. From the Island Princess’ navigator:
During the early morning, Island Princess will pass through Cape Hinchinbrook (waypoint 16) into Prince William Sound. For full details of wildlife in the Sound, consult your Cruise Companion (Chapter 6.).
Island Princess will sail into College Fjord in the late afternoon and the glaciers will be in view on both sides of the ship.
Tuesday 17th July 2018
When we woke the sea was calm and we could see reflections of the clouds. This was the morning we had to pack and make sure the suitcase coming with us to Denali had all the correct clothes. Our other case would be going directly to the hotel in Anchorage. We watched another cruise shop pass by.
Morning out on deck
We had an early breakfast in the Bordeaux before we were out on our balcony looking for whales as suggested in the Princess Cruises nature guide. We passed a glacier as we sailed towards Whittier and Glacier Bay.
… and a lighthouse.
The scenery was spectacular.
There had been yet another outlet sale in the Provence restaurant that started at 10 am. We gave this one a miss as we wanted to be out on deck.
Our afternoon out on deck
By lunchtime we had seen no humpback whales so we called it a day and went for a sit down lunch. This was again in the Bordeaux. I had the recommended ribs with chicken wings (and BBQ sauce).
This fishing boat came past going the opposite way.
Away to starboard was a small boat taking sightseers to see the wildlife and glaciers. It stopped next to rocks to look at the local sea lion population basking there.
We could just about make out the seals as we passed.
The ship’s naturalist was up on Deck 11 and when we were again out forward on Deck 10. We were looking for whales once again. This time it was for a resident pod of Orcas. As Island Princess sailed on we were cutting directly through their territory.
The salmon fishing fleet
Nearer to Whittier we could see ahead of us dozens of small fishing boats which we are all out fishing for salmon.
Coral Princess was ‘buzzed’ by a sight-seeing sea-plane.
There were a smaller number of larger boats scattered throughout the fleet.
These were where the salmon were taken and the fishermen were paid immediately by cheque after their catch was weighed. These were the boats that took the fish ashore. It was now 4.30 pm and we could see the start of College Fjord.
The small boats stay out with the nets until the salmon had stopped running or they had a mechanical problem. This is because the season is so short that every hour possible was spent fishing.
Island Princess picked her way slowly through all the boats with only a few having to move away or haul in their nets as we slowly passed.
