From Captain Nicole and crew, “One of the highlights I experienced with the crew this summer was when we cooperatively wrote a poem onboard. It was a dreary day and as I walked down the dock, I made up a little rhyme in my head about the weather. Once I got aboard, I wrote down the first line and told the crew that we should each write a little bit throughout the day. By the end of the day we had all contributed to create a masterpiece. Well, maybe not a masterpiece of poetry but an outstanding attempt anyhow – and when I read it aloud to the passengers who had experienced the day with us, they broke out into applause.”
Today was even grayer, grayer than the rest.
We are not poets but we will try our best.
To live in Alaska you have to be an optimist.
Today was gray.
Now the sun has broken through.
We were stunned into silence by sunshine, this is true.
From the shiny sea, a fin of black emerges.
The whales and the glaciers soothe our wild urges.
As we cruise along the rugged coastline, our soulful spirits surge.
Oh what a sight ye black and white,
So beautiful and violent.
Be warned all you blub’ry sea mammals,
These hunters will find you,
So smart and so silent
Toward siren song we speed along,
O’er swell and chop and spray.
Through rolly Gulf, around the Cape,
Waypoint: Ailaik Bay