On the Harbor: Our Alaskan cruise, part 2

Capturing Glacier Bay aboard the “MS Eurodam” cruise ship

By LEN BOSE

(Tuesday) September 5, Glacier Bay

The only comparison to a Duffy cruise is looking for the scoop in the BCYC ice machine. Glacier Bay is simply explained with one word – “WOW”! The Park Rangers had boarded the boat earlier that morning as we entered the bay. Our weather window was the best of the season, explained by the captain over the load speaker while releasing all of his crew to take turns coming on deck for a view. The Eurodam had been repeating this route every week since April, with this being the first time the crew had been at ease. The sea lion pups had dispersed the icebergs in front of the glacier, which allowed the ship to come within 2,000 feet of the glacier. The diamond blue colors of the glacier were memorizing; the history of the area haunts me, while at the same time, it’s so embracing. Our cabana is paying high dividends while taking in both views from the port and starboard side while breakfast is being served. The glacial calving has some resemblance to our kids jumping from the Lido Bridge, just not the same size wake. When chunks of ice break off the glacier there is a pulsating crack, with the sea birds moving towards the pulse as the ice falls into the bay. Kind of like emptying your ice from the cooler into the harbor after a Duffy cruise. The panoramic view is never-ending with each cove grabbing your attention and ahh…We spent more than two hours in front of the glacier with the calving accruing every 10 minutes. Traveling in and out of Glacier Bay lasted most of the day, while the next cruise ship took its turn in front of the glacier.

(Wednesday) September 6 – Sitka, Alaska

We arrived at port at 8 a.m. with a water excursion of sea otters and whale watching. I’ve seen my share of most mammal sea creatures, so this excursion was for my wife Jennifer, and I had better show interest. While waiting to board our excursion boat, I wandered over to the information stand just located off our gangway. A lady with a big smile was working the berth when I approached and asked if she could answer a couple of silly questions for me. “There are no silly questions,” she replied. I didn’t catch her name, but asked: “Do you feel that there should be fewer cruise ships, and how do the locals feel about the cruise fleet being in town? Do the locals have concerns about the cruise ships affecting the environment?” “Okay, those are interesting questions that I have never been asked before.” She went on to say, “Most of the locals understand the trade-offs for employment and the environment. The people that live in Sitka are fishermen and the cruise ships don’t really bother us. We have all seen the whales and other marine life come into port wrapped around the bulbs of the cruise ships, which always seem to make the headlines. There has been a large increase in the number of cruise ships passing through our port, especially since we have added a pier rather than ships anchoring them and shuttling passages ashore, and it has become overwhelming. There should be something done about the larger ships. I’m just not sure how these changes could be enforced,” she said.

We then headed down the gangway to our excursion vessel and quickly headed out of the channel and around the local islands. The first stop was a bell buoy to check out the sea lions. I thought to myself, “Just slap me across my head now…this is going to be so exciting (sarcastically).” That’s when Ellena, our guide, was above and beyond qualified with her presentation of the sea life and wildlife in Alaska. She caught my attention when she introduced the sea lions on the bell buoy as Steller sea lions and went on to explain that they do not belch or bark. My mind raced on how to bring these sea lions home and blend in with ours. We were fortunate to have another clear day and smooth seas. With many whales, bald eagles, and sea otter sightings, we worked our way back into port. I was able to pull Ellena aside and ask her, “What is your opinion about the number of cruise ships in the area, and should the number of ships be reduced?” “It’s highly dependent as to which area they are in, especially in southeast Alaska and Sitka in particular. We don’t get many independent travelers in order to supplement the community itself, a lot of that is going to be tourist-based. I am a big believer that people won’t care about what they don’t witness first-hand, so if we don’t let people view the humpback whales and other marine life and how emissions and plastics affect them, people will not care. There is a big part of what I feel people need to witness. At one time, there were many ferries that would take people out to view the marine life with far fewer whale sightings. So should we have one area that the cruise ship would go into and take the ferries out of, which might have less impact on marine life? At the same time, with all the ships going into one port, you will have a lot more noise which confuses the whales. The underwater noise is a big problem, so when you have these huge ships and more need to stop, there should be an inclination to move toward smaller vessels that can maneuver more easily. I will say that fewer cruise ships are better for the wildlife itself,” she shared. Then she went on to say, “Water quality is also a major concern, with diesel leaks, discharge from the water makers. Higher regulation is needed, but not everyone is being accountable, even though the Coast Guard is doing all that it can. Underwater noise pollution is having the latest negative impact on marine life.”

So should any of you take this cruise, be sure to take the time to go into the town of Sitka. Jen and I felt we were too short on time and didn’t go, but it turned out that was the wrong call.

(Thursday) September 7 – Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan was one of our last stops after coming ashore, we walked back into the outskirts of town and found a local diner. Picture walking into a western bar with a Reyn Spooner and shorts on, the whole diner goes quiet and those eating give you a long stare. Something tells me they knew I was from California. I spent most of the day people-watching while realizing the cruise was approaching the finish line.

(Thursday) September 21 – Home again

Jennifer and I have been home for over a week now and our suitcases are still in the middle of the living room. My gut feeling is that these huge cruise ships shouldn’t be allowed to run these routes, as it is just wrong in so many ways.  It reminded me of a sunny Sunday afternoon when all of our harbor cruise ships travel through the five-point area of our harbor one after another.  Ellena’s concept of ferries and small excursion boats is one option. If an Alaska cruise is on your bucket list, I recommend going sooner rather than later. Be sure to add a second week to your vacation, because you might catch COVID – all of us did. I came away from the cruise recognizing that the time spent with Jennifer was priceless. For years, Jennifer joined us after the Mexico, Hawaii, and Bay Area races, but I took this as vacation time with her while I was chasing the crew around. The one-on-one time with her is something I will strive to achieve in the future. I’m thinking of Four Seasons Resorts now, rather than cruise ships.

Harbor 20 fleet championships this weekend, so wish us luck!

Sea ya.

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News Newport.

On the Harbor: Our Alaskan cruise, part 1

Capturing the “MS Eurodam” cruise ship for Holland America Line in Sitka, Alaska

September 2, Seattle, Wash

Pier 91 boarding the 935-foot Eurodam destination through Puget Sound then a day at sea headed for Stephens Pass. The Eurodam does resemble a harbor cruise around Newport Harbor aboard a Duffy with food and drink at the next stop. The view leaving Puget Sound was breathtaking, similar to traveling past Lido Isle, Bay Island, and Harbor Island, but here we saw sea otters, orca, seaplanes, and the surrounding forest on the shoreline.

Once on board, we hit the first shift by meeting a couple from Newport Beach who had booked the double-corner cabana on the starboard side of the upper deck for the week. This was the gift from Neptune enlightening the perfect lane to our first mark, allowing us to book the port side double cabana with a 250-degree view for the remainder of the cruise. We completed the afternoon with a Jimmy Buffet playlist and an endless supply of painkillers and cheeseburgers in paradise. We met six different couples who stopped by for painkillers and cheeseburgers while toasting Buffet. Countless passengers came by just to listen to a Buffet song. Passengers wondered why a high-speed boat was circling the ship. From the starboard side just above the water line, a person jumped from the ship onto the pilot boat wearing a life belt, along with a type of hockey helmet, making a perfect two-point landing and then headed immediately below deck. These pilots have some series grapes!

September 3 - Sea Day

Heading into 20 knots of breeze at 20 knots of boat speed makes for some exciting wind across the deck. Pickleball on the aft deck was canceled and the cabana was a bit breezy. Yet, if you own it you better use it. We gave up on the cabana after a couple of hours and lunch; we put up the tri-sail and storm jib, retiring to the bow’s observatory lounge – the Crow’s Nest – for a two-hour reading session along with a couple of rounds of Yahtzee. I thought to myself this was much easier than the first two days of any of the Transpacs I have raced in, while climbing back in my bunk for a solid two-hour afternoon nap. The thought was that while aboard this vessel are we headed to a land we have no business being in…are we disturbing the land by traveling to a place on the Earth that was created for the few and nature? This thought had never crossed my mind while sailing or enjoying a sunset cruise on our harbor. But I was apprehensive about entering this new harbor.

September 4

We awoke in Stephens Passage with good visibility and drizzling rain; another day of no pickleball and questioning the cabana. Although cold, I still felt the cabana was paying dividends. At 1 p.m., we arrived in Juneau. I shifted to another layer of clothing and headed into the heated Crow’s Nest viewing lounge. On our arrival in Juneau, we headed directly to the Red Dog Saloon through its swinging doors and entered the year 1880. It was very similar to walking into the American Legion on our harbor, with overworked cocktail waitresses and bartenders nearing the end of the summer cruising season. The abrasiveness of the bar staff was entertaining. When I engaged the waitress, I brought up that I thought the description of liquor was funny described as Cheap Sh*t, Regular Sh*t, Expensive Sh*t, and Really Expensive Sh*t. I assumed Makers Mark is the Expensive Sh*t.” Her reply was, “You can read, most people can’t.” So, I said I would like a really expensive pour. She left with a “whatever” attitude which intrigued me even more. Then we were off to the excursion bus and the Mendenhall Glacier. While boarding the bus, we were entertained by our driver Bobcat. While blending in historic features, wildlife, and the lifestyle of the local people, he made a half-hour run to and from the glacier memorable.

After arriving back at port, I waited for everyone to leave the bus and asked him a few questions. How do locals feel about the cruise ships? “Here in Juneau, many of the year-round residents would prefer not to have them in port. But during COVID-19, many of these people realized just how important the port is to this city, and many of these people have changed their minds,” Bobcat said. Are they concerned about the environmental impact of the ships? “Some of the ships will discharge more black smoke than they should and I might overhear locals make mention of it from time to time,” Bobcat said. And I asked if there were issues with water quality from the ship due to waste, etc. He said there was not much concern about water quality with the amount of water flow from the huge tide they have.

I found some news articles online regarding the impacts of Alaska cruise ships. One thing that caught my eye was that the majority of Juneau residents would like to limit the number of ships. Although not on the same scale, I found similarities with the large charter boats in our harbor.

Part two will cover our visit to Glacier Bay and an interesting interview with a marine biologist/naturalist as well as information booth residents of Sitka, along with whoever I meet in Ketchikan.

Sea ya.

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Len Bose is a yachting enthusiast, yacht broker and harbor columnist for Stu News 

Newport