Dear readers, it’s been a while and my apologies for my lack of posts. You are, no doubt, wondering where on earth I’ve been.  The answer is ‘busy’; I wondered if you would be at all interested in my antics these past few weeks of leave, my reasoning being that you probably wouldn’t be and best kept to myself.

It has been disjointed’; England and my wonderful daughters, their husbands and of course, Olly, Emily and Violet. Both the girls are talking now, (of sorts 😉 ); Olly starts school in September, having gained entry into a prestigious school nearby, another chapter in his young life starting.

Sam is in full swing with her “House of English’ language school, both she and Ant are fluent in languages and Sam has a house full of young students from late in the Spring through to the Autumn, many of them returning for the 2^nd or 3^rd time.  Liz has gone back to work, she missed it terribly and Violet loves her nursery school, so it has worked out nicely.

Karen and I?  Well, lots of tidying up around the house, landscaping the garden, planning a new kitchen. Like ‘topsy’ this is growing out of proportion, originally it was just new cabinets, then new appliances and when I left, it was new tiles as well.  Any man reading this knows about this exponential wish-list, I’m sure.  I also attended our Senior Management Conference in Coral Gables this year and then flew to Seattle to relieve the Captain of the Amsterdam while he attended the 2^nd SMC; this is why my time off seemed ‘disjointed’

I write from a dull, wet, North Pacific, making our way back towards Victoria, British Columbia before arriving in Seattle for tomorrow morning.

We are on a 7-day itinerary, Seattle on Sunday, Tracy Arm on Tuesday, Juneau Wednesday, Sitka Thursday, Ketchikan Friday and then Victoria Saturday evening before Seattle again.

This will be around my 16^th season in Alaska, (the others being spent in the Mediterranean or Baltic).  I know Alaska like the back of my hand by now; its beauty and its challenges for me as a Captain; the strange working hours, (one becomes almost nocturnal, going from A to B so that guests can enjoy another port when they wake up).

My first week and it never changes, the vista of the scenery, the wildlife, (Chatham Straits and Frederic Sound have, again, super-pods of humpback whales, one can’t be anything but amazed at these beautiful creatures).  The fog of course; in the summer there seems to be preponderance of it and, as a result, additional hours spent on the Bridge.

This post is by way of an “I’m back” and will endeavor to write of our experiences during the forthcoming weeks.  The camera has a permanent place of the Bridge, ever ready for the unusual or the beautiful.