20150803-4: Day 57 & 58, Kennicott/Yakutat Movie & Slideshow
We boarded the Kennicott late in the evening, around 11pm, on the 3rd of August, 2015, day 57 of our travels.
Tuesday, the 4th of August 2015, day 58 of our travels finds us aboard the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry M/V Kennicott on the 2nd day of our 5-day voyage from Whittier, AK to Bellingham Washington, arriving on the 8th of August 2015, day 62 of our travels. We opted for this route home rather than repeating the route we travelled from Colorado to Alaska over the Alcan Highway.
I've partitioned our Alaska experience from the 8th of June through the 13th of August, 2015 over several individual segments.
This segment includes both video and a still photo slideshow of events covering the last hours of day 1 as well as all of day 2 of our trip from Whittier, AK to Yakutat, AK aboard the AMH Ferry M/V Kennicott from 3 August through 4 August, 2015.
Having departed Whittier, AK at 11:45pm on the 3rd of August, we docked at Yakutat, AK around 6pm on the evening of 4 August, 2015. We would spend the next 3 hours at Yakutat, during which time we and our dogs disembarked and walked along one of the
major roads in Yakutat soaking in the warm air and sunshine, taking videos and still photos of everything within eyesight!
Departure was scheduled for 9pm that evening. We returned to the boat early to get the dogs settled back in the RV, and to take up positions on one of the upper decks where we could watch and record the events of casting off the lines and departing for our next destination, Juneau, AK.
The fog began to set in prior to our departure, becoming notable shortly after 8pm. We set sail shortly after 9pm with visibility seemingly less than a quarter mile!
Both video and photos include elements of life aboard the Kennicott including major attractions aboard the boat...the Lounge, Café, Child Play Area, Viewing Areas, and yes...the Solarium. The Solarium is an enclosed deck area where travelers opt to pitch a tent on the floor, spread out a bedroll on a deck chair, or to simply exist during the voyage to their final destination in lieu of purchasing cabin space.
The Kennicott is not a luxury cruise ship. It is a hybrid of sorts, providing passenger taxi service between ports from Dutch Harbor, AK to Bellingham, WA; providing a means to transport vehicles from bicycles and motorcycles to large trucks, motor homes, RVs of all sizes, cars, etc. between each of these ports; provides passenger comforts including 2 & 4 berth cabins, dinning, lounge, theater, and places to stretch out, relax, and take in the view from weather-protected inside areas providing picture window views of the outside. The dress is strictly informal...no tuxedos here! It is indeed travel suitable for the Alaskan environment, serving land-locked communities throughout the Alaskan coastline.
Included in this presentation is the experience one endures taking care of pets (dogs, cats, etc.) during the voyage. Pets are only allowed on the car deck, in a cage or other confined area (your car, trailer, RV, etc.). We train our dogs to NOT mess on the floor...and yet this is the modus operandi employed to provide the opportunity for dogs to eliminate their waste...they are walked along an area on the car deck designated as the dog walking area...where they can relieve themselves. It took our dogs over 2 days before they would do so. There are at least 3 opportunities throughout each day where one is allowed to access the car deck and exercise their dogs in the designated area, as well as those times when we are docked at a port of call when we can bring our pets with us ashore.
The voyage aboard the Kennicott overall was pleasant, utilitarian, and cut hundreds (if not thousands) of miles off our return trip back home from Alaska. The crew was polite, experienced, and helpful at all times.
A word of caution: if you are a spontaneous traveler as we were, i.e., not having booked passage aboard a vehicle such as the AMH's Ferries a year in advance, your chances of gaining access on a whim to a Ferry is very chancy...and often depends upon someone else cancelling their trip in order to provide for you passage aboard the Ferries. Check with travel agencies for Ferry passage and wait until the final bookings are in...maybe you
too can travel the Marine Highway in a spontaneous spur of the moment effort...as we did!
[To view just the slideshow, go to:
Interesting websites discovered:
Bermuda | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Bermuda
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates
SUMMARY
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Bermuda () is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 1,070 km (665 mi) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; 1,236 km (768 mi) south of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia; and 1,759 km (1,093 mi) north of Cuba. The capital city is Hamilton. Bermuda is self-governing, with its own constitution and its own government, which enacts local laws, while the United Kingdom retains responsibility for defence and foreign relations.
Bermuda's two largest economic sectors are offshore insurance and reinsurance, and tourism. Bermuda had one of the world's highest GDP per capita for most of the 20th century. The island has a subtropical climate and lies in the hurricane belt and thus is prone to related severe weather; however, it is somewhat protected by a coral reef that surrounds the island and its position at the north of the belt, which limits the direction and severity of approaching storms.