Saturday 7th July MV Taku

Saturday 7th July  On board AMH Ferry  MVP Taku I decided last night that trying to sleep on the Solarium deck was going to be too noisy as the engine noise seemed to amplify back there so I moved my things to the front observation deck where it is not only quieter but warmer. It seems to be quite acceptable to simply take over a small nook where one can lay out a sleeping bag on the floor and use the seats as a handy bench for personal items.

My first attempt to bunk down on MV Taku.

 As there are probably less that 50 passengers on board the 350ft vessel, my personal take over a few seats seems of no consequence. I woke at around 3.00am as we approached  Sitka, the first of many small ports on the trip,  where we offloaded a couple of vehicles and a handful of walking passengers. It was raining softly and a light mist hung over the nearby mountains.

Mist at 3.00am in Sitka.

The few lights reflected earily over the calm water which added to the impression that I was watching a scene from the Scott Hicks film "snow falling on cedars" or probably more likely, a recollection of my time on the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1964. We left the port of Sitka at 6.45am and retraced our cruise north to make our next stop at the port of Kake. Several fishing boats were passed while trawling two lines, one on each side of the vessel, in their quest to catch the mighty king (chinook) salmon.

Kake port, Alaska.

Apparently the fishermen appreciate the ferry passing close to them as the rocking motion from our wake creates an attractive movement to the bait which is irresistible to the salmon. Further on as the land closed in on either side we could observe the shore from as close as 50mts and the occasional call from the bridge alerted us to the presence of bears. At one point we were able to observe four large Grizzly bears crossing a sand spit, although they were some distance off. I am still waiting for a photo opportunity.

Kake was reached at 1.45pm and the entire town can be seen stretched along the tree lined shore for about two km. the population must be in the hundreds and most of them natives of local Indian groups. I took a brief walk on shore as we had only 15 minutes to do so.

A house in Kake.

The dominant trees seemed to Spruce. We backtracked up our route for a few miles before turning south, again, for Petersberg. We reached Petersburg at 6.45pm and had 20 minutes to walk a little way into town. Once again, the town is spread out along the shore but in this case the ferry dock is quite close to the centre. I estimate the population to be around 5,000. A beautiful fiord, or as the locals say, a canal, runs past Petersburg about 600mts wide, with the town on one side and scattered homes on the opposite tucked into the forest. It was cool, about 10C, and the sky was overcast but visibility was good for photography. A couple of locals were fishing in the canal as we steamed down on them and received a blast from the ships horn. No one seemed to be in a rush to move out of the way. As we passed further down the canal the marker bouys became more frequent as the twists and did also. I felt that i could almost reach out and touch some of the small rock outcrops that lay in our way. At a small congregation of houses there was a flock of Bald Eagles feeding on the edge of the water and many flying and perching in the trees, their white heads pointing out there position. Next stop Wrangel at 10.45pm.