So far, this has been a telling of the first 24 hours into our trip.
Chapter 3:
"The Teacher, the fire, and the Ferry"
Up and at it in time to enjoy a late brunch, early lunch, and take in a bit of the town. Whilst eating our meal, suddenly all the first responder sirens in this tiny village go off in a race to whatever emergency has occured. Having grown up in a small country community I looked at Trish and said "That sucks, in a small town like then when you hear all those sirens going off it usually means someone you know is having a very bad day."
Being the magnanimous natured person she is, she agreed.
Our dastardly plan was to arrive absurdly early, get in our line, and be one of the first vehicles on.
We pull into the massive parking lot, find our lane and pull into it. I then went inside to make sure it was ok if we were here so early. It was 1:00 pm in the afternoon, our ship wasnt due to sail until 8:00 pm.
As I am walking back to my rig, there is a tiny woman standing in the midst of this massive open and mostly empty parking lot, looking at my trucks. As I near her, she notices me and I smile.
"You have a tow truck." she says rather matter-of-factly.
"Yes ma'am, I do" says I, all smiles and thinking she likes old trucks and I am about enter a conversation that will reveal the special place in her past one of these old trucks lived........ahhhhhhh but no.
"But I didnt call you, did I?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"No..." I said slowly.
"They told me there was only one tow truck operator in this town, but yet, here you are."
AHHHHHHHH, she thinks I am in business. So I explain to her that I am not a for hire, that I own the rig and am using it to haul my rebuilt stepside. So then I ask what her need for a tow is.
Every year this retired school teacher, spends half her time in Alaska and the other half in Washington. She has ridden the ferry at least twice a year, sometimes more, since she retired some 12-15 years ago. She drives up a VW Westfalia Van to catch and can salmon which she takes home and gets her through the winters down south in Washington. This particular year, on this particular day, she pulled into the ferry terminal parking lot to discover she was a rolling ball of flame.
The engine compartment was gutted from the fire.
Hence the sirens at lunch.
She was stranded, not much money, no friends close by, and her poor elderly dog Samson with her to boot.
She had called the only tow truck in Haines, like we had, and he quoted her $600 to...... get this...... hook her up and put her on the boat.
Yep.
She would still have to find a tow to get off the boat in Washington.
So I reiterate to her, that I am not an operator.
I had only towed one vehicle prior with this rig in the traditional, mechanical manner of which the vehicle was configured to.
However, if it would help, and if it was Ok with the Ferry Crew, I volunteered to unhook my trailer, reconfigure the tow boom, hook her up and get her on the boat.
A quick chat with the Asst Purser, and the Bosuns Mate, to make sure it was all hunky dorey with them and that is what we did.
During the wait we chatted with our new found friend, and repeatedly had to turn down her offers of compensation, which at one point included 2 cases of her canned salmon...
Later on we found out that a jar of fresh canned salmon can go for $15.
Good thing I wore work clothes...
The ferry crew were amazingly accomodating in helping us get the broke down Wesfalia on the ship. I think her van was the first vehicle loaded. Then I hooked my trailer back up and we waited our turn to be loaded. It was a great experience, and the ship was so cool. It reminded me of railheading in Germany, the teamwork of loading and securing of the vehicles. The compact cars were put on an elevator and sent up a deck to a smaller cargo hold for the ride.
We pulled our parade into the ship amongst the leviathan RVs and Busses into this beauty:
