British Columbia's Inside Passage
During the night we entered Canadian waters as we headed south in the Inside Passage toward our final destination in Seattle. As it is necessary to clear customs in Canada we cruised into Aaltanhash Bay and awaited the arrival of the Canadian officials. Soon a floatplane arrived with the officials on board and we lowered a Zodiac to bring them over to the ship.
Floatplanes are the taxis of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia and are used for transporting people and equipment all over the area. All they require is a sufficiently large body of water on which to land and take off. During our trip we have used them for flightseeing over glaciers. We have seen them flying virtually every day and can only imagine the destinations to which they were headed. Many people living in this part of the world have them parked in shelters in front of their houses and are used in much the way we would use our car or recreational vehicle.
After checking our papers the officials returned to the floatplane and departed to the town from which they came. We continued our journey south through the winding channels and narrow waterways of British Columbia. Rain and winds followed us most of the day and we had a couple of bumpy rides around some of the exposed openings to the Pacific between sheltered islands.
During the night we entered Canadian waters as we headed south in the Inside Passage toward our final destination in Seattle. As it is necessary to clear customs in Canada we cruised into Aaltanhash Bay and awaited the arrival of the Canadian officials. Soon a floatplane arrived with the officials on board and we lowered a Zodiac to bring them over to the ship.
Floatplanes are the taxis of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia and are used for transporting people and equipment all over the area. All they require is a sufficiently large body of water on which to land and take off. During our trip we have used them for flightseeing over glaciers. We have seen them flying virtually every day and can only imagine the destinations to which they were headed. Many people living in this part of the world have them parked in shelters in front of their houses and are used in much the way we would use our car or recreational vehicle.
After checking our papers the officials returned to the floatplane and departed to the town from which they came. We continued our journey south through the winding channels and narrow waterways of British Columbia. Rain and winds followed us most of the day and we had a couple of bumpy rides around some of the exposed openings to the Pacific between sheltered islands.
