En Route

(This will be posted a day after it is written after I get inside data range.)

The sailing out of Bellingham was simply magnificent. The setting sun lit up the city we were leaving behind.

During the evening pet call we discovered that Stripey had made the litter box his bed. The following morning, both cats had climbed into the litter box as their resting place.

The cafeteria aboard the Malaspina has a decent selection of foods - even for vegetarian types. Cost per meal range from $5 to 15 depending on what one gets.

We awoke to rain this morning (Wed). The going got quite rough a few hours later as we entered Queen Charlotte Sound and were no longer protected from the ocean swells. The bathrooms became a rather popular destination for many of the passengers. Amy lost it, but Shelley was absolutely unaffected. Who knows, she could make a good sailor one day.

I don't know if the crew expected this degree of roughness as I heard quite a few crashes from the galley. I heard from a passenger that was in the area that kitchen items were flying about during the roughest parts.

Once the swells began to settle down, the clouds also broke to show some sun and reveal the beauty of the Canadian islands.

The clouds and rain have returned this afternoon, together with gale force winds. Even so, as we pass by what seems like stone's throw away from the islands, the mist and clouds add a unique beauty to the scenery.

I had T-Mobile service for a few hours after we started out, and then I was able to get Rogers signal. Mt Verizon service was getting analog roaming from Canada this morning.

We've seen other ferries, boats, sailboats, and barges pass by traveling in the other direction.

At this time of year there aren't that many passengers going northbound. The ferry is relatively empty.

The skies cleared up a bit this afternoon as we passed through Waglisla in the Bella Bella Indian Reserve. This was the first sighting of any significant civilization since Vancouver BC last night. The combination of clouds and sun make for some good photo ops.

For a few minutes a rainbow appeared over the water and framed an island. Superlatives fail to express the magnificence and wonder of this part of the world. The theme of ocean, sky, and landforms may be the same, but the variety of ways in which they are manifest make every moment unique and not to be repeated again. It's like music - 12 notes per octave, but the way they are combined and placed in sequence, the way they are interpreted results in infinite possible performances.

We saw the first bald eagle of this voyage near the village of Klemtu. This is a native Canadian village along this ferry route. The rain was coming down fairly hard during this time.

I learned tonight that this sailing encountered the first rough seas of the season. All summer long the seas were calm going through the rough areas that we experienced today. So the best time to use the ferry is during the summer months - better weather and calmer seas.

Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.