We left Prince Rupert around 10 am on Thursday on the Alsaka Maritime ferry, the M/V Taku. We had arrived at the ferry docks around 5:30 am on Thursday as instructed. Then we had the RV and car measured.Your payment for the ferry is dictated by the length of your vehicle (in our case the RV & the car) plus the number of people and pets taking the ferry.
After measurement we checked in, got our actual tickets and then waited to pass through US Customs. Once through customs we waited again as they began loading the ferry.
What an experience. This ferry swallows whole 18 wheelers, long RV's, even longer truck/5th wheel combinations, cars/trucks, motorcycles, passengers. What an experience. Not knowing what to expect Mary Lynn was a little nervous however the loading process was pretty straight forward.
Well almost. First of all, forget everything you have learned about driving a big rig and using your mirrors, back-up cameras, etc. They have one person guide you into position with another half a dozen people stationed on all sides of the larger vehicles. The 'loader' tells you to do exactly as he says as far as moving left, right, forward, etc. It was a little nerve wracking pulling our 39 foot RV between other rows of vehicles without looking at the mirrors or trying to position yourself as you normally do... however, these guys do this full time and given the incredibly small allowances between vehicles you have to listen to them.
Our first leg of the ferry trip was from Prince Rupert to Petersburg with stops in Ketchikan and Wrangell; the trip took approximately 18 hours. For those of you who have done the math that meant we unloaded the RV & CR-V around 3:30 am on Friday morning, just as it was getting light.
The ferry trip itself was fantastic -- I can't wait to do the other two legs. On this trip we spotted Humpback Whales, lots of eagles -- some folks even saw Killer Whales although MLA and I missed them. We were on the 'wrong' side of the ship when they were spotted and the Killer Whales had dived below the surface by the time we made our way to the 'correct' side. None the less, the ferry trip is a great way to see a lot of Alaska that can't be seen any other way.
Once we arrived in Petersburg, the ferry system let us sleep in the ferry parking lot. We crashed for 4 hours of sleep and then headed to breakfast, where we learned the annual Petersburg Memorial Day Salmon Derby is going on this Memorial Day Weekend. Very cool.
After breakfast we found our RV campground about 8 miles out of town and got settled in. Very rustic site/services --- which I've been told to expect throughout Alaska.
Yesterday we explored the a lot of Mitkof Island, including some back roads where we almost got stuck. A 30 mile long dirt road takes you back to several lakes and a glacier. Mostly it was wide open however there are a few pots where the sun does not shine on the road where snow covered the road. We went through several patches of snow in Dave and Mary Anne's 4 wheel drive truck however eventually we met a patch that we didn't think we could get through. So we backed the truck up about a quarter of a mile, turned around and headed back.
One of the snow drifts we had crossed previously was now up hill and it gave us a bit of a problem. We were about 8 miles from the main road and a dirt road that sees little or no traffic this time of year. Thoughts of the four of us spending the night in the crew cab truck with one pack of orange peanut butter crackers and two breakfast bars, light jackets, etc briefly danced through our minds.
That made us extra careful in crossing the snow fields -- and, after a few gut tightening slides we eventually made it out of the snow fields.
Today the ladies explored the small town of Petersburg while Dave and I went fishing. I caught (and released) a silver sided fish (salmon, steelhead, ???) about 15 inches long and probably weighed 3-4 pounds.
When we stopped to see the current leaders of the salmon derby the top fish is a monster 59.8 pound King Salmon. Wow -- what a fish. Unless someone catches a larger fish this fish will probably win the $7,500 top prize. Well, the guy who caught the fish will win the $7500; all the fish gets is an all expenses paid trip to the local seafood processing plant where he will be transformed into cans of salmon...
An annual Alaska fishing license cost $145 for a non-resident. Didn't make sense to buy the next level down: it was $100 for three weeks. Makes for some very expensive fish/pound, especially if I keep releasing them.
Tomorrow afternoon we get back on the ferry for an 8 hour hop from Petersburg to Alaska's state capitol: Juneau.
See Ya!
PS: Since Internet access is sparse, today I also posted a few pictures of the Prince Rupert - Ketchikan - Wrangell - Petersburg ferry trip below.
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