The Blue Canoe

So I currently reside on Prince of Wales Island (hereafter referred to as “POW”) in Southeastern Alaska (hereafter referred to as “Southeast”).  It’s a long way no matter how you look at it, but travel to Southeast is an adventure all on its own to me.  I’m used to being able to drive to where I need to get, but to get to Southeast you need to either fly or float, because a car won’t get you close.

It's not really a Honda Civic friendly area

Southeast Alaska is the most geographically isolated place I’ve ever been.  Directly to the east is British Columbia, Canada.  Separating Southeast and Canada is a pretty formidable mountain range.  How formidable?  There is only one road that will take you from BC to the coast line.  This is route 16, which shoots a narrow keyhole pass through the coastal mountain range and down to Prince Rupert.  That is the route I took through Canada.  The Skeena River cuts it a path through the crags and the road happily follows it west to the Pacific.

It's a beautiful drive

But it stands alone.  There are no roads that take you from British Columbia to Alaska, even though the two regions share a boundary for hundreds of miles.  You can’t even drive into Juneau, and that’s the capital of the entire damn state.  It’s understandable though, Southeast is just a series of islands anyway, and a road really wouldn’t make sense.  Most of the land mass consists of remote islands separated by straights and fjords that span miles.  It is not in any way conducive to roads and bridges.  As far as I can tell, the US  government took all this into account, yelled “Fuck it!”, and built a fleet of Ferrys.  Their coloration and function has since earned them the nickname of “Blue Canoes.”

Bridges?! Fuck bridges! We'll just build some boats!

The ferry can be likened to a bus.  It chugs along the coast of Alaska, going from port to port, stopping at essentially every major seabound town and city.  The first stop is Ketchikan, the last is Unalaska.

It's a long damn way

I’ve ridden the ferry a number of times now and have only glowing reviews of it.  It feels like a poor man’s cruise.  Really.

This Poor Man!

Here’s the rundown:  You sit in line for a few hours and watch what must be some of the world’s most ineffective drug-sniffing dogs putter around the area.  Then you drive your car onto the ferry, park in the ships belly as directed, and head topside.  Although the ship is quite large, accommodations are expensive and cramped.  Instead, those on a limited budget bring their camping gear and set up tents up on the top deck.

Ferry Tent Stakes

Some simply squat on the adjacent Solarium Deck.  The Solarium Deck is just a big room with only three walls.  You are protected on all sides but the back, which opens out onto the top deck/campground.  Here dozens of heat lamps hang from the ceiling.

It's pretty fun

You have only to drag one of the many plastic reclining chairs under one, set up your sleeping bag, and viola, you are set until it’s time to dock.

Home sweet home

Light a cigarette off the heat lamp above you and saunter out to the deck to look at humpbacks.  Read a book, trade stories with other travelers, or head down to the bar.  The ship’s bar is just a novelty to me entirely, as it just seems absurd that they have one at all, since they don’t allow you to bring your own alcohol.  But it’s a fun place to hang out and talk to people.  And let me tell you, drinking is a totally different experience when the floor is already jumping out from under you on it’s own with no provocation.

A friend of mine once flew a kite off the bow of the ferry’s top deck.  He simply attached it to his deep sea rod, adjusted the drag, and cast it overboard.  Soon the kite was sailing above him and he was fighting it on the wind currents like a halibut.  Apparently he got away with it for a full fifteen minutes and drew quite a crowd before someone official saw him and told him to knock it off.  But for the most part they let you do what you want and the whole place is very mellow and fun.  I saw a couple get their bottle of wine confiscated, but this was only because they decided to climb the top mast and hang out up there yelling at 1 AM until a patrolling deckhand came by.

Later this sign was erected

Keep your illegal drinking discreet and you won’t have a single problem.

Needless to say, you meet some really insane people and it’s kind of a weird, funny time.  My fellow passengers on one voyage ranged from fellow Seasonals to one of the Navy’s most decorated fighter pilots.   The people you see are usually travelers, not tourists, a distinction I will have to delve into sometime.  They are going places, they have been places.  They have stories to compare with yours.  You learn things, you trade secrets.  You stand outside in the cold wind listening to waves crashing in the darkness, taking pulls out of whiskey bottle with people who were strangers hours before.  The ship presses on through the night, plowing mightily through the waves, a tiny point of light in the inky freezing sea.

Until your destination appears on the horizon like a heaped pile of glowing coals. The people around you start to stir in the semi-darkness, quietly repacking. You all wait in muted anticipation as the ship turns starboard, pulling into the anchorage

I guess every ride is a little different so it’s hard to explain all the weird and dubious connections you can make…  But by the last night one Ketchikan to Bellingham ferry trip I found myself drunk at the bar, playing and singing in a symphony that included a piano, two guitars, an autoharp, a banjo, and me on the spoons.  I’m not even sure how it happened really.  First the autoharp and the guitar showed up.  Then someone hopped on the piano in the corner of the room.  A guy ran upstairs for his banjo.  Ten minutes later someone who had heard about our little jam showed up with another guitar.  It was a great way to spend an evening with a bunch of strangers traveling along the inside passage on a windy sea.

So I would recommend the Blue Canoe to anyone traveling north.  Stow a bottle of some kind in your belongings.  While not technically legal, there are no repercussions, other than having it confiscated, if you are caught.  And they return it to you at the end of the voyage.  Be social, enjoy yourself.  It’s a great, weird road.

All aboard who's coming aboard