Ferries Made...Ferries Lost

With Cathleen and Logan at the Ashland 4th of July parade

Hanging out at Tana and Rick's house in Port Townsend with Tana, Amanda and her twins Chloe and Sam

On the ferry with Mike, Josee, and West (red hair)






I can't remember exactly how the saying goes, but it is something about humans making plans and the heavens laughing? After a smooth trip up to Juneau, I called to confirm the next ferry to Glacier Bay only to find out that they had cancelled their service, leaving us no reasonable way to get to Glacier Bay. So we make new plans. Phil and I are packing up to head out tomorrow. We will paddle south to Admiralty Island, portage Oliver Inlet to Seymor Canal and down the east side of Admiralty. We should be in Petersburg by July 23. At this time we will find another short route before returning to meet up with Brian on Aug 3. Just the way things go around here, only option is to roll with it.

Backtracking, I had a phenomenal trip up here. A fantastic stay in Ashland with Cathleen Sheehan and Rebecca Shapiro on the night of July 3. We went down to see the hometown parade (my favorite part was the junior high marching band in tie-dye uniforms). I spent the rest of the 4th driving north to Port Townsend to stay with Tana and Rick, who had a warm welcome for me (feeding me, giving me space to set up a tent and sprawl as I reorganized). I am more and more aware of how the help from so many friends and family is what is making this trip possible for me, thank you everyone! While in Port Townsend I got to spend some time with old friends Lampy and Amanda and their twins Sam and Chloe after staying a night in their yurt, so great to be back in a yurt. On the 6th, Tana drove me to Bellingham where I caught the ferry(my car limping in to the finish line in desperate need of a tune up).

On the ferry I met some wonderful folks, Mike and Josee from Canada who had just finished biking around Vancouver Island where they were performing plays addressing issues of social/environmental justice. They were heading on to points further north for their own biking adventure. Also in our little group was West, who had come out from Virginia to Seattle, rode his bike to Bellingham then off to Valdez where he would find work in order to make enough money to get home later in the summer. Some fun adventurous folks out there. The communal spirit of the ferry was wonderful, pitching tents on the back deck, chatting with people over meals and taking in the wildlife and scenery. I highly recommend traveling the inside passage by ferry to anyone-young, old, families, adventurers...

I am excited to leave town and head out on the water. It hasn't stopped raining since we arrived and doesn't seem like it is planning on letting up any time soon. This town has a strange energy, we have met some wonderfully generous people but have mostly been surrounded by thousands of tourists by day (up to four cruise ships arrive and depart each day bringing upwards of 10,000 different visitors each day), and serious drinking at night (we can hear the bar music thumping through the floor until 1:00 am each night, not even my earplugs do much to help). At any rate, I am excited to begin doing what I came here to do, kayak and be out in the wilds of Alaska.

I will try to upload some photos when we reach Petersburg, but for now I am having technical difficulties.

Derek