We woke up to cool temps in the mid 50's, 86% humidity, and 11 mph winds. The ship was doing a steady speed of 16 knots when we were in open waters. By the time we approached the tree-studded islands, fog appeared thick enough for the foghorn to be blown around 10:30am. Not a good sign.....
The Zaandam was doing scenic cruising of Princess Royal Island, the Great Bear Rainforest, and Grenville Island. When and where we actually sailed past these islands was sort of a mystery, because there was no commentary on the outside decks or on the bow channel. The only mention of this sailing was when the Captain came on with his noon talk. He said we had gone 328 nautical miles since departing Vancouver and had another 569 nautical miles to go to be in Sitka on Saturday. The bow would be open until 8pm this evening, weather permitting. And by some miracle, the fog lifted by 12:30pm and presented clear, blue skies. How lucky was that?
We had all the scenic cruising we needed right from our veranda. No need to tell us to keep the binoculars and cameras close by for sightings of abundant wildlife such as humpback whales, soaring eagles, and many sea birds. This is all part of the Tongass Rainforest, the largest temperate rainforest in the world. We have never seen so many trees on as many islands. There were a few scattered villages, but for the most part, it is a virgin forest with little industry that we could see. An occasional fishing boat would drift by every now and then.
We did have another invite for a wine tasting at 1:45pm, but scenic sailing won out. Besides we do not drink wine, but it is nice to be invited.
It was the perfect time to work on photos and do some reading. Lunch was from room service with one salad and one bowl of soup. We shared a plate of two mini burger sliders with a couple of watermelon spears.
It wasn't until closer to 3:30pm that we started seeing whale blows. The displays began with a few humpbacks, then they were everywhere. We witnessed some unusual behavior with two whales performing powerful tail slamming. Not once or twice, but over and over. Now we wonder if that was a sign of stress? Time to do some research which is so easy these days with Google. Another small pod seemed to be breaching the surface, while others were shallow feeding, not diving. It certainly was the perfect time for the photographers among us. Once again, there were no announcements made ship wide, so it was the luck of the draw for these special sightings. An added plus was that the sun was shining, warming us up somewhat. We watched the scenery until it was time for dinner.
Tonight was dressy and the Captain's welcome toast in the World Stage at one time - 7:15pm. Our dinner time is fixed at 7:30pm, more or less, so we never go to the toast. This might have been a good evening to have gone to the Pinnacle Grill for dinner since the menu was not all that exciting. It was the same menu as the last two weeks, but the rack of lamb was nowhere as good or tender as the last time it was ordered. One of us had asked for the surf and turf steak and shrimp meal but was served the alternate steak instead. Not wanting to wait for the correct entree, we kept what we had. Actually, the steak was better than the lamb and it came with French fries. No need for dessert, we headed back to our room.
The show was performed by the singers and dancers with classic hits from past years.
Tomorrow we will have more scenic cruising and hope it is as good as today's. And we had to put the clocks back one hour to be on Alaska time. No problem.
Bill & Mary Ann
