Day 5, 6/25/2002 Sunrise 5:17am - Sunset 10:24pm Temp @ Noon: 54º with rain
Gettin' our Bearings
We decided to go to sleep last night watching the scenery slip by so we left the curtain to our port side balcony open. At some point overnight I noticed we were passing a fairly large community on Vancouver Island and a few minutes later four large, steaming smoke stacks loomed through the sliding door. Just after dawn this morning we sailed out from behind Vancouver Island and into our first unprotected seas. I noticed the ship's rocking but didn't feel the familiar nausea - I smiled, rolled over and allowed myself to be rocked back to sleep. The 'scop-patch' was working, this was gonna be a great experience! After lunch today we went to the gift shop and I purchased "The Alaska Cruise Companion" a mile-by-mile guide to our journey which include a map. From this guide/map I was able to extrapolate that the community we passed in the night must have been the city of Campbell River. I only learned after my return (and reconnection to the net) that the smoke stacks belonged to the Norske Canada, Elk Falls Lumber/Pulp Mill.
I spent the rainy afternoon in protected areas on deck watching the deeply forested (Douglas Fir/Hemlock) shores and abundant waterfalls of Aristazabal, Princess Royal, Campania, Pitt, Banks and McCauley Islands slip by while talking to the only other Texan I encountered on the whole trip. This evening we happened to be in the Atrium as the Captain's formal welcome gala began - we enjoyed free drinks and watching the 'parade of finery' but skipped formal dinning as we had decided in advance not to bother with bringing or renting formal attire. After supper the Canadian pilot who had guided us through the Canadian portions of the Inside Passage was disembarked as we would be back in US waters in the morning.
Created on ... July 10, 2002