Today was an "at sea" day of scenic cruising north on the Inside Passage between the coastal islands and North American mainland.
The "scenic cruise" consisted largely of gray skies and low hanging clouds. No exciting wildlife yet; just a bit of drizzle. We spent a nice lazy day attending a couple of the EXC Talks, playing trivia, reading and eating.
Not a lot of variance in the view for most of the day, but lots of atmosphere. If you like Bronte novels.
Afternoon tea
The lectures were interesting, with one focusing on the Iditarod and the other on current efforts to preserve the Tlingit (pronounced "Klingit") culture and language.
The ship has a sweet small concert venue called Lincoln Center Stage that has a loose affiliation with - you guessed it - New York's art center of the same name. It has good acoustics, comfortable armchairs and a Steinway. In residence is a quintet, which we heard tonight after dinner. They played a series of selections from programs they'll be performing over the course of the cruise. Holland America features this program on 9 of their ships. Another plus for this cruise line. My dad would have loved this.
After the concert we ventured outside. The weather had broken and the channel widened. It was lovely.
This was 9 PM. Still mighty light out.
A pilot ship carefully pulled alongside, allowing the Canadian pilot to jump to it from our ship as we entered American waters. It looked easy in tonight's ideal calm conditions, but I wouldn't want to do that in a storm.
The little pilot ship was about the same size as our lifeboats hanging three decks above.
We move the clocks back an hour tonight (Monday). I'm glad, as I found out tonight I'd gotten a ticket on a Misty Fjords cruise out of Ketchikan that leaves a little after 7 tomorrow morning.
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