Tuesday, July 6

I'll tell you about this ferry that we're on. It's not a cruise ship and not nearly as big as one either, although it kind of looks like a little one and has a few of the amenities of a cruise ship. We have a cabin on the ship with bunk beds and bedding and towels and soap, etc. We also have our own bathroom with stool and shower (the shower is even bigger than a cruise ship shower). They offer meals, but you have to pay for them (on a cruise ship the food is free). They do have a little lounge which is really very pretty, but it's expensive. You can also opt not to have a cabin - then you take your chances and either sleep in a chair (a plastic deck chair, lounge chair in the theater room, plain chair on the observation deck) or you may pitch a tent on the back of the boat. With this option, they offer public bathrooms and showers. Yikes! Once we boarded, we were very glad we had a cabin. I'm a little too old for that kind of roughing it (Duane claims I would have done it 20 years ago - glad I don't have to decide).

The ferry holds 399 people, 66 crew and 160 vehicles. There were about 20 motorcycles on the ship - you have to secure or tie down your own motorcycle. There was even a semi who had to back up the whole loading dock to get into the ship to leave the trailer on the ferry. It's 485 feet long, has two 6200 horsepower engines and uses 400 gallons of fuel an hour. That should pretty much give you a picture of the ferry.

So, there's not much to do on the ferry. We took books and the fish and wildlife service dude talks to you once in a while about what you might see, etc. (he's not very interesting). The great thing is the scenery and the wildlife. There were times that we were within literally 30 yards from shore. We saw orca (killer) whales, humpback whales, bunches of bald eages, set otters, sea lions and a bunch of sitka black tail deer (tiny - only about 60 to 80 pounds). It was great!
I'm enjoying it, but you know Duane and not having much to do....... He's trying!

Thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.

Gayle - BOTB