At Sea

The vastness is what you notice first. We started up the Inside Passage from Vancouver, British Columbia at 7pm. The ocean was still. The wind was bracing. The sky was streaked with clouds against that sky blue that only nature can achieve. It’s hard to tell how far away the mountains are in the distance. The peaks of brown and gray edge the horizon, and make you feel you haven’t actually left the earth. On the first night, I watched the sun set late and last over North America. It wasn’t totally dark until almost ten o’clock. The atmosphere is silent accept for the wind which seems to blow in waves as the ship pushes north.

This is our first cruise. I choose Alaska because it is a unique part of America that has the feel of the last frontier. We will make stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Seward, Mt. Denali, and Anchorage. Even the names of the towns sound interesting. Nature rules here. There are only a few months in the summer when people from the lower 48 can visit in comfort.

There are about fourteen hundred of us being served by a crew of six hundred and fifty. Of course, everyone has a story. The first couple we met, Milt and Carol, sat next to us during the bordering process. They were from Homer, Nebraska. They were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Carol’s sister was also aboard with her husband, and they were also celebrating their 50th anniversary. They married eight days apart. But, Carol told us her parents couldn’t attend either wedding because they were working for the government in Brazil. She said her grandfather gave her away. But, she said she really wished her father could have been there for her. You could tell in her voice she still regretted it.

Dan and Debbie were from Monroe, Michigan and asked to sit down at our table at breakfast. It was their first cruise. Debbie was a retired nurse, as is my wife Maureen. Dan wore a Vietnam Vet hat. They lived on six acres in the country. He told us about the small plane that crashed in a blizzard about a mile and a half from their house. He was plowing his driveway. He said he couldn’t see the crash, but he could hear the big boom. He said he worked on a railroad for 30 years. It was originally built by Henry Ford to move coal and coke from West Virginia to the big Ford Rouge plant in Detroit. He knew a lot about the history of the railroad. I asked when he retired. He was forced to retire in 1999. There was strike at the railroad. The Canadian company that owned it sent management employees to run the trains. Because of inexperience and miscommunication, Dan was driving a train on a single track when he went around a Dead Man’s Curve and was it hit head on by a train on the same track coming in the opposite direction. He was forced to retire. Had two back surgeries, and never worked again.

You ask a lot of questions on a cruise. Maureen started speaking with a woman while waiting on line to book some land excursions. I joined them after getting information about the on board wi-fi. Her husband Bill was sitting nearby trying to figure out the same thing. She introduced me so I could tell him what I found out. They were from Mobil, Alabama. She had a pleasant southern accent. I complimented her on it, and asked where she was from. She was originally from North Carolina, and seemed pleased that I asked. They had travelled extensively. They had rented a house in France and also traveled to the Galapagos Islands. We told her about our upcoming trip to Ireland. She had never been there, but it was on her list of places to go. We said our goodbyes as they proceeded up to the desk to book their excursions.

While we traded stories with people we just met, the ship moved steadily north as the clouds and mountains drifted by. I looked out my window and realized there were many windows into life at sea.