Day 6 Ak to Ohio
Nautical
miles same as trip north
Up at 7AM
still on AK time. Slept very soundly for
about 8 hours. Extra pillows from the
purser are helpful. Fog horn blowing
throughout the night. We are in deep fog
with limited visibility all around.
Stressed dog is not here and no others are barking. Ship opens car decks periodically between
ports for animal checks and allows us access to our car as well if we
want. Convenient as car is on our cabin
level. So glad we got underway, it makes
small adjustment to tomorrow’s travel.
Anticipating the heat to come, enjoying the cool for now. This trip is different from northbound in
late May. Hard to describe, this trip
many more families with children, all well behaved and full of energy. More of a variety of ages. This is not a cruise line, it’s an everyman’s
transport. But still not cheap. Vehicles and animals and rooms are all extra
expense. Some sleep in lounge chairs,
couches and outside in tents or outdoor lounge chairs. They offer access to showers, laundry, ice,
potable water, restrooms, a Keurig and a
microwave. There is a grill and cold
food for breakfast, lunch and dinner with reasonable prices (including cod and
chips for $13.00). Many bring their own
food on board. Plenty of places to sit
and relax. The formal dining room serving breakfast and dinner, is a little
more expensive with a more sophisticated but still very reasonable to land
prices.
Fog still dense and horns blowing but the sun
is coming through and making an effort to burn-off. We spend most of the day outside in the quiet
watching the fog show. Still to come, day
and night of sailing with no stops so relaxing time before the long drive
across US. More Scrabble, solitaire and
catching up with blog, saving in WORD ready to insert when we get Internet
access back. Almost without warning the
fog gradually lifted for good. We see
tall mountain peaks, rocky shores of little island and coves. We see a couple whales spouting and some
porpoises. There are some fishing
vessels but not as many as up north.
Less salmon jumping out of the water.
This ferry has a population like a small town and there are all the
usual characters here as you find in any town.
We decide to
celebrate our last dinner in the formal dining room. We snag a table by a window and watch the beautiful
scenery pass by. Chuck’s steak dinner
was good, Pat’s pasta not so good. It
takes a lot to screw up a pasta dish.
But made better with a complimentary libation.
Earlier in
the day a man fell and hit his head. It
seemed crisis averted with treatable injury.
And then he fell again. We are in
middle of nowhere, darkness has fallen, the water deep and cold, no light
except from the ferry. It is decided the
man must be air lifted to a hospital, closest likely being Vancouver, BC. All the tent campers on the open decks must
take down their tents and secure their gear.
The coast guard is coming for an air rescue. Luckily there are not storm conditions. We stay in our room to be out of the way
since there is so much commotion. The
ferry is moving slowly forward as they wait for the helicopter. We stop and resume within about 15
minutes. According to staff, the medics
were lowered by cable, patient attached and lifted in the basket and then the
medics were lifted. Heroic efforts by
crew, pilot and medical staff. We hope
the man is able to get well.
Quiet
sailing tonight. We are getting night
darkness now with moving further south.
Nighty
night.
