#boatlife

What? #boatlife? Again?

Rather than drive to Alaska, we parked Miles (our van) and us on the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry M/V Kennicott in Bellingham, Washington. Destintation – Homer, Alaska.

Friends Chris and Chris and their rig, El Chapo, boarded the same ferry to start a joint adventure in Alaska.

Excitement to navigate the inside passage on a boat for seven days exceeded the anticipation of being on land in Alaska. Kinda sorta. Okay, it is all awesome.

M/V Kennicott is a ferry with restaurants and a movie theater making the experience some where between a ferry and a cruise ship.

Even better than a cruise ship was having the vans on the car deck with regularly scheduled visitation ties made life on board sweet. This gave us access our fridges full of hors d’oeuvres and wine. Nice.

Rather than camp in a tent outside on the deck and use the onboard public showers or the sleep in a chair and use aforementioned showers, we opted for private staterooms with private showers. Heaven. Worth every penny.

With vans loaded and locked, champagne toasts and weighing of anchor brought smiles to our faces. Off we go!

The Inside Passage did not disappoint. Spectacular weather kept the cameras shooting day and night. Glaciers, marine life, mountains, seaside towns.

The world’s largest tidal range of 53.5 feet occurs on Canada’s east coast in the Bay of Fundy. The highest tides in the US are in Anchorage Alaska with tidal ranges up to 40 feet. As the Kennicott sailed north, evidence of increasing tidal ranges came in several forms. Dock ramps changed from 0 degrees to over 45 degrees. Previously floating boats sat on rocks. Previously submerged islands and rocks appear. Watching the tides rise and fall left us with the feeling of gratitude for the amazing crew navigating and maintaining the ship.

Our destination, Homer Alaska, is the last stop for the Kennicott. With that, we managed sneak peeks of several of the ports of call along the way. In hindsight, getting off the ferry and exploring places like Kodiak or Ketchikan for a few days is a worthwhile adventure.

Lots of interesting folks joined us on the ferry including families exploring Alaska via bicycles or kayaks. relocating coast guard families, backpackers, bird watchers, photographers, fisher-peopleand fellow motorized vehicle campers.

Thanks to our friends requesting a bridge tour, we met the captain and some of the crew. Bridge and engine room tours left us in awe.

The Kennicott ferry can be repurposed into a command center for oil spill emergency response. Thankfully, the ship retained its purpose as a ferry during our time on board.

The Kennicott’s crew safely delivered us to Homer after seven spectacular days. Let the land cruising begin!