Alaska Ferry question

[gghayes]

We are trying to plan a trip to Alaska and would like to go from Washington to Juneau on the ferry with a B class interstate. My question is how do you keep the house battery from depleting? I called to see if you can run your generator once a day and no one seems to know the answer. Anyway, if anyone has done this trip and can give me some advice, I would appreciate it.
Gloria Hayes

[BayouBiker]

Sometimes it's best not to ask for permission... i grew up in Seattle and and the ferries plenty of airflow....

[jcl]

There is no access to the vehicle deck once you leave the dock, apart from pet calls for a few minutes. There are no electrical hookups available.

I would shut everything down.

[Julie-Bob]

Originally Posted by gghayes

We are trying to plan a trip to Alaska and would like to go from Washington to Juneau on the ferry with a B class interstate. My question is how do you keep the house battery from depleting? I called to see if you can run your generator once a day and no one seems to know the answer. Anyway, if anyone has done this trip and can give me some advice, I would appreciate it.

Gloria Hayes

Stock refrigerator with dry ice. Like stated no electric power, no access to trailer once under way. to save battery’s remove the grounding wire.

[Flathead1984]

My information is a few years old, but I lived in Juneau for 5 years and took the ferry to and from Seattle or Prince Rupert. As someone else said, you are not allowed on the storage deck once the ship leaves the dock. I would shut everything down. You can buy food and dang near anything in Juneau. They even have a Costco. Little more expensive.
Check into leaving from Prince Rupert. That is great road trip to there from US, and ferry trip is shorter. I always called the ferry the "poor man's cruise line." Rent a state room. Bare bones bunk beds and steel walls, but a lot of nice viewing decks on board. Food was acceptable. In the old days, it was great local seafood at low prices. Forward lounge is nice place to read and watch the scenery.

[Wayne&Sam]

I forget if they checked to make sure your propane is shut off, some ferries I've been on do.

We had our fridge and freezer full and everything stayed solid and cold with it shut down. I wouldn't worry about it.

[OTRA15]

Propane tanks must be shut off, as I read it:

https://dot.alaska.gov/amhs/policies.shtml
[under HAZMAT heading]

https://dot.alaska.gov/amhs/doc/hazmat_public.pdf
[under Propane heading]

Peter

[tbaugh]

Our preference for the ferry is to leave from Prince Rupert and get off the ferry at each stop. Spend around a week at each stop before reboarding the ferry. This way you do not have to worry about having things shutdown because each sailing is just a few hours. You also get to enjoy South East Alaska on a relaxed basis.

When we did this last by booking the trip as a single trip It cost the same as the thru trip with no on/offs.

We found it a great experience to have the the time to get to know each communitee.

[jcl]

The Prince Rupert to Alaska ferry options are contingent on the Canada US border being reopened to non essential travel. Right now, there is no tourist access to BC for those in the US south of us, and similarly no access to Alaska from BC.

[gghayes]

Thank you all for your input. I turned the main switch off as suggested for 3 days and our battery did not go down very much, so that was the answer I needed. I will get dry ice and I think we will be ok.