Day 11
Nautical
miles first full day of cruise
Awake 6AM to
full light. Cloudy but no rain. The smoke we saw last night seems to have
disappeared, thankfully. Pat could feel
the vibration of the engine and any movement while sleeping. It was comforting and didn’t disturb
sleep. Chuck could not feel it as much
in the upper bunk. Other than it was very quiet. Beds are comfortable and
eventually cooled off after the very warm Bellingham start. Lots of hot water and shower works well. We’re a little pressed for space but able to
make it work, we spend most of our time out of the room. We have breakfast in the formal dining room
with linen tablecloths, real China and tableware. Food is excellent and plentiful and very reasonable
for $12.00 each and constant coffee refills.
The servers are very friendly and helpful; there is a no tip
policy. The ferry system is working with
staff shortage but the Columbia staff make it look easy as they multi task.
We enter
choppy open water so we stay inside with open views. Once it is less choppy, we go outside with
our folding chairs and spend the rest of the afternoon on the back deck in the
sunshine. There is wind but with the sun
it’s enjoyable. And we got sunburned. We are in Canada’s portion of the inside
passage. Lots of rocky shores and pine
trees. We pass by Bella Bella, a native
village that is spread out on various small islands. They have a totem facing the water and flying
the Canadian flag. There are shoals in
the area that require careful navigation. The shoreline is lined with small
rolling hills with higher snow-covered Coastal mountains in the distance. We see the occasional gull but no seals or
sealions. As we enter a very narrow
water way, 2 humpback whales are spotted.
We surmise they are mother and calf working their way from Mexico after
birthing to Alaska for the summer. They
show their heads and tails then disappear.
We see a perfect circle of bubbles form on the surface of the water and
the whales rise out of the water with mouths open taking in the fish they have
corralled. Most everyone leaves the
outdoor deck and we are alone. We see a
lone humpback breaching out of the water, beating the water with its fins,
slapping its tail. Since it is alone, we
surmise it is a male that may be trying to fish. The first run of salmon is expected any day
now. And it’s usually the big Chinook’s
or King’s.
There is no
alcohol allowed outside the dining room or cocktail lounge. But there are a lot of suspicious sippy cups
and can cozies circulating. A lot of
happy chatty people around. We are just
jealous that we didn’t think of it or realize some see it as booze cruise. LOL
Midday we had
snacks from our own stash; but dinner in the formal dining room. We have lucked out and snagged our same
breakfast table, full range view over the water as we pass through. It is narrow with lots of waterfalls and
heavy pine forestation. Chuck has steak,
baked potato, Pat has baked cod with plain jasmine rice, both have baked yellow
squash. A few libations and
dessert. We sit in the forward lounge
and watch the sunset as we travel through the narrows; a few porpoises greet
us. We get into open water from time to
time and the Captain warns us to sit down.
It doesn’t last too long, mostly there is minimal rocking and rolling.
As we move
north it gets colder and there is more and more snow on the mountains, even the
lower peaks. But it makes for some
spectacular waterfalls.
We are far
enough south so we still get dark. Time for bed and tending to our burned
faces.
Nighty
night.
