Wednesday, September 4, 2013
I think we slept better tonight because there was no engine
noise or motion. We were still up early. Clay made a point of showing off how
awake he was first today. We went to the lounge to ask for boots before
breakfast because it was pouring rain and we have Zegos first. The foot wells
on them were already full of water and we only had 30 minutes for breakfast.
Our room steward/dinner waiter was in the lounge and he opened the 2 benches
and found a mixed up jumble of boots in no order. He put together a pair of 4s
for me and then balked at sorting through them for Clay’s 11s because I had
interrupted him clearing the early risers breakfast from the bar. I realize
they are spread thin, but this was a management problem and he should have
notified someone above him rather than close the benches and tell us to come
back later. We wouldn’t have time later and there weren’t enough boots in there
for everyone on here. We left but Clay pointed out he would be bootless with
wet feet and he only had the one pair of shoes because Alaskan Dream Cruises told us we didn’t
need to pack them as they would be provided. So, I think I upset our room steward
but I reopened the bench and Clay and I dug him out a pair of 10s that fit him.
We only ever found one size 11 boot. Other people saw and came rooting for their own
sizes and the waiter/steward guy gave me the hairy eyeball, but he was wrong
and there was no excuse for not providing those boots to people who needed and
requested them. As we were leaving for our Zego, I heard what sounded like the
Captain’s voice over the radio requesting someone available to get to the lounge
and straighten out those boots so passengers could get what they need. Finally,
but literally an hour too late for the first Zego group.
We are back from our Zego ride. Our group was small enough
(I think a lot of people just didn’t want that early of a start.) that we could
each have our own ride if we wanted. Clay had told me I was the designated
driver for the day so he could take photos. But, when they offered this he
volunteered us to each drive our own so we did. The single passengers got 9.5
engines and the pairs got 20 engines. I know I had to go full throttle to keep
up with Adam our leader. It was pouring rain and about 55 degrees F. So it was
very wet but not terribly uncomfortable. Clay’s camera was getting very wet on
the dock as people were getting on lifevests. I had offered him a gallon Ziploc
bag last night and again this morning that I had in my suitcase, but he said no. As
he stood there with his mitten over the camera and he was going to drive, I
offered again and he said OK. He would never find it though, so I bolted back
in and got it without any delay. Unfortunately he did not put his camera in it.
He told me he was taking pictures of me when Adam sped off and he didn’t have
time to put the bag back over the camera and so he drove the Zego for an hour
with rain soaking it. We have used the hair dryer on it, but unless the works
dry out on their own he may have just ruined his latest $1000 camera. Oh well,
what’s done is done. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the works inside dry on
their own eventually and it goes back to normal with no lasting ill effects of
its soaking. Anyway, Adam was speeding almost all the time. I saw a kingfisher,
a salmon, 5 little black diving birds, 18 bald eagles, 12 of them flying or
soaring, more gull type birds than I can count and some of them were diving
from the air. We saw one old eagle nest. Right after we got docked and back
onboard there was a black bear walking along the shore at the tree line. The
first people on the RTVs said they saw a bear too. I think the Zegos were too
noisy and scared away everything but the eagles. Lynette led a 1-hour hike
after we got back but that was exactly how much time we had before our next
activity and we had rushed out mid-breakfast and needed some time. Plus it was
still pouring rain and we will hope for an opportunity to do the afternoon
hike. I want to kayak but Clay is still saying no. We’ll see.
In about an hour we are scheduled for kayaking and Clay
sounds like he is going to do it now. We are both wanting something quiet and
slower and Clay wants to be able to take photos. His camera seems to be working
now. The view screen is messed up, but it seems to be taking photos OK. Also
it seems to have stopped raining again. It seems to be getting grayer and
cloudier and windier and colder though as the day goes by. Fingers crossed
though since every one so far has mostly raved about the kayaking. They have a
launchway for the kayaks where you load and unload on a ramp so you can’t fall
or tip or get wet. Fingers crossed. We missed the morning hike since we had
rushed out in the middle of breakfast. We only had 10 minutes to eat after we
got served. We needed the bathroom and Clay was messing with his camera so we
missed the morning hike. We asked Lynette and she said she planned the
afternoon hike at 2:30pm. That is when we go kayaking, but she said she might
be able to move it back to 3:30pm. We’ll hope so and then we can hike too. The
morning hike people said they saw a deer and learned a lot about the plants
from Lynette.
The dinner menu is posted. Onion soup, Caesar salad, potato
crusted halibut, chicken breast or Portobello mushroom. They never post dessert;
you just have to wait for them to tell you what it is when you finish eating. I
just watched a heron fly across the water in front of me. A few minutes later a
bald eagle soared to a landing in a tree top in front of me across some water.
There was another eagle already sitting there and I hadn’t even noticed it!
Amazing!
They just announced that there was a black bear mama with 2
cubs at 12 o’clock in front of the ship on the shore. Gotta go. Saw them and 2
herons, a kingfisher, and 2 bald eagles. Now we have to get on waterproof
layers for kayaking. Back later.
We sailed from our dock in Hobart Bay about 7pm. Dinner
started at 6:30pm. Clay had Caesar salad and potato crusted halibut. I had
onion soup and chicken breast which came with bleu cheese gratin and I got it
with the saffron rice instead. Before they could serve crème brulee for
dessert, we managed to sail into the midst of about 30-100 feeding humpback whales
at Pt. Hobart as we exited Hobart Bay into Frederick Sound. It is evidently a krill-rich
environment. It is after 8:30pm and as we laid in our beds in the now strangely
choppy seas, we heard a whale blow through our open window. There were 2 big
humpback whales breaching right below our window. Both of them nearly scraped
the side of the boat with their tails as they went back under. We have never
seen that many whale tails in that concentration. It was crazy! It really has
been the most amazing day. The sheer number of animals we have seen today is
astounding. Sadly we have no photos of the huge pod of feeding humpbacks
because it was too dark and Clay’s camera seems worse now than it was before.
Tomorrow is Red Bluff Bay with DIB excursions like yesterday.
It is another protected inlet with a tricky entrance and lots of wildlife to
see. We are in the 3rd or green group at 9:15am. Tomorrow wake up is
6:15am and breakfast is at 6:45am. In the afternoon we will visit Hidden Falls
salmon hatchery.
