September 10, 2004

September 10, 2004

This morning we flew to Anchorage, Alaska to begin a 7-day Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean. I have heard nothing but good things from everybody who has ever sailed the Inside Passage. Once in Anchorage, we join up with a few other passengers and board a transfer bus headed to Seward. Along the way we get a nice narration by the bus driver. Our route follows a long narrow finger off Cook Inlet called Turnagain Arm. The tide comes in and out so fast and strong that people can supposedly surf the tidal bore.

Once in Seward we board our cruise ship and find our cabin. We don’t set sail till later this evening so we have a few hours to explore. The area around Seward is pretty rugged. Winter comes early to this area as the mountains already have patches of snow. We walk along the coast and see a line of people fishing in the surf. Strange, they aren’t using bait, just a very large treble hook. The salmon are returning to spawn and the fishermen are trying to snag them by pulling the hook quickly thru the water. I don’t see anybody pull one in but they all have a few large salmon at their feet. RV’ing must be very popular among the fisherman as we see a bunch of motorhomes parked along the beach.