I'm planning to take the ferry from Belanham, WA to Haines,
AK this Sept. Will camp on deck. Anyone have any
first-hand experience with this that can share some tips?
Than
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If by camp, you mean sleep inside in the public areas, it
can be done. I'd book pretty soon, though.
But after talking with the Alaskan Marine Highway people (I
was going to do that last summer but went to Cuba instead--
go figure!), it is no problem camping on deck and you just
walk on. The only drawback is that you have to break
"camp" each morning so you can't really leave all your shit
out for the duration. They also have some pretty cheap
bunks which you might check into. That way you can split
the cost with someone else (I think it would be $30 or $35
each night) and keep all your stuff in there for the length
of the trip. The people at the Alaska Marine Highway are
really quite helpful. If you're in the States, just give
them a call, they will be more than willing to help you.
I was thinking of doing this too in July. The Lonely Planet
guide to Alaska actually has some useful advice about the
whole thing.
What's the best way to get back? Just another one-way
ticket on the ship or is it easier and less expensive to buy
a bus ticket. Only Alaska Airlines flies out of Juneau, I
understand?
I got the idea from reading that some crafts are better than
others in terms of the sleeping areas being close to noise
and fumes.
I'll watch this post for more comments.
I am booked to leave Bellingham 6 Aug.[aar 9] As I have to
get Seattle fairly quickly I have decided to stay on the
ferry and return to Juneau.Then fly Alaskan.[11th] This is
the fastest way out that I could find. It is also the
cheapest other than hitch hiking. There is a bus from
Skagway to whitehorse and then Canadian Greyhound is 2 days
to Vancouver and more expensive than the flt ex Juneau.
I don't know the details of sleeping on deck but that is
what I'm doing too.
Have a great trip
Dave
I did the same thing about 7 years ago. I caught the ferry
from Bellingham and camped out on deck . I was lucky to get
a deck chair. You have to be quick. One guy pitched his
tent on the deck. Make sure your sleeping bag is handy as
it was absolutely freezing and blowing a gale, particularly
between Vancouver Island and the beginning of the Inside
Passage.It's all open water. I got off at all the ports,for
no extra charge,and just caught the next ferry when I was
ready in a couple of days. I went all the way to
Skagway,one of the most beautiful places to hike, and ended
up hitchhiking my way around Alaska for 6 weeks.Finally got
back to Anchorage and found a really cheap one way flight
to Seattle in the newspaper. I think the airline was called
Mark 100 (maybe it doesn't exist anymore) for about $100,
but no frills, Pizza Hut pizza in abox plus a mars bar type
service. It got me there though no problem.
Hope this helps. Have a wonderful trip, it certainly was
for me!
Two things if you are going to sleep "on deck". You better
not be a light sleeper! It can get noisy with snoring and
all. You may want to bring your own food aboard. Although
the caf food is not so bad. Book early to avoid
disapointment. It may get chilly that time of year bring
warm clothing!
Have fun!
I had a great experience camping on the deck from Haines to
Bellingham in July '96. Here's some tips:
There is a relatively sheltered deck with strong heat lamps
(called the Solarium), this is where we set up our tent.
Understandably, this is where everyone wants to be, and it
will get packed edge-to-edge with tents soon. Get in that
ferry line early and head straight for the Solarium deck
when you board, and put down your tent -- the best spots go
quick! It would have been a much colder trip if we would
have had to camp on the lower, unheated deck, definitely
bring warm clothes just in case! Also bring some pieces of
rope to tie your tent to the railings/deck chairs -- tent
stakes don't go down well in concrete. :-)
What JP says is true, it gets noisy with all those people
camping so close together. Bring some earplugs if you
want. If you can't handle the noise, look into getting one
of the bunk rooms -- I can't remember how much they cost,
but I remember thinking they were way too overpriced at the
time. But we had a great time meeting people and hanging
out on the deck -- just be prepared to socialize and have a
good attitude, accept that some people get up early, some
people party until late, and you'll have an excellent time!
I read Wayfarers post, and unlike what he/she heard, we
never had to break down our tent each day, everyone was
able to leave up their tent the duration of the trip. Call
and see if this is a new rule... Have fun!!! Brett.