VO Alaska cruise from Seward to Vancouver

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

If they do that it is great news.  Grenville Channel is in the British Columbia inside passage and is very scenic.  Yet another good reason to go with Viking.   But then, if everyone goes with Viking, there won't be any room left for me....😎

 

Very scenic for the pax, but has some interesting tides.

 

Still remember the night I almost got sucked into Lowe Inlet at Tom Island. Northbound and had to slow for a S'bd tug with wild barges. Bet you have had a few near misses as well.🙂

[duquephart]

Dug out my "Viking Daily" collection. 7/24/2019, the day after Ketchikan, is "Scenic Cruising: Seymour Narrows". We had stopped at (IIRC) Port Hardy to disembark a medical situation and then entered this very scenic portion of the cruise. I remember passing several lighthouse stations fairly close aboard. I also remember the "Resident Historian" telling us about a barely submerged mountain top which impaled many ships before they blew it up. Also that George Vancouver described Seymour Narrows as "one of the vilest stretches of water in the world." Many thanks to Heidi and JA for prying loose some very fond memories.

[Jim Avery]

21 minutes ago, duquephart said:

Dug out my "Viking Daily" collection. 7/24/2019, the day after Ketchikan, is "Scenic Cruising: Seymour Narrows". We had stopped at (IIRC) Port Hardy to disembark a medical situation and then entered this very scenic portion of the cruise. I remember passing several lighthouse stations fairly close aboard. I also remember the "Resident Historian" telling us about a barely submerged mountain top which impaled many ships before they blew it up. Also that George Vancouver described Seymour Narrows as "one of the vilest stretches of water in the world." Many thanks to Heidi and JA for prying loose some very fond memories.

Those BC lighthouses are beautiful.  Kind of makes you want to live there.  And Seymour Narrows is every bit as described.  I have encountered 11+ knot currents and large vortexes (whirlpools) and this was after the explosion removed the tops of Ripple Rock.  You must be very familiar with your tide tables to navigate here.  I always heard that the blowing up of Ripple Rock was the largest non-nuclear explosion  to that time.  

Edited December 4, 2020 by Jim Avery

[Jim Avery]

Here is a link to a good illustration of what went on.

 

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjS4_rKjLXtAhWGvZ4KHbwgAPQQFjANegQIExAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.macleans.ca%2Farticle%2F1955%2F4%2F30%2Fhow-theyll-blow-up-ripple-rock&usg=AOvVaw1dWmsv4tzoNeVqx6SfehuA

 

[duquephart]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

Those BC lighthouses are beautiful.  Kind of makes you want to live there.  And Seymour Narrows is every bit as described.  I have encountered 11+ knot currents and large vortexes (whirlpools) and this was after the explosion removed the tops of Ripple Rock.  You must be very familiar with your tide tables to navigate here.  I always heard that the blowing up of Ripple Rock was the largest non-nuclear explosion  to that time.  

 

I've got a couple good pics of those lighthouses. Part of the aforementioned memories.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Those BC lighthouses are beautiful.  Kind of makes you want to live there.  And Seymour Narrows is every bit as described.  I have encountered 11+ knot currents and large vortexes (whirlpools) and this was after the explosion removed the tops of Ripple Rock.  You must be very familiar with your tide tables to navigate here.  I always heard that the blowing up of Ripple Rock was the largest non-nuclear explosion  to that time.  

 

Jim,

 

We were on scheduled runs, so went through Seymour regardless of the tide. My best was S'bd with a 16 kts ebb, we hit a speed of over 30 kts. Toughest was N'bd against a big ebb, as we would run the Maude Is back eddy, real close to shore.

 

Had to crank the helm to stb'd just before hitting the wall of tide.

[Jim Avery]

16 knots!  My poor ole single screw, single rudder rusty freighter would have been going backwards.  I did some pilotage runs on the old Matanuska and went through like we knew what we were doing....😳  One thing for sure, cruise ships would have never risked Seymour Narrows if they had not blown Ripple Rock.  The Behemoths of the Seas are too big as it is I believe.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Jim Avery

[duquephart]

On 12/3/2020 at 3:03 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

By cruising from Seymour Narrows to Queen Charlotte Strait they have used a portion of the Inside Passage and from Dixon Entrance to Skagway they are again in the "Inside Passage"

 

No cruise line states they use the entire Inside Passage. However, if they specify Grenville Channel in the brochure, they I would expect they use the BC Inside Passage, unless safety reasons dictate otherwise.

 

According to the cruise map included in our original brochure the route is "inside" from Skagway to Ketchikan and from Port Hardy to Vancouver. Between Ketchikan and Port Hardy the route is along or "outside" the BC coast. That must mean transiting Hecate. The current "map" of the cruise does not indicate a route, just places, three of which (Glacier Bay, Haines, Wrangell) were not included on our cruise. There may well be several versions of this cruise map.

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

According to the cruise map included in our original brochure the route is "inside" from Skagway to Ketchikan and from Port Hardy to Vancouver. Between Ketchikan and Port Hardy the route is along or "outside" the BC coast. That must mean transiting Hecate. The current "map" of the cruise does not indicate a route, just places, three of which (Glacier Bay, Haines, Wrangell) were not included on our cruise. There may well be several versions of this cruise map.

 

Affirmative, if not using the "Inside Passage" between Ketchikan and Port Hardy they will have used Hecate Strait.

[duquephart]

6 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Affirmative, if not using the "Inside Passage" between Ketchikan and Port Hardy they will have used Hecate Strait.

 

Viking's definition of inside passage is apparently limited to the BC portion of the cruise.

[duquephart]

This from Viking: "The cruise spends a full afternoon of the itinerary cruising the scenic Inside Passage including the Hecate Strait but also other more scenic points of interest."

 

Vikingspeak. Hecate Strait and the BC inside passage certainly consumes more than "a full afternoon."

[Jim Avery]

25 minutes ago, duquephart said:

This from Viking: "The cruise spends a full afternoon of the itinerary cruising the scenic Inside Passage including the Hecate Strait but also other more scenic points of interest."

 

Vikingspeak. Hecate Strait and the BC inside passage certainly consumes more than "a full afternoon."

Haha, always did for me.  Remember, the copy writer for Viking has probably never been there.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, duquephart said:

This from Viking: "The cruise spends a full afternoon of the itinerary cruising the scenic Inside Passage including the Hecate Strait but also other more scenic points of interest."

 

Vikingspeak. Hecate Strait and the BC inside passage certainly consumes more than "a full afternoon."

 

From the Canadian border to Port Hardy it is 10 to 12 hrs and Port Hardy down to Vancouver is another 12 hrs, so most definitely more than an afternoon.

 

We always ran at 20 kts, so add extra time for slow steaming 

[duquephart]

10 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

From the Canadian border to Port Hardy it is 10 to 12 hrs and Port Hardy down to Vancouver is another 12 hrs, so most definitely more than an afternoon.

 

We always ran at 20 kts, so add extra time for slow steaming 

 

After leaving Ketchikan I imagine we ate supper and slept through Hecate. Viking does not do a good job of letting you know where you are. Much better at who's in Torshaven tonight.

[Heidi13]

3 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

After leaving Ketchikan I imagine we ate supper and slept through Hecate. Viking does not do a good job of letting you know where you are. Much better at who's in Torshaven tonight.

 

Affirmative, heading Southbound for 07:00 arrival, you transit Hecate Strait at night. From Ketchikan it is 4 to 6 hrs steaming to the Canadian Border, so the entire Hecate Strait is at night.

 

You probably passed Pine Island at the entrance to Queen Charlotte Strait (Port Hardy) about 07:00

[duquephart]

21 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Affirmative, heading Southbound for 07:00 arrival, you transit Hecate Strait at night. From Ketchikan it is 4 to 6 hrs steaming to the Canadian Border, so the entire Hecate Strait is at night.

 

You probably passed Pine Island at the entrance to Queen Charlotte Strait (Port Hardy) about 07:00

 

I remember Port Hardy 'cause we stopped and dropped someone off there (medical). Don't remember what time. Woke up the following morning at he terminal in Vancouver.