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Today is our last full day on the Veendam. We are cruising down the Inside Passage through British Columbia headed for Vancouver. From Ketchikan to Vancouver is 528 nautical miles. The route follows south through the relatively open water of Chatham Sound before entering into the narrow Grenville and the Princess Royal Channels. We traverse Queen Charlotee Sound and again enter a narrow area known as Johnstone Strait. Much of this territory is traversed at night, but sunrise finds us sailing along through a beautiful passage, mountains, still snow covered, on either side of us. Early on it is cloudy and overcast, but as the day progresses, it clears up and becomes sunny once again.

After breakfast we attend a disembarkation talk given by the Cruise Director. He tells us the procedures for getting our luggage ready to be taken off the ship and how to get ourselves off the next morning. There's a good deal of anxiety about this as people need to make connections to planes in Vancouver, get through customs, disembark in good order, and so-on. Most important to Holland America Line is that they will get 1250 of us off and a new 1250 cruisers on board and off on their trip. This is a logistical feat requiring huge amounts of work and lots of organization. Our first task is to figure out how to pack.

After lunch we repair to our cabin to start the packing process. We’ve decided to send all but one piece of luggage through the ship’s system and to have only one carry-on piece for the plane. Our problem, of course, is that we’ve bought too much stuff and clothes which fit in our luggage when neatly folded and freshly ironed don’t seem to go back where they came from. After pushing, crushing, trading, and swearing a good deal, Mom suggests she go buy another bag. We refuse to hear of it, insisting we can get it all in. Finally, we have all bags packed, labeled, and ready to place in the hallway in the evening. Only days later do we discover we are missing a bag of Christmas ornaments we had purchased in Sitka. Irene is devastated as she spends time, energy, and thought each year on purchasing a relevant ornament for us and the kids.

Meanwhile, we are cruising down the Inside Passage. The seaway is narrow, sometimes only a mile or two wide. On either side we can see hills and farther away, up narrow bays and fiords, snow-capped mountains. The hillsides show the scarring of recent clear-cutting. The fate of old growth forests in British Columbia is a hot issue. To my eyes the scars of clear cutting are ugly, while at the same time, there is evidence of rapid growth from reforestation. We don't see any active logging going on, and I wonder how the logs are brought to the pulp mills. Apparently, they are skidded to the water where great barges of logs are created and pulled by tugs to the mill. Relatively few permanent buildings stand at the shoreline. Once a tract is logged, the human habitation moves on, leaving the forest to re-grow for harvesting again in another fifty years.

Today I spend a lot of time in the Crow’s Nest, but we see only a few whales and some dolphins. The bald eagles seem to have stayed in Alaska. For several days I’ve been surprised not to see more yachts, as this may be some of the greatest cruising ground in the world. Today, as we move closer to major centers of habitation, we begin to see some large sailboats and motor yachts. We also see some small groups of kayakers paddling closer to shore. While this area is quite isolated, it is a major shipping lane and help is certainly fairly close at hand. We also begin to see many more cargo ships and large trawlers heading northwards as we approach Vancouver. As dusk falls we see a large, lit-up cruise ship coming the other direction. It turns out to be the Holland America Line ship Zaandam on its way north. We pass close to each other, waving and hooting. It's as if we are seeing ourselves starting out. We cruise past some larger towns and several resort areas. People in small boats motor out and speed past us, some waving their hands, others waving beer cans.

I forgo the final night's entertainment for a final evening in the Crows Nest. When I return to our cabin, Irene has already stacked our luggage outside the cabin where it will be removed to the buses in the morning. We watch the land slide past from our veranda as it becomes dark and then head to bed. In the morning, I awake early as usual and go weigh before going to the Lido for coffee and the view. Irene joins me as we see summer cottages and a few towns. Soon a city looms ahead and we see a tower, which look like it might be the space needle for Seattle, although it turns out to be downtown Vancouver. We follow another cruise ship under the Lion’s Gate Bridge and into Vancouver harbor. A large complex pier composed of multiple peaked tents is our goal. To the right are yacht harbors with floating gas stations placed conveniently nearby. In front rises Vancouver, a handsome waterside city with lots of construction going on. Our captain warps us into place at the pier as we lean over the veranda rail watching the operation. As soon as we’re in place the gangway is attached and stacks of fruits and vegetables are being moved by fork lifts for loading into the ship. We are told to vacate our cabins and find places in the ship’s many public rooms.

We find a comfortable place to sit where we wait for our number to be called. We chat with the people around us, all the time listening to the numbers being called out. Finally, after perhaps 90 minutes, we hear 16 called and move, with our one carry-on and my computer case, to the elevator and then down to the gangway. We move off, get checked out and board a bus where Dieter Schmidt takes us on a tour of Vancouver on the way to the airport. Vancouver is a clean, bustling city with a huge Asian population indicated by the number of signs we see written in characters. It looks like a place worth spending a few days in on our next trip to Alaska.

I worry that the airport will prove to be a huge hassle. Actually, it all works with remarkable smoothness. We are able to pass American customs in Vancouver, thus saving having to go through customs in Newark, which would be awful. All our luggage comes off the bus where we can pick it up and take it through customs and immigration. We send it on to the plane and go to the waiting area where we have time enough for a light lunch before boarding. The plane is only about two-thirds full, so I get to have a three seat section to myself along with a window. The flight is uneventful and we land in Newark on time. The luggage arrives, we transport to the hotel - and our cruise is over. The next morning we drive Mom to her home near Scranton and head back to the Adirondacks, alone together for the first time in two weeks.