WE CAN SEE RUSSIA FROM OUR VERANDA

Many people have strong beliefs in the symbolism of numbers. For instance there were a record number of marriages in Las Vegas on 09/09/09. Since we are already married we opted to begin a cruise on that auspicious day. We hope it bodes well for a great 102 day journey.
After a fine summer of being with family and friends we decided what better way to continue meeting up with the rest of my siblings that via ship. We bid farewell to Judy and left our car with her and plan to see my brother Steven in Auckland in late November courtesy of Regent. So this year we will have visited all ten of my brothers and sisters and four of Kevin's family.
The day after Labor Day we got up at 5am, secured our boat, and loaded up Raul’s car for the trip to the airport. We flew to Vancouver and after we got through the two hour immigration procedures we checked into the lovely Pan Pacific Hotel which overlooks the harbor. Regent had a bon voyage dinner for the 19 passengers who are taking the entire Grand Asia Pacific (GAP) cruise. There is a small group of us Gappers including a few familiar faces. Robert and Mary are true world travelers and have sailed many months on board ships. The next morning our band of 19 was escorted aboard the Regent Mariner and shown to our suites. Our shipped luggage was awaiting us as well as what we had checked on the airplane. It is always with a great sense of relief when we reach that point where we and our stuff are all aboard ready to depart on another adventure.
We were surprised to find so many familiar staff and crew on board whom we have sailed with in the past few years. Aboard are Cruise Director Jamie and Assistant CD Dana, Staff Captain Stan, Security Officer Harry who got us safely through the Gulf of Aden earlier this year. Purser Paul, F&B Franck, Concierge Manuela, Chef Mike who is newly married, Hostess Lisa, Fitness Instructor Leanne, Writer Dodie, Dance Instructors Dieter and Ilse, Bridge expert Rosanne and computer teacher Mike Smith, lecturers Terry Breen and Barbara Udell round out the staff we know. There are so many waiters, waitresses and stewards and stewardess who have been with Regent for years. The last time we saw LaLa was on the pier in Manila in March waving goodbye to us. It seems that they all remember our names and particular likes and dislikes. We also are pleased to see a number of past cruisemates like Aussie Ann. We play paddle tennis with Ann and have visited her several times at her designer home in Perth.
We did some remodeling on our stateroom by adding a dresser and subtracting some chairs and filling the walls with maps and itineraries. It took several days to get settled in. We set up an office in the desk area complete with computer, printer and files. Fortunately the cabins are quite large with the added benefit of a spacious balcony. We are on Deck 7 midships on the starboard side. This ship is in top notch condition having recently gone through a $20 million dry dock.
We left Vancouver in the drizzle and that weather would hold for much of the Alaskan portion of the cruise. But that was okay since we have been to these ports many times and we had some business to take care of. In Ketchikan we went to the Wal-Mart because we thought we had lost our camera and thus we needed to buy a new one. After that we did get a chance to walk the rustic boardwalk on Creek Street. The street parallels a creek which was packed to the gills-so to speak-with salmon on their spawning mission. We were told that there were over half a million salmon in that one creek. I have never seen so many fish in my life. It was ironic because we had just read that in Canada, due to a shortage of salmon, the bears are starving. Those bears ought to go up to the inside passage before they hibernate for the winter and fill their bellies.
In Juneau, instead of visiting the Mendenhall Glacier we made another trip to Wal-Mart to return the just purchased camera since we had found ours. It was raining really hard and we heard from passengers who went to the glacier that they couldn’t see a thing. In taking the city bus we encountered some really tough kids—two were talking about just getting out of prison and how nice it was to be #&@*?$% free again. Then several kids got on and were talking about how they had just gotten into a fist fight with their father. It’s a rough world out there.
We finally got some clear, dry weather in Sitka which was very fortunate for us as we were going on an afternoon boat tour in search of sea life. We struck it rich as we were able to get up fairly close to some otters and to a humpback whale and a rare gray whale. It was amazing to see the barnacle encrusted whale spouting and fluking quite near our boat. We also saw many bald eagles although I don’t know how they got that name as they are not in the least bit bald -- maybe all of them have toupees. But they certainly are impressive predators with their six foot wing span and large talons.
Our good luck with the weather held for our morning cruise of Hubbard Glacier. Captain Patruno announced that it was the absolute best day he had experienced during the whole summer of cruising in Alaska. Watching and hearing the ice breaking off and falling into the sea is really something. It is called glacial calving but to us it sounds more like thunder. The Captain did a couple of 360 degree spins so that everyone could enjoy the sights and sounds of this 76 mile long ice flow which ends in Disenchantment Bay. That name should be changed to Enchantment Bay as it truly was on our visit.
We ended the first segment of the Gap Cruise in Seward with about 90% of the passengers disembarking. We spent the day tracking down information on William Seward. He was the person who engineered the biggest land deal in US history in the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. At the time the transaction was referred to as “Seward’s Folly” and “Seward’s Icebox.” It has turned out to be the best investment our country ever made. And come to find out, this real estate genius is the great uncle of my former roommate Jeannie. As a matter of fact her father was named after Mr Seward. We went to the local library and read up on Seward. He was the Secretary of State under Lincoln and there was an attempt on his life on the same day that Lincoln was assassinated. It was a good way to spend a rainy day.
We had a brief stop in Dutch Harbor which was our last port in the US. This small village has gained much fame as it is featured in the television program “The Deadliest Catch” and is the #1 fishing port in the United States. Besides fishing boats there is not much in the village from a touristic point of view other than a the Russian Orthodox Church and a fantastically stocked Safeway grocery. The church has been named a National Historic Landmark. We were intrigued by the two bald eagles who chose to perch on the church’s spires giving us a great photo op.
We learned a lot about the indigenous people and how devastated they were by WWII. Almost the entire native population was interred by either the Japanese or the Americans for the duration of the war. The Japanese took their captives to Otaru, Japan and the Americans relocated the Aleuts to Southeast Alaska. Dutch Harbor/Unalaska was heavily bombed by the Japanese and there was a huge battle for this cold and unforgiving land resulting in heavy casualties. Now the most dangerous threat to life is the fishing industry. This line of work has the highest mortality rate of any occupation due to the harsh sea conditions in this area which is known as the “Cradle of Storms.”
We bid farewell to this last outpost of America and headed across the Bering Sea to Russia. That night the Captain’s welcome aboard party was held to greet all of the newly boarded passengers. We had dinner with Captain Patruno after the party. He is an engaging Italian from the Bari region. Much to the consternation of his parents he left the family olive groves and vineyards to begin a life at sea. He started as a deck hand on a cargo ship and has worked his way up through the ranks to become the master on one of the nicest ships afloat. We are pleased to be sailing with such an accomplished seaman.
After an unusually smooth crossing of the tempestuous Bering Sea, we arrived in Petropavlovsk, Russia. This easternmost point of Russia is located on the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. This former secret submarine base is one of the most interesting places, geologically speaking. There are 160 volcanoes on the peninsula and 29 of them are still active. To pull into port after four days at sea and be surrounded by snow capped steaming mountains is quite a sight. It was a crystal clear day and quite warm by Siberian standards. We took a tour into the countryside to visit the K-9 Kennel where Husky sled dogs are raised and trained. After a hike in the forest where we had spectacular views of the smoking Kronotsky Volcano we had a picnic lunch of fresh picked mushrooms and freshly caught salmon. Our guide could not get over the good weather and kept reminding us about how fortunate we were to be able to experience such a perfect autumn day. She was right—it truly was a memorable day in this exotic corner of the world. Dasvidanya Russia!

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