night on the ferry as better than the first and we slept well. The second day on the ferry dragged a bit. I think this was due to our anticipation of getting to Skagway. I spent a lot of time on deck with my camera and big lens. I was ever hopeful of seeing whales. We did see whales but they were either too far away or they surfaced briefly only to disappear into the depths, never to be seen again.
After 34 hours we finally arrived in Skagway. While docking I got a couple of good photos of Arctic Terns. These birds are amazing fliers. They swoop, twist and turn, dive into the water and soar into the sky. Try shooting these birds in flight. After 200 shots I was able to capture one in a good photo. I did not take many landscapes on our ferry trip as the weather was only fair and really, how many shots of water and trees can one take as. Actually, the scenery was drop-dead gorgeous. Too big for any photo to do it justice. Next post will be about our stay in Skagway, the Alaska town that surrendered itself to the cruise ship industry.
We departed on schedule at 0300. This is an ungodly hour unless you are a grad and this is grad night. On board the SS Matanuska we obtained the keys to our stately room. Ooops. Make that State Room. Actually the room was very comfortable. The room had 2 bunks, toilet, sink a and a shower with hot water that will never run out, except for the last day when we wanted showers before we departed the ship...
Ketchikan was our first port of call (nautical speak for first stop.) We had 3 hours in Ketchikan so we left the ship and walked toward downtown K in search of birds and free wifi. No birds but we did get free wifi at McDonald's. We made it back in time for departure to Wrangel. From Wrangel we sailed to Juneau, Petersburg, Haines then Skagway.
Our experience on the Alaska State Ferry was mostly good. Our accommodations while modest was adequate for our needs. We ate cereal for breakfast and lunch from the food we packed for the trip. For dinner we ate ferry food that was not all that bad.
Our second night on the ferry as better than the first and we slept well. The second day on the ferry dragged a bit. I think this was due to our anticipation of getting to Skagway. I spent a lot of time on deck with my camera and big lens. I was ever hopeful of seeing whales. We did see whales but they were either too far away or they surfaced briefly only to disappear into the depths, never to be seen again.
After 34 hours we finally arrived in Skagway. While docking I got a couple of good photos of Arctic Terns. These birds are amazing fliers. They swoop, twist and turn, dive into the water and soar into the sky. Try shooting these birds in flight. After 200 shots I was able to capture one in a good photo. I did not take many landscapes on our ferry trip as the weather was only fair and really, how many shots of water and trees can one take as. Actually, the scenery was drop-dead gorgeous. Too big for any photo to do it justice. Next post will be about our stay in Skagway, the Alaska town that surrendered itself to the cruise ship industry.
 |
| Sailing into Skagway |
 |
| Arctic Tern in Skagway |
Comments
Post a Comment