Joe's Stories:

The Feisty Passenger

In 2007 I had the opportunity to travel as a naturalist on the ‘Spirit of Oceanus,’ a small - 220’, 100 passenger cruise ship belonging to Cruise West. Ships such as these carry big inflatable Zodiac style boats and frequently anchor, launch the inflatables so that the passengers can explore some location in depth, perhaps even going ashore.

One of the more energetic passengers was this spunky gal from Maine, whose 90 years hadn’t slowed her down a bit. She was almost always first in line to go ashore and wasn’t about to let her age keep her from getting in those inflatables.

Our very last stop on that Seattle to Anchorage voyage was the Chiswell Islands, spectacular outcrops, part of the Kenai Fjords National Park, just west of Seward. We’d anchored in the night and as I stepped out onto the upper stern deck, where a buffet breakfast was being served, I was struck by the sight of those dramatic islands, just a hundred yards off our stern.

The excursion that day was an inflatable tour around the islands, which were also a major bird nesting area in addition to a good spot to see sea otters up close and personal.

The only wrinkle was that unlike the sheltered waters of Southeast Alaska, this was open ocean and there was a good sized swell running, which meant that it was challenging to step from the steep boarding stairs that went down the side of the ship to the inflatables that were going down four or five feet in the swells.

And there was our 90 year old gal, first in line, bundled up in fleece and a big life jacket and eager for the day’s adventure. But I had taken one look at the situation with the swell and the challenge of getting aboard the inflatables, even for a fit person, and tried to persuade her to watch from the ship this one time.

But.... nothing doing - she was not to be persuaded, so one of the Filipino crew and myself carefully escorted her down the boarding stairs, where at the bottom another husky crewman got on her other side and with a firm grip, waited for the moment when the boarding platform at the bottom of the ladder and the inflatable would be level, even if it was just for a brief moment... They waited and waited, as I watched anxiously.. and, picking their moment perfectly, lifted her completely off her feet and set her solidly into the inflatable, just before it leaped a good four feet up again!

I was the ‘ Expedition Leader’ of our inflatable, and as we approached the steep sided islands, I pointed out the numerous sea otters, cruising around, all swimming on their backs, some with some shellfish snack on their tummies, others with babies that they were preening and nursing.

The bird life was stunning with what seemed like thousands of birds, in a constant cloud, diving and swooping around the islands which were more like pillars rising vertically from the sea, with no possible way to land or go ashore, had we even wanted to - as a National Wildlife Refuge, landing was forbidden...

But what was even more dramatic were the sea caves. Over the eons, the sea had eroded caves, whose entrances were twenty and thirty feet high on the outside, and into which the sea just boomed dramatically, throwing spray and solid water back out the entrance as it crashed into the dead end wall hidden in the darkness within. We stood off a little ways, as the birds swirled all around us, just watching in awe.

Then 90 year old Mattie spoke up.

“Take us in there, Joe,” she said, waving at the entrance to a big sea cave, where a particularly large swell was booming into thowing spray far enough back to hit us, 30 yards off, a sobering sight indeed.

“Mattie,” I called back, over the boom of the swells in the great sea cave, “It’d be suicide to go in there; we’d be smooshed...”

“Ah,” she replied, “but that would be so much better than just wasting away in the nursing home..!”

Off the Chiswell Islands - view from our breakfast table - one of the benefits of traveling on a small ship. Sadly, the operator, Cruise West, failed in 2010, and presently no other small ship is on this particular itinerary.

Our small ship, the Spirit of Oceanus.

Cruising among the Chiswell Islands in a Zodiac style inflatable boat. Hundreds of thousands of birds nests on these islands and circled around us as we explored.

Exploring the Chiswell Islands - the sound of the sea booming into the sea caves was haunting and impressive!