Seeing the Aleutians by Ferry - the MV Tustumena, July 2019

Описание: Jon, Joy, and Paul Sharpe took the MV Tustumena from Homer to Dutch Harbor and back in early July 2019. This was a "bucket list" item for all of them for decades. Admittedly, the weather was phenomenal, so what you see in this video may not represent accurately the conditions someone might encounter if they book a trip in the future. At one point the Captain/Pilot on the ferry got on the mic to tell us that in 15 years he "could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Frosty Peak that clearly." That was the story for much of the voyage. They told us before we went that the rain is usually horizontal, to bring lots of dramamine, and that the Tustumena is famous for rolling with the waves. We ended the trip with all of our dramamine unopened (four packages of it). The Tustumena does roll quite a bit, even in a moderate swell (got to 10 feet or so) on a beautiful day, but it didn't bother us - we were too focused on looking at the scenery. We slept on the deck on the way out to Dutch Harbor, but on the return we booked a four bunk stateroom. The round trip fare for an adult was $812, and for a senior it was $615 (approximately...can't remember exactly). The stateroom, one-way was $502. The Tustumena is scheduled to be replaced, perhaps next year. And, of course, the whole state ferry system could be drastically reduced by Governor Dunleavy who is dealing with a very difficult budget situation. Both of those circumstances made us decide to take this trip now, rather than wait. It may not exist much longer.