Juneau to Haines

Leslie Friday, June 27, 2008

Moving day. Today was our last ride on the ferry. We always get to the ferry dock early so that the dock workers really understand that we’re 52 ft long and that may take some creative loading. It’s always a bit tricky when we get to the ferry doc because I have to go inside to check in and find out which lane they want us to park in while Robert waits, hovering, without committing to a lane. It’s difficult to do this without blocking traffic and there is often a long line inside. Today I got a bit smarter and took along one of the two-way radios that we carry so that I could radio Robert of his lane assignment as soon as I received it. Today, like most days we were put in a loading line all by ourselves.

We were chatting with one of the dock workers about the ferry system. He explained that we should be glad that we had boarded the ferry at Ketchikan rather than Bellingham, Washington. His reason is that many "undesirables" are put on the ferry at Bellingham (i.e., authorities in Bellingham buy them a one-way ticket to Alaska), once they cause trouble aboard, they’re put off in Ketchikan. They become stranded in Ketchikan because they can’t return via ferry. Even if they get further north, they’re stranded because they can’t return by land via Canada.

Canada doesn’t permit anyone with a criminal record to enter Canada. (There are some exceptions and a waiver program which we understand is quite expensive.) The border agents have access to a US database and routinely turn people back at the border. The criminal record could be something such as a DWI committed many years ago. The dock worker told us of another dock worker who had a juvenile record for shoplifting that occurred before Alaska statehood (1958). Apparently the record was on file because it occurred on an Indian reservation (federal jurisdiction). When the Canadians boarded the ship and questioned the man, he replied, "I was 15 years old and hungry, that was over 40 years ago". The man we were talking with said that he hoped to take his family to the interior latter this year but he was unsure whether he’d be allowed via Canada because he knew that he had a record. He had gone to the Canadians in an attempt to get a waiver and they couldn’t find the record. – Stuck in the middle – he might or might not get through – and he couldn’t clear the matter because they couldn’t find him the database even though he was admitting to having a record.

Look at the interesting vehicle that boarded the ferry. The earthmover is carrying a mattress and a motorcycle and the driver has only one eye.

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We left Juneau and arrived in Haines. The trip was only 4 ½ hours aboard the Malaspina.

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Along the way the weather was cloudy and raining. I did see some whales and this interesting lighthouse.

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And see the interesting clouds obscuring the snow-covered mountains.

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We’re staying at the Hitch-Up RV Park in Haines. The park is called Hitch-Up because this is the first place that people driving a motorhome and towing a car are able to hitch-up for the drive to the interior. When we arrived at Hitch-Up at 9:30 pm it was still light it was pouring rain, harder than we have seen previously. I have a wide brimmed Gore-tex hat. By the time I got inside, a pool of water ran off the hat. We were glad to be in for the evening. I was cold. We thought we had turned on the gas heat but it didn’t get any warmer as the night progressed. The next morning Robert realized that he hadn’t turned on the propane after we got here. (You have to turn off all propane before you board the ferry.) After the propane was turned on, the heat worked fine.