Inside Passage to Prince Rupert

 We took the Northern Expedition Ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert yesterday. It was an uncharacteristically sunny day-- really almost hot out of the wind except for fog in the Queen Charlotte Strait. It was a seven deck ferry with 200 international passengers and was quite comfortable. The treat of our lifetimes.

 Most of the channels were quite wide but apparently in 2009 one of these ferries ran aground. Below is the Douglas Channel that tankers would take to and from Kitimat if the bitumen/oil-shale/tar sands Endridge crude is allowed to be shipped to China. Just from the little bit of dense fog we experienced I'd say it could be easy to run aground with the number of turns necessary to reach beyond multiple islands to the Queen Charlotte Sound and open waters. For us the water was smooth and conditions were as perfect as they have ever been-- crew kept remarking about it.

 We were exhausted from a long day of peering out at the surrounding wooded mountains and watching for whales. (I just saw four.) The sunset, which was at about 9:30 pm was quite beautiful in Chatham Sound and quite the exception apparently. This morning in Prince Rupert's Safeway parking lot dawned drizzly and fog bound as is normal in this rainiest of Canada's cities.

 So this isn't a picture from today but alas the computer wouldn't cough up any totem pictures or the sign post showing that we are just 27 miles from the Alaska border. We have a fuel leak to fix and need to process veggie oil to get to our next destination but I wanted to show you Michael's ingenious veggie oil carrying capacity before urging you to have a thoughtful Hiroshima remembrance tomorrow and on Nagasaki Day. Only peace, only thoughtful preservation of earth resources and species will allow humans to survive the next epoch. Ever grateful, we voyage east after visiting a few more Asian restaurants.