Cruising the Inside Passage to and from Vancouver
It’s now Sunday morning at 06:20, and we’re sailing northbound on calm seas past Malcolm Island near the north end of Vancouver Island. I’m on my way home, though on a roundabout route that will take 7 days.
For the past couple of days the Coral Princess has been sailing in the best part of the Inside Passage – southbound on Friday and then northbound yesterday. People who sail into or out of Seattle miss most of these wonderful views, as they sail in the open ocean to the west of Vancouver Island. To the east of the island you get both great views and sheltered waters. The first photo was shot at Port Hardy at 4:50 pm on Friday.
There are a lot of lighthouses, smaller lights and buoys along this route, contrasting sharply with the rather sparse number of navigational aids on the Alaska coast. This is the Pulteney Point Lighthouse.
The view from the bridge at 6:20.
The Alert Bay Trumpeter is by far the funniest thing I’ve seen at sea, and everyone on the Coral loved him. He races up and down the length of the ship, stopping occasionally to play the Canadian and American anthems and other assorted tunes. If there was some way to throw toonies so he could catch them he’d do very well 🙂
The trumpeter’s home town, Alert Bay. As you can see, we got very close to shore, but this narrow channel past Sointula and Alert Bay can only be used in perfect weather when you’re not in a hurry. The captain wanted to hit slack tide at midnight:15 at Seymour Narrows so it was a great bonus for us.
There were very few people at the late show in the theatre, but the bars and lounges were all busy.
MUTS (Movies Under the Stars) on a particularly fine night.
This was the view from my cabin at 04:41 yesterday morning, as we passed Sechelt.
When I got up on deck 15 minutes later, dawn was developing some lovely colours.
There are homes being built in some spectacular locations in recent years. During our after-grad when I graduated from high school in 1968, a few friends and I kayaked out to that little island for a day – there were no homes then, just a lovely, very private cove with a beach.
A 35-knot headwind added to our speed of about 20 knots made both photography and raising flags difficult!
A classic Vancouver image – freighters and the English Bay skyline.
Approaching the Lions Gate Bridge. After sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge last month, it doesn’t impress me as much as it used to, but it is a lovely structure 🙂
The screaming winds kept all but a handful of us indoors for the sail-under.
Passing Prospect Park and Stanley Park. The half-mast flags apparently mean that another soldier killed in Afghanistan has returned home. One was too many…
Container ports fascinate me, both from an artistic perspective and a logistical one.
The lovely little Silver Shadow, an ultra-luxury ship owned by Silverseas.
The changing face of Vancouver – old buildings with real character and new ones without.
The calm between the storms – a corner of the atrium and the Guest Services desk after everyone from the last cruise had disembarked and before the new passengers boarded.
Having the ship empty makes it easy to get laundry done. The cost is very reasonable – $1 for soap and $1 per washer and dryer complete cycle (ca. 40 minutes). There are self-serve laundries at the aft of every deck with cabins.
There’s always work to do for the crews – this fellow is sanding the handrails on the Silver Shadow in preparation for varnishing.
The Lido Deck is the place to be for sailaway on a sunny day. “Buckets of Beer” and “Drink of the Day” specials (as well as good music and lots of good prizes) help get things going.
This is by far the youngest crowd I’ve seen on a cruise – lots of kids, hundreds of people in their 20s.
How’s that for an interesting mix of vessels? A sternwheeler and a tug at the floating gas station and a schooner motoring by.
And we’re heading north again, off on a new adventure!
Stanley Park, with the seawall promenade and Siwash Rock.
The ship got very quiet early last night – a lot of people spent all day travelling, so right after dinner, just before 8:00, I went to my cabin. I shot this picture was we passed Nanaimo, then decided it was too nice to not be on deck.
A wide-angle view off the stern.
I met some of my dinner companions on the Promenade, and made 3 circuits (a mile) with Glen, a retired cop from Ontario. I got rewarded for being on deck by an odd little rainbow over the mountains.
This was shot at 8:50 from the secret viewing deck at the front of Deck 11 (there’s a similar one on Deck 10). For some odd reason you go have to go through doors marked “Emergency Use Only” to reach these 2 decks, but they’re by far the best forward views on the ship. The bridge officers can see you out there and there’s no problem despite the signage.
Back to my cabin for a nightcap and some photo sorting.
About The Author
