Live cruise replay - Radiance to Alaska - August 19-26, 2016

[twangster]

Day 6 - Ketchikan

 

Known for it's rain, Ketchikan didn't disappoint on this day.  I stepped outside after a Windjammer breakfast and... got wet.  I can't complain though as this is the first measurable rain we've had so far.

 

 

 

Today's excursion is The Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour.

 

The year prior while on the Celebrity Millennium Captain Dave Lethin and his wife Denene, owners of the Aleutian Ballad, were be sailing with us and giving a number of talks and Q&A sessions during the cruise.  

 

Those became must attend presentations and listening to his stories and his wife's experiences holding down the fort at home while he fished were amazing.  

 

If you ever meet a crab fisherman who has fished the Bering Sea, you will quickly learn they have stories to tell, a lot of stories.  I couldn't change my excursion that year at the last minute but vowed if I ever returned to Ketchikan I would do this excursion.  And so I did.

 

Looking down off deck 12 the Aleutian Ballad was tied up right beside us.

 

 

Down to deck 5 for a closer look.

 

[twangster]

It was raining pretty good so I put my waterproof case on my phone and left the good camera in the safe on the ship.  Raincoat donned I made my way onto the pier and down to the Aleutian Ballad.

 

 

On board I found they had two live tanks with different marine life in each.  

 

Once all the guests were on board they did the mandatory Coast Guard safety briefings and we departed.  

 

The boat is set up specifically for this purpose.  During the talks on Millennium, Captain Dave talked about the effort it became to transform a crabbing boat into an excursion boat.  The $900k budget quickly exceeded $2.5M.  The regulations to carry passengers are very different than those for a fishing boat. 

 

The boat is setup with an upper and lower viewing areas both of which are covered.  Ceiling mounted heaters keep passengers toasty warm on the lower level. 

 

 

[twangster]

The Aleutian Ballad has a storied history even before it's appearance on the TV series "The Deadliest Catch".  

 

The previous owner was fishing the Bering Sea in a storm when a rogue wave flipped the boat on its side.  On it's side the engines get no oil and shut down for protection.  With no power, steering or propulsion and the boat laying on its side in storming seas in the black of night, the Captain gave the order to don survival suits and abandon ship.   

 

A nearby fishing boat heard the mayday call and a few hours later picked up the crew and brought them back to Dutch Harbor.  Dejected having lost the boat after a few days the crew were stepping foot onto their plane for the ride home when the Coast Guard called and told them they had found the boat, still floating on its side at sea.  

 

With the storm past they went out with pumps, got the boat upright and limped it back to Dutch Harbor.  The first thing the owner did was buy a 4' x 8' piece of plywood and strapped it to the boat in the dockyard with the words "For Sale" spray painted on it.

 

That's where Captain Dave enters the picture and shortly after the Aleutian Ballad's appearance in "The Deadliest Catch" in seasons 2 and 3.  

 

 

During a season of the Deadliest Catch the Aleutian Ballad encountered another rogue wave.   This time the boat righted itself.  You can see that clip here:

 

 

[twangster]

We reached a spot where they could throw fish which would be picked up by passing birds including some Bald Eagles.  

 

It was raining and my phone was safe in its waterproof case but case but boy was I missing my good camera.  Can you spot the Eagles in the trees?

 

 

 

The fishing demonstrations continued and they discussed various approaches such as long lines and single pots. 

 

There are thousands of ways to die and many of them can be found on a crab boat.  This kind of fishing isn't for the faint of heart.  When setting a line of pots in 900' feet of water if you get tangled in the line you are going down.  At that point as they say, it's a matter of recovery, not rescue.

 

They retrieve a line of four crab pots that had been placed the day before.  In the real world a line could have hundreds of pots.

 

 

 

 

 

This one contained a Pacific Octopus.

 

 

They talked about the Pacific Octopus and how it is the nemesis of the crab fisherman.  Once they find a crab pot they will return night after night and feed from it.  They are a highly intelligent animal, they learn and remember those lessons.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2020 by twangster

[twangster]

Here in the water close to Ketchikan you won't find King or Snow crabs but there are plenty of Box crabs.

 

The deck hands carry them around for all us to hold.

 

 

 

With instructions how to hold them so you don't get pinched.

 

Box crabs don't have a lot of meat and aren't something you'll find at any restaurant.

 

Snow crabs on the other hand...

 

 

 

 

These you do not hold by the body because they can reach you with their pinchers. 

 

Then there are the Golden King Crabs of Alaska.  

 

They don't pass these around but the crew displays them for us (their pinchers can do some damage).

 

 

 

They talk about each and the characteristics of them.  How for example if a predator like an Octopus gets a hold of one leg, some can shed that leg to escape.  "Both go away happy" as they said, the Octopus gets a meal, the crab lives another day.

[twangster]

During all of this they tell stories of the experiences fishing.  It's quite a life.  After fishing for a few months its not unusual for a young adult crew to receive a check for thirty or forty thousand dollars, their share of the take.  This contains no withholdings and many a young fishermen find themselves behind with the IRS.  After a few seasons this can quickly grown into a monster sized debt with the IRS.  Those that grew up in a fishing family are taught this at an early age and those that listen set money aside for this purpose and avoid this trap.

 

We begin making our way back to Ketchikan.

 

We pulled up beside the 'Time Bandit' - another crabbing boat featured in 'The Deadliest Catch'.   I was live on periscope at the time but are some screenshots from that video:

 

 

 

That was a special bonus.
 

Edited June 21, 2020 by twangster

[twangster]

Now back to the pier where we started.

 

 

 

 

On the Millennium the year prior Captain Dave told the story how the Aleutian Ballad ran aground one time.  

 

The Captain he had hired that year fell asleep and the boat hit a rocky beach.  They managed to limp it back to harbor and get it out of the water at a dockyard.  Captain Dave flew in and met the insurance adjuster in the boatyard.  

 

After inspecting the boat the adjuster told him "Okay, here is what we are going to do. First we are going to strip the keel off and we are going to put a brand new keel the length of your boat.  Next, you are going to find yourself a new insurance company".  Fishing is quite the life.  

 

To be fair it's very hard to articulate everything in this post.  If you are a fan of the 'The Deadliest Catch' or you just want to know more about crabs and fishing, this excursion is well worth the cost.

 

[PCWalton1]

 Good morning. We were in Ketchikan and once again it was a chamber of commerce day. It reached the low 70s with gorgeous blue skies.

 

We started the day walking around downtown so Marie could shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PCWalton1]

At the recommendation of my niece we ate lunch at Annabelle's. It did not disappoint. King crab legs and coconut shrimp with beer (for me) and salmon bloody Mary (for Marie) to wash it down. After that we headed back to the ship to drop off what we had bought before heading out on our excursion.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2020 by PCWalton1

[PCWalton1]

Late in the afternoon we took a tour with Island Wing Air Service. The booking was late in the afternoon and finished just a half hour before final boarding time. But since we booked this cruise last minute we didn't really have a choice. And the office manager assured us they did not want to fly us home so we would be back on time.

 

Flightseeing tour with Michelle of Island Wings Air Service.

 

Alaska's Inside Passage or Southeast Alaska is home to some of the most breathtaking scenery on earth. One of its jewels is the majestic Misty Fjords National Monument. Completely road-less, this 2.3 million acre monument is larger than Yellowstone National Park. A seaplane tour is the only way to comfortably experience the many different levels within these deep narrow fjords. More dramatic than the Grand Canyon, the fjords are steep walled inlets of the sea.

 

Created by glacial gouging long ago, snowcapped granite cliffs, dramatically rising 3,500 feet from the sea, are ribboned with sensational waterfalls plummeting thousands of feet back to the ocean. Nestled within the steep walled canyons lie pristine bowl-shaped alpine lakes suspended at many different elevations. Fed by more than 150 inches of misty rain annually, the lush rain forest comprises giant stands of spruce, hemlock and cedar cling to the rugged terrain. Wildlife abounds with mountain goats and harbor seals being the most frequently sighted animals.

Our most popular tour lasts two hours and takes you across Revilliagegedo Island into the heart of the monument on the Alaskan mainland where the fjords are located.

 

Headsets with two-way voice communication are provided so you can chat in flight and ask questions as we fly.

 

For the highlight of the tour, we will land on an alpine lake or on a calm bay at sea level and let passengers get out of the aircraft and onto land for a quiet excursion. Relax, stretch your legs and take some photos as you drink in the silence of the vast wilderness.

 

[PCWalton1]

Token picture of me

 

I do not like heights and flying in a small plane accentuates the feeling of falling so I concentrated on take pictures. And NO I did not sit in the front seat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PCWalton1]

Such a beautiful day meant a warm flight so we wisely jettisoned the coats and scarves since the plane does not have air conditioning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another plane was heading to the same place as us

 

Time to land 

 

 

[PCWalton1]

There was a wood floating platform here which allowed for us to get out and enjoy the scenery. It was so beautiful and peaceful

 

 

 

 

Marie with our pilot Michelle.

 

A little about her from the Island Air website.

 

Michelle Masden, pilot and owner of Island Wings, arrived in Ketchikan in 1985. Sincethen she has had many experiences which uniquely qualify her as an expert in providing you with a memorable trip. A self-described “flight junkie” Michelle has spent over twenty-one thousand hours, or almost two and a half years, above the Earth’s surface. She conducts business from the left seat of her magnificent flying machine.

 

This is Michelle's plane. From her website:

DeHavailland Beavers are the greatest bush planes ever built. They were named one of the ten outstanding Canadian engineering achievements in the past century!

 

Michelle named her DeHavilland Beaver the “Lady Esther” in honor of her grandmother Esther. She grew up with Esther who always encouraged Michelle to follow her dream and yet Esther was terrified to fly and never once boarded a plane!

 

The story of Lady Esther dates back to 1959 when she was delivered to her first owner the US Army Air Corps. There were a total of 1692 Beavers built by DeHavilland, the US Army purchased over half of them. The first prototype was flown in 1947 and construction continued through 1967. More than half of them are still in service today!

 

 

 

 

Here is the other plane taking off

 

 

 

[PCWalton1]

Time to take off and head back to the ship

 

 

Take off!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to Radiance

 

Everything we flew over is part of the Misty Fjords National Monument which was declared a monument in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter. Thank you Mr. President. 🙂

Edited June 21, 2020 by PCWalton1

[Hoopster95]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

 

 

 

I think this gentleman is one of the original crew of the Aleutian Ballad, has been with this boat since the actual crabbing days in the Bearing Sea.

 

For those taking any notes, I've mentioned this excursion in many previous Alaska threads... one of my favorite days of all time, Aleutian Ballad a few years ago was voted in the top 100 cruise excursions in the world. Every sailing is different as you never know what they find in their traps... we were able to witness a 7 foot wolf eel... super ugly and mean thing. The gentleman above carefully pulled it out of the trap and held it up full length as it hung all the way to the ground.... eeeeeewwwww. He got rid of it right away after that throwing it back into the waters.

 

Awesome photos twangster, brings back great memories!

Bill, great flight photos... thank you! next time I'm in Ketchikan that excursion is my goal

[twangster]

After returning to the ship and getting a bite to eat I ventured back out to walk around Ketchikan.

 

 

 

 

I visited Creek Street the year prior and I like that it tends to have some local items beyond made in China fridge magnets.

 

 

Sometimes times referred to as the Creek Street mall there are a number of stores selling everything from interesting local artistry to cheap t-shirts from overseas. Not all the stores have local artwork but I managed to find some things this time as well.

 

In the earlier days of Ketchikan, Creek Street had a different purpose.  Maybe purpose isn't the right word, but it was known for a certain type of business.  Struggling for words, I'll let this sign on Dolly's House explain it:

 

 

The peak of the annual Salmon spawning was just over but the remains of the event were still present and the gulls were eating very well on this day.

 

After spawning, Salmon die and the nutrients from their bodies become part of the life cycle of Alaska.

 

 

Bears, Eagles and gulls among other animals all eat well this time of year.

 

At the end of Creek Street is a small waterfall.

 

 

I was hoping to repurchase some items from a native art store near the end of Creek Street that I bought last year.  Sadly they didn't have any left given that it is approaching the end of the cruise season in Alaska. 

 

With that it was back to the ship.

 

[twangster]

In this continuing series of how the weather can change quickly in Alaska, I present you Ketchikan in blue skies.

 

 

 

Time on the clock says 5:30pm.  All abroad!

 

 

With that our sail away began.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

The Viking Crown Lounge was a great place to take in the sail away and the sunset that eventually followed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dani negreanu]

Bill, when you [re]started this review, I was hoping you'll have the opportunity to take a tour with Michelle.

 

For me, it was the highlight of our Alaska cruise. The views from above were breathtaking, and Michelle was a gem.

 

DH declared early on that he's not flying in such a small plane.... Not deterred, I've booked myself. He went to Dolly's House instead 😁

 

 

Edited June 21, 2020 by dani negreanu

[~*Lou*~]

SKAGWAY – we did the same Chilkoot Charters tour as PCWALTON but we also added the dog cart ride because our children really wanted to. Those dogs were very excited! and we saw a litter of 2 week old puppies.

 

 

[~*Lou*~]

ISP – we spent the morning exploring the nature trail and the beach – low cloud and chilly but spotted lots of bald eagles on the beach , lunch at the cannery (I think thats what its called?) and then repeated the morning’s activities in under blue skies and sun as well as taking the bus to Hoonah for a quick explore.

 

KETCHIKAN – we had a kayaking excursion booked, it was a very wet day, even though they provided us with the right equipment we did wind up wet to the skin, I was worried the children were getting too wet & cold, but overall they rated it one of the best parts of the trip. Biggest highlight was when a harbour seal pup swam close to the kayak to get a better look at us!  Very few photos because I was concentrating on rowing and didn’t want my camera to get wet.

 

 

[twangster]

Day 7 - Cruising the Inside Passage

 

The Canadian inside passage is a channel of water within Canada's territorial limits of British Columbia that permits deep water vessels to pass through.  At certain points it is very narrow and a local pilot is brought on board to assist the bridge with navigation.

 

In other words, it's a sea day but... at times close to land on both sides with opportunities for marine life sightings.  

 

Cascades MDR offered a sea day lunch.  I wasn't here for lunch, I came for the Galley Tour.

 

 

A Sous Chef was our guide today.  Here he is talking about the bread making capabilities which were impressive.

 

 

Another cook getting the soup for the lunch ready.

 

 

A mixing bowl that can mix 10 billion eggs, six million pounds of flour, 2,673 cookies or some astronomical quantity of each.

 

The cook in charge of protein preparing steaks for today's lunch.  Each type of meat has its own cooking area.

 

 

Preparing the cake that will be presented in Windjammer for lunch.

 

 

The galley is on two levels.  The bakery one deck above the bulk of the galley.  Being a relatively smaller ship, the galley tour was equally quick, leading many of us directly to the Bridge tour:

 

Radiance is one of two ships in the fleet that feature Gas Turbines which accounts for the letters GTV on the aft side of the ship.  Gas Turbine Vessel.  I thought all Radiance class ships were GTV but apparently Jewel and Brilliance are not or so the bridge crew claim.

 

 

Radiance and Serenade are the only GTV ships in the fleet they claim.  They can burn cleaner fuel in sensitive marine environments such as Alaska.

 

 

The bridge wing:

 

With see through floors:

 

The view aft from the bridge wing:

 

 

The view forward:

 

 

Flags carried on board that are displayed for various nautical purposes.

 

 

 

For example, while in Ketchikan there were divers cleaning the hull.  The ship had to fly the "Diver in the Water" flag so that other boats and ships would know to stay well clear.   

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, twangster said:

I thought all Radiance class ships were GTV but apparently Jewel and Brilliance are not or so the bridge crew claim.

The Meyer Werft web site certainly claims the class was built with gas turbines.

[bobmacliberty]

Wow.  As soon as I saw Twangster's Aleutian Ballad excursion, I told myself THAT is the excursion for me when (not if) we do our Alaska cruise.  Then I saw Bill's Seaplane excursion.  Difficult decision.  I'll just need to cruise twice.  Keep up the great pictures!

[twangster]

40 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

The Meyer Werft web site certainly claims the class was built with gas turbines.

 

Yep.  That's why I was careful to state the bridge crew made this claim.  It is curious why Jewel and Brilliance don't have the letters GTV on their aft sides and perhaps this particular crew member geeked out and made an assumption, or maybe he was making a joke, or maybe Radiance crews joke with each other over it, or maybe there is more to it. 

 

Maybe it's just another example that you can't believe everything that crew members say.