Brian K wrote:
> My dad is in his 90's and is going on the September 6, sailing of the
> Seven Seas Mariner. It departs from Whittier, AK and sails with stops
> in the Inside Passage to Vancouver, BC. I will be helping him pack. I
> know about the dress for the cruise, country club casual and informal.
> But what is appropriate for September in Alaska? What make sense on
> deck when viewing glaciers and for ports-of-call?
Layers appropriate for cold, wet weather.
As you can see at:
...the typical temperatures will be around 55F for the average high,
low 40's for the average low, with a cold snap to freezing possible.
Probably more importantly, September averages 20 days/month with rain,
and a relatively high relative humidity (77%), so take Gor-Tex rain
gear (layerable with your Polartec) and expect the "cold and clammies".
Note that the above URL is for Juneau. It doesn't list Whittier,
probably for good reason: Whittier only exists as a port because when
in WW-II the Army was looking for a year-round port that saved
transport time to Anchorage, they wanted one that offered protection
from air attack (think Pearl Harbor). As such, a clear windless day is
fairly rare here: expect it either to be rain (low cloud cover), or
clear but windy: the Whittier Portage Pass hiking trail is notorious
for high winds.
For example, here's a local weather report from earlier this year:
Which reports: "THROUGH PORTAGE VALLEY AND TURNAGAIN ARM...EAST
WIND 55 MPH INCREASING TO 85 MPH THIS AFTERNOON. NEAR WHITTIER...EAST
WIND 30 MPH INCREASING TO 55 MPH BY AFTERNOON."
Plus it looks like tonight's weather forecast for the Turnagain Arm
area is: "East wind 35 to 50 mph". IIRC, the local ground windspeed
record is 100mph straight winds in the pass between Whittier and
Portage Valley, which gives you an idea why they drilled that tunnel.
FWIW, a URL to read on your departure port:
-hh
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