Karyn's Day: On the Ferry.

We can now actually claim that we have used the ferry system to travel the Inside Passage! Today was our first of 3 ferry journeys.

We shared our breakfast time with the 8 other people in the B and B. Their tales of hunting, trapping and fishing and their affinity with the seasons had us enthralled. One fellow and his wife had been fishing for two days. They were taking home 75 kg of filleted fish...salmon and halibut. He had photos of his catch and all of the fish were over 80 cm long. Some MUCH longer. No wonder it is part of people's livelihood up here. Other folk were in town for the Graduation of children from the most respected High School for boarders. About 80 children were graduating and there was a buzz in the town around the event. The majority of the students are from native communities. Most will continue on with their lives..college, trades, jobs. Not many will return to their villages.

We said goodbye to the wonderful Ann, took the shuttle bus that came to our door and delivered us to the ferry port. We were sharing the ferry lounge with two teenage school groups. One had been on the ferry since 9pm the night before. There were swags and sleeping bags strewn around and some bleary- eyed students. They were travelling to a remote community to perform a concert. Heavy black instrument bags were also around about. The other was sailing from Sitka to Juneau like us. They are the "Track Squad" travelling to a combined school event. Others are local people travelling from community to community. It has been a peaceful trip. There is a cafeteria and dining room.The sea is calm and of course the mountains and islands are never far from us. It has been so interesting to see the smaller towns that we have dropped in to. Sooooo isolated.