USA - Salter's travels

Charleston and Miami

Our ship was broken. The azimuth pod drive system uses variable pitch propellers. One of these was not working correctly. It had failed a while ago and meant we could not get full power or efficiency from one of the two drive units. Not a fatal problem, the crew had been nursing it for a while. But it does need fixing before we get into Antarctic waters where help can be a long way away. The Boston to Miami leg was cancelled. Most of the passengers left in Boston and nobody got on. Those of us doing the pole-to-pole trip were allowed to stay on. There are less than sixty of us, so the ship started to feel empty and deserted. Just a small group huddled in one corner of the bar.

From Boston we sailed directly to Charleston. To keep us amused on the two-day trip, we got shown around the some of the ship internals. Sadly, the engine room was firmly off limits. However, we had an open day on the bridge when we were invited to spend time as we wanted there. We got shown around the kitchens. This was really interesting, but we were not allowed to take photographs. Passengers are not really allowed in the galley, so the chef did not want any evidence. We also got shown around the area where they keep the RHIBs and canoes. This came with a little talk about how the boats are prepared.

Hurtigruten had arranged for us to leave the ship at Boston. We were booked into a nice downtown hotel. Some trips and a meal had all been arranged. Sounded like it might be fun. However, first job was to get the ship into the dry dock. The idea is to sail the vessel into the dock, close the gate and then pump the water out. Sounds quite easy but sometimes the devil is in the detail.

When the ship was constructed the first thing the builders did was to make a set of shaped blocks, pillows, to rest the keel on. Then they could start building the keel. Long before the Roald Amundsen arrived at the dry dock, Hurtigruten had sent a detailed set of drawings for these pillows. The dry dock company built a replica set and laid them out in the bottom of the dock before they flooded. When we arrived at the dock there was a barge in the way. The skipper had to manoeuvre around this and then squeeze the ship into the doc. A very delicate parking exercise. There was about 30 cm clearance to some concrete pillars whose effect on the hull would have been a little like a tin opener. Using laser positioning the ship was tied into the correct position.

The gate for the dry dock is way to big for a simple hinged assembly. Instead, the whole gate floats. Two rather strange looking boats manoeuvre the gate into place. Then water is pumped into ballast tanks within the gate and it sinks into place. The big pumps start up and water is removed from the dry dock. The pressure of the outside water pushes the gate into its final position against some large rubber seals.

With the water being pumped out of the dock, the ship starts to settle. It has been accurately positioned over the pillows using laser beams. However, it is also essential that the ship settles evenly onto the pillows. Otherwise, the ship can twist. Only a small amount but even this can be enough cause tears in the hull. To make sure that it is settling evenly, two divers are underneath the hull watching it settle. This sounds to me like one of the more gnarly jobs in the world. Sitting under thousand of tons of ship, in dark murky water, while it settles down onto the pillows.

I was pleased we could stay on to watch the whole docking procedure which was quite fascinating. With the ship in position and sat on the pillows we could finally leave. Two coaches had been provided. We were taken on a guided tour of Charleston. This was moderately interesting. Charleston is a clean, colourful city with many older buildings that have been carefully preserved. Later in the afternoon, we arrived at the hotel. A lovely building, close to the city centre. The following day, Diane and I wandered around the city centre. It was very hot. A bit too hot for us and after a couple of hours we were both starting to melt. In the evening we all got taken out to a nice Italian restaurant. Just after the pasta course I got a text message. The ship was not fixed yet. In the morning, we were to be transferred to another hotel.

The Mariott in Charleston is a perfectly good, clean, efficient, modern hotel several miles from the city centre. It is also completely soulless. A trip had been laid on but when we checked the details the lunch menu had absolutely nothing for vegetarians. Rather than feeling like complete pariahs and being hungry, we gave it a miss. Instead, we tried to use the bus system to get into the city. Sadly, we failed. Busses only came every hour and it was too hot to stand around outside for long. That evening we got another text message about staying another day. The days were starting to drag and then we got another message. Then the hurricane arrived. Hurricane Helene. The main part of the storm was well away from Charleston but there was still a period of heavy rainfall and strong winds. The ship came out of dry dock but the Master thought the weather was too bad for embarking passengers. The day after, day six, things finally came good and we got back on the ship.

Superyacht “Viva” 94 m £200m 280,000 l fuel

We sailed directly for Miami and the next set of passengers. Miami is an incredible concentration of wealth. Sailing up the channel to the cruise ship docking area we could see rows of millionaire, waterside houses with their superyachts parked at the end of the garden. This was all set against a backdrop of massive glass covered skyscrapers. The ship squeezed in to the dock between two enormous cruise ships. We were allowed off for a few hours to explore Miami. Bit of a dodgy start while the border officials messed everyone around. An hour later they finally let us ashore. It was very hot again. 35°C. The cruise dock area is well away from the city. Several thousands of people had arrived here to embark their ship. There were queues of people everywhere and literally thousands of suitcases piled up between them.

We jumped onto one of the free trolleys running into the city. These are all decked out with wood inside. Gives the vehicle a nice feel of being from an earlier age but the benches are a bit hard to sit on. It was Sunday. Most of the shops and restaurants were closed. The trolley went round a loop, so we just stayed on. The air conditioning was pleasant and we got a perfectly good tour of Miami.

The ship sailed in the late afternoon. Perfect timing. A new set of passengers were onboard for the leg to Panama.We got to see the famous Miami beach and some of the more extravagant superyachts. The day was rounded off with a spectacular sunset behind the many tall buildings.

Nome

Further on into the Gulf of Alaska, we came across the ruined village of Unga. A ghost town on the Aleutian Island also called Unga. This place was abandoned in the 60s but used to support a population of a hundred or so since the late 19^th century. Fishing and a small mine were the primary sources of income. The weather was awful. Overcast, windy and raining in squally bursts. Diane was not in the slightest bit interested in getting wet, so I went ashore on my own. A few battered buildings are all that remain. Not the most exciting island I have ever landed on but, even so, it was a small, interesting island in a very remote place. I really liked that. Coming back on the RHIB we had to push into the wind and the waves. It was quite exciting but I got completely soaked and Diane was not impressed when I left wet patches on the cabin floor.

Heading even further west, out into the Bering Sea, we cleared the Aleutian Islands and reached the Unalaska Islands. The wind had become fierce and the ship was moving a lot. The Amundsen has a very sea-worthy hull. I like the way it moves. A steady and predictable rolling. Many of the ships I have sailed on crashed around in ways that inevitably surprised you and could easily catch you off balance. A considerable proportion of the passengers were far less enthusiastic about the how the ship rolled and had retreated to their cabins. Diane was starting to look a little green around the gills when we steamed into the calm waters of Dutch Harbour. Fortunately, motion sickness disappears very quickly once the movement disappears.

Dutch Harbor has been a busy centre of commerce for many years. As well as serving several major shipping routes, it also supports a sizeable fishing fleet. This is one of the richest fishing areas in the world. During WW2 the Japanese bombed the harbour. Along with Pearl Harbour it was one of the few places in the United States to be bombed by the Japanese. There is little war museum. When we arrived, it was packed with people from another cruise ship. When I say packed, what I mean is that the museum had reached its fifty-person capacity. We are not really museum people, so we moved on, bought some crisps in the supermarket and ended up in a bar. This was the magnificently named “Norwegian Rat Saloon”. Apparently named after rodents that first arrived in the town from a Norwegian trawler. Our new friends from the ship were here. Hello Francis and Clint. So, we settled down for a few beers and some chat with the locals. One oddity about Dutch Harbor is that although the area is famous for Red King Crab, it is rarely sold locally. They are only allowed to sell the crab once it has been sent off for cleaning and sanitising and packaging and taxing. It can then be shipped back to the island in impressive, shrink wrap packaging, but it is very expensive. However, if you did want to find locally caught crab that had maybe been removed from the system (not that I am suggesting there is a black market, but just in case) you might want to start at the Norwegian Rat Saloon.

Pushing north-by-north-west way out into the Bering Sea we passed by St Paul Island. The weather was too bad for a landing. The ship was rolling again. There were not so many people in the bar in the evening. Fortunately, next day, the wind eased. We reached St. Matthew Island, the furthest point from human settlement in Alaska. This is a very rarely visited island. We felt quite privileged to be able to go ashore. Diane was not impressed by the rain and the sea state. The fog did not help. By the time we reached the shore, the Amundsen could no longer be seen. We pottered around on the beach for a while. I completely missed the opportunity to photograph the very rare McKay’s bunting. I saw a group of much better informed “bird nerds” gathered round a very boring looking white bird. I thought nothing much of it and plodded on in search of something more interesting. On the way back to ship we took a detour round a tall, bird covered rock. Here I took photographs of several types of bird new to me. Including Tufted Puffins which, like all puffins, are ridiculously cute.

Next morning we arrived in Nome. We are doing a long trip on the Amundsen. This is made up of a number of shorter trips that have been stitched together. We had just completed the first of these, Vancouver to Nome. This meant many people leaving the ship to go home. Then, later in the day, many more people arriving for the next leg, Nome to Halifax via the north-west passage. We stayed in our cabin while the chaos of disembarkation settled. Then we wandered into town. This is another of those wild west towns. Not very pretty but interesting. Nome is a gold town. There is still gold to be found. All the easily accessible gold is gone but there is still plenty in the gravel just offshore. People build their own boats with suction tubes and panning equipment. When the weather is good, they take these just a short way offshore. A diver handles the suction tube underwater while the gravel gets sifted and panned on the boat. I have no idea if there is still a good living to be made like this but there are certainly a lot of people giving it a go.

We got back to the ship early. The wind was picking up again and squalls of rain were making it unpleasant to be outside. The Amundsen was having problems staying moored. We watched from our little balcony as several mooring lines snapped. Down on the pier a group of workers were struggling to attach new ropes. The ship started up its main engines and then used these to push the vessel again the dock wall to hold it in place. We found out later that five of these massive, thick mooring lines got broken. I noticed an interesting safety feature. Each thick rope has a small central core that does not break. I guess that this is more elastic than the main rope. Possibly it is longer and coiled inside the central core. Whatever, because it does not break, it helps prevent the broken rope ends flying off dangerously. There is an awful lot of energy in the rope when it breaks. If it hits something, or someone, it can cause a lot of damage. This is one way to help mitigate the risk.

In the evening, the wind dropped, and we managed to get the rest of the passengers onboard. Next morning we had set a course westward. Deeper into the Bering Sea. Later we would turn north and navigate the Bering Straights between Russia and the United States. In the meantime there were whales. A lot of whales. I spent a very happy couple of hours on deck trying to photograph them.

Geographic Harbour

The area around Kodiak Island was proving to be one of the highlights of this part of the trip. We were quite happy to stay there another day. In the evening there were whales and the next day, more bears.

Photographing whales can be a bit tricky. You see a spout, grab the camera, point it in the correct general direction and then get to photograph the splash as the whale disappears under the water. Humpbacks can be a little bit easier. They surface briefly after blowing and then flip their tails up before diving. This is just about enough time to get the camera onto the whale. This is also why most of my whale photographs are the tails of Humpbacks. Fortunately, it is often possible to identify a whale from its tail. This is what a group called HappyWhale do. They use the patterns on the fluke of a whale to identify it and then maintain a database of where and when each animal has been spotted. People can submit their photographs and then every time one of your whales gets spotted you get a notification. Meanwhile, the database is fast becoming a valuable resource for studying whale behaviour.

The next morning was spent in Geographic Harbour on the south side of Kodiak Island. The weather stayed good and the bears were numerous. We floated about in the RHIB keeping a good distance from the bears. The bears took very little notice of us and were generally very occupied with the business of catching salmon. All too soon it was time to leave. The RHIBs were stowed and we set off along the Aleutian Island chain.

Kodiak

The next day was entirely dedicated to watching wildlife. We were in the area around Kodiak Island some 500 km south-west of Anchorage. The weather was perfect and the wildlife was prolific. Bears everywhere.

Katmai National Park, opposite Kodiak Island, was first designated a national monument in 1918 to protect the area around the Novarupta volcano. This was formed during the eruption of 1912. The biggest eruption of the 20^th century it created the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a 100 km²pyroclastic flow up to 200 m deep. The park hosts 18 volcanoes of which 7 have been active since 1900 including the centre-piece Katmai stratovolcano. Since the initial establishment of the park, it has become increasingly well known for its abundance of wildlife. This includes many brown bears that feed off the sockeye salmon.

Our first trip out in the morning was mostly about watching a single brown bear. This was at Kukak Bay in the Katmai National Park. He was catching salmon in one of the many small rivers emptying into the bay. Watching from the RHIBs seemed ideal. The animals took truly little notice of us so we could easily get quite close.

In the afternoon we went round to the other side of Kodiak Island. The island is big. Second largest in the United States and bigger than Cyprus. Two thirds of the island is designated as the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge – home to the Kodiak bear and all five types of Pacific Ocean Salmon. We saw more bears there. Also, a Sitka deer, enormous star fish, a fox, loads of seals and a Bald Eagle with two youngsters.

Icy Bay

Going further north we arrived at Icy Bay. The ship nosed its way into Tsaa Fjord and they launched the RHIBs. The Amundsen cannot sensibly drop anchor here because the water is too deep. Instead, they use a clever Dynamic Positioning (DP) system. Multiple GPS receivers are used to accurately determine the position and orientation of the vessel. The DP uses the ship propellers and bow thrusters to keep it in exactly the same place. In effect, they can just park the ship anywhere. We spent the afternoon pottering around in the RHIBs. A group of canoeists went out. There were no shore landings. I don’t think that is allowed here by the park rules.

Several glacier tongues drop down into Icy Bay making for a spectacular scene of ice and cliffs. The amount of meltwater was phenomenal. I have never seen anything like it. It is normal, in the summer, for meltwater to permeate through the glaciers and run out at the bottom. In Svalbard, we explored an ice cave that was made in just this way. Here, there were thundering great torrents of water coming out from under the ice. It was impressive and noisy. Huge waterfalls were gushing out. The water was heavily sediment laden making it a dirty grey colour.

The next day we continued making our way north along the Alaskan panhandle. Wonderful little islands and small settlements. We passed many more glaciers and at one point, paused to watch a distant bear on the shore.

Wrangell

Wrangell (pop ~2,000) was founded by the Russians in 1834 when they built a fort. This makes it one of the oldest non-native settlements in Alaska. The British Hudson Bay Company leased the fort and eventually Wrangell became American when the United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. Today the main industries are fishing, logging and tourism. Wrangell is close to the River Stikine delta. The Stikine is a major river flowing from British Columbia. Historically, it has always been important for fishing, hunting and trade. Now it is also important for tourism and as a recreational area.

We joined a group in a jet boat to explore part of the river. The boat was very fast and also very noisy. Talking was near enough impossible. So, the day was made up of short, relatively peaceful intervals in between high-speed dashes along the river. We travelled through the delta and then a short way up the main river. A left turn took us onto Shakes Slough, a tributary. We followed this all the way up to a Shakes Lake which ended at a glacier.

There was some wildlife on the route. Mostly birds. We got quite close to a pair of Bald Eagles. One was guarding a nest while the other was eating by the river. We also came across a government boat measuring fish. Fishing is tightly controlled after several incidents of overfishing nearly wiped out the salmon completely.

In the lower reaches of the river, we came across several houses that were floating. Not house boats but normal looking wooden houses built on floating pontoons. For some reason, the river and the surrounding land are managed by different authorities. Locals are not allowed to build weekend accommodation on land but they can have a semi-permanent structure if it is floating.

Arriving at the lake, we drifted right up close the glacier and enjoyed some wine and snacks. A cool breeze coming off the ice made it at least ten degrees colder than back down at the delta. Twenty minutes later we began the trip back down. This seemed faster than ever. This time we were not stopping for sightseeing. My ears were ringing by the time we got back to the dock.

Vancouver

Big, bustling, busy, modern, shiny. In many ways Vancouver is everything that the rest of Canada, at least the part that we saw, is not. The taxi dropped us off at the towering tribute to glass that was our hotel. All very contemporary, efficient and soulless. Our room was on the 26^th floor. Nowhere near the top of the hotel but plenty high enough for a good view and to make stepping onto the balcony slightly unnerving. We had a couple of nights here while we waited for the Hurtigruten vessel, the MS Roald Amundsen to arrive. On this ship we plan to literally sail from one end of the planet to the other. Our route initially goes north up the coast of Alaska and then east through the Northwest Passage that we did part of last year. Greenland then south along the eastern seaboard of the USA. Mexico, the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal and then south again past Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Finally, south through Drake’s Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula. Long trip. Over ninety days on board. We are looking forward to it immensely.

We had a couple of days to kill in Vancouver. I wasn’t feeling too great so mostly we just lazed around a bit. The Hurtigruten people arrived and after an early breakfast they took us on a coach tour of the city. This confirmed, to me anyhow, that we were not missing very much. The tour ended at the pier where we needed to go through security and passport control before joining the ship. We went through two sets of controls. One to do with leaving Canada and joining the ship, the other to do with entering Alaska -where we would be by the next time we got off the ship. Took a while but we made it. Nothing got confiscated, our documents were in order. I felt quite pleased. Mid-afternoon we arrived at our cabin.

There was a seagull sat on the balcony railing giving me the eye. I took my camera out and opened the door. It still did not move. I photographed it. A couple of times. The bird stretched its neck a bit and then did an enormous dump on the wooden rail before taking off and banking down, out of view. I was left with a nice, close-up photograph and a big bird shit.

The cabin is great. Small but well thought out. The bathroom, in particular, is very well designed. And we have a little balcony. When I chose the cabin, I deliberately went for one on the starboard side. Most of this trip we will be heading south. Diane and I are not morning people, so we don’t care about the sunrise to port. The starboard side sunset however might, on occasion, be worth sitting outside for. There may even be the odd sundowner cocktail. We are here for 94 days. Plenty of time for pictures of the cabin later.

Late afternoon we sailed. Setting off on a voyage is something I always find exciting. This one especially so. Vancouver is a working port as well as a tourist destination. As we moved out, we could see the arrays of cranes for cargo handling, bulk loaders and the other machinery of a modern dock. There was an immense pile of sulphur. This intrigued me. Surely it is an immense fire risk. In my youthful experimentation to try and create gunpowder, I managed to burn quite a lot of sulphur. It gives off some seriously nasty fumes. Definitely not the sort of thing you should do in your bedroom. I also wondered about what would happen when the rain came.

We slipped north past Vancouver Island through Queen Charlotte Sound and then into the Canadian Inside Passage where whales were spotted. I managed to catch one jumping out of the water. It is not a very good photograph but as an omen, in just the first couple of hours of our voyage, it was wonderfully auspicious.

Next day we arrived at Misty Fjords National Monument. This is a protected wilderness area famous for steep cliffs, deep fjords, coastal rainforest, glacier-carved valleys, and unique geological features like old lava flows and mineral springs. There are two common activities that guests on the Amundsen are invited to partake in: shore landings and boat cruising. Both involve the small fleet of RHIBs that the ship carries. Each is piloted by an experienced and qualified boatman. They are deployed by davit from large side door in the hull. Passengers are assigned to groups and invited, one group at a time, to the rather gloriously titled Expedition Lauch room. Here we get to board a RHIB through another side door and a docking platform. Typically, there are ten passengers to a RHIB. In the small boat we get to potter round the area for an hour or more. This is a great way to see some places, take a few photographs and generally get to experience an area.

Alaska

The river ferry at Dawson City operates 24 hours a day. In the winter, the river freezes and traffic drives on the ice. The ferry is paid for by the government. There is no booking, no reservations. You just turn up and wait until you can get on. It takes less than ten minutes to cross the river and this brings you to the start of the Top of the World Highway. This is mostly a dirt track and gains its name from the way the road links the top of several hills such that for most of the route you are looking down into valleys. It is 127 km long and only open in the summer.

At about the highest point of the road, 100 km in, you arrive at the USA border. Previously, we had both applied for ETAC (Electronic Travel something or other) but we still needed to be finger printed and photographed before we could be allowed in. In my experience, border guards do not have a sense of humour. Never. Not even a hint. Surgically removed or something. Trying to joke with a border guard is like trying to play tennis with a jelly fish. It just won’t work. This time however, I was standing in front of the camera with my best serious but clearly innocent face when the guard told me I could smile. I was taken aback. Passport photographs are strictly no-smile zones. But, as the guard went on to explain, this was America, land of the free, where you can do anything. He then told us that Independence Day (July 4^th) was the one day of the year that English were not allowed into USA. He then went on to regale us with stories of bear hunting, the bear steak he’d had for breakfast and what to do if a bear came in the door. I suggested running away but no, he was clear that he would stare it down. I pointed out that my apparent lack of bravery was because he was carrying an exceptionally large revolver whereas I was armed with only a smile. Never saw the final ID photograph but I suspect I mostly looked puzzled.

Just round the corner from the border post is an immense “Welcome to Alska” sign and our first view across the Alaskan scenery. A few miles further on the road descends through a valley system and comes out at the gloriously named town of Chicken. They appear enormously proud of the name and just about every signpost has a chicken theme. We also saw a moose. It stepped into the woods and disappeared long before I could get my camera out. They do that. Very frustrating animals to try and photograph. Remarkable how, despite their size, they seem able to completely vanish in just a few steps.

The weather was consistently terrible. Rain and thick grey clouds and fog, several types of mist and more rain. We seemed to spend quite a lot of time driving without seeing very much. Arriving at Fairbanks, we turned south towards Anchorage. I would have liked to go north here, to Prudoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean, but the hire company had put the Dalton Highway out of bounds. Instead, we went through the Denali National Park where we drove past the highest mountain in North America without seeing even a hint of it. At Wasilla, we began heading east back towards Canada and at last the clouds lifted a little so we could see the mountains and glaciers of Chugach National Park.

We completed our soggy circuit of Alaska at Tok quite a few days earlier than planned. We might have taken a leisurely drive back to Vancouver but instead decided to try another route to the Arctic Ocean along the Dempster Highway in Yukon. By late afternoon we were back on the Top of the World Highway and the road to Dawson City.