Friday 17 August 2012

August 15 13th day OTR, 6th day OTS

The sun shone all day in Juneau. We cast our lines at 10 pm and slid silently out of the harbour. The Celebrity Millennium left before us as did the Princess ship. Not sure when the NCL Pearl left.
This morning we are anchored off shore of Icy Strait Point, Hoonah, Alaska. This is a Tlingit (pronounced Klinkit) settlement. The shops are all owned by natives so we will see what “Made in Alaska” items we can find.

Icy Straight Point is a tender port. We cross to the point on the small tender ships which are also the life boats in an emergency. It was quite foggy in the morning but by 10 am the fog had lifted enough to see in front of your face, so we made the trip over.
There is a very well laid out salmon cannery display in the old canning factory. Along with that are some shops which sell handcrafted Alaska items and some of the artists are working on their crafts in the shops. We walked the boardwalk as well to where the zip-rider ended. It was very quiet and relaxed since we were the only ship in port.
Hoonah is a small town about 1.5 miles from Icy Strait Point itself. We walked into town and were grateful for the exercise on land that wasn't moving. It is a very small town, built just beyond the tidal flats. Some people coming back from town told us where to find some native carvers and we did find them. They have an ongoing carving project – a screen for a tribal house that will be placed in Glacier Bay, the original home of the Tlingit people. The screen is finished and they are working on the house posts, basically small totem poles. They will also carve some totem poles before the project is finished.
We happened to be there when one of the town tours came through and stayed for the presentation. One of the carvers explained the significance of the symbols and when he was finished we were also presented with a dance that is used when the screen will be erected. Very nicely done.

The sun was out by this time and we walked a little farther along and found an eagle, a nest and a young eagle. On our walk back to the tender point, we saw a humpback whale. Later, sitting in the Crow's Nest, I saw a pod or Orcas swim by, three at least, and as they swam away it looked like two more joined them. Apparently there were sea lions on the starboard side of the ship and that brings out the Orcas.
The movie today was “One for the money” based on the Stephanie Plum series. It was very true to the book and quite enjoyable. I wonder if the rest of the books will be made into movies. Will be quite the series.
After we left Icy Strait Point, we were in the Gulf of Alaska. We will be sailing it all day Thursday as well. It was quite calm, surprisingly so and I hope that continues. This was a formal night at dinner, the 2nd of 4. Normally, formal nights are sea days so not sure why they changed it since Thursday is a sea day but it all works out, either way.

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