A QUIET DAY

Today was spent at sea. The weather was overcast at times and sunny at others…all in all a calm and leisurely day. Just before noon we were at a small reception with the captain. Good eats and free drinks and a lovely chat with Cpt. Peter Bos. We have sailed with this particular captain for at least three of the trips we have taken. He remembered our mother and he took her picture up to the bridge so she can have the best view of the Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay on this – our last Alaskan voyage. He seemed pleased that we were doing this family cruise in her memory. Most of the day was spent enjoying the spectacular views of the Inside Passage. At times the ship is so close to the shore on either side that it seems if you threw a rock you would have no trouble reaching the shore. We could see lots of salmon splashing about and the odd spout of a humpback whale. Eileen and I were fortunate to see one sound – that is when the tail comes out of the water and they dive to feed. We weren’t close enough to get a good picture, but definitely close enough to have a good look.

We passed by one of only 27 manned lighthouses. Most of them are automated. This one is quite isolated – the lighthouse keepers are helicoptered in from Prince Rupert for a 28 day stretch – as you can see from the picture, this structure sits on barren rock with no room to even walk – just precipitous cliffs down to the water. The captain’s narration told us of it’s reputation having many mishaps and tragedy associated with it’s staff. There have been attempted murders, successful murders, incidences of mental breakdown and deaths from attending to maintenance. I’m sure the close quarters of the staff and the isolation is key to the problems that develop here. Cpt. Bos always has interesting stories to relate when we travel this route. So tonight our clocks are turned back by one hour and we can look forward to scenic cruising in Tracy Arm tomorrow and then a stop in Juneau where Eileen and I will go on a whale watching tour. Sure hope I have some spectacular pictures to share with you tomorrow! Bye for now…