Alaska State Ferry question

These guys are pro's. Yours' would not be the first 5 er they loaded. Used to live in B'ham., the southern terminus and marveled how well these guys load and unload vehicles. Oh and my DW worked for BPD and they also unloaded people in handcuffs.

39 ft DP loaded from the side in Haynes for 1 hour trip to Skagway saved 359 road miles

We've been on the Alaska ferries a number of times. Prince Rupert loads from the back. Ketchikan, Wrangel, Petersburg, Juneau, Skagway, Haines, Valdez and Whittier all load from the side. I think Homer does too but wouldn't bet the farm on that one. Except in rare instances you will not be asked to back your rig on. This is only when they are full or for the very last 1 or 2 rigs loaded and the crew will ask you how your skills are before getting you to do it. They pick the guys who say they have no problems backing. I had a 38' bounder and the crew asked me if I thought I could turn it around inside the ferry to help with a later offload. Piece of cake with their help, but be prepared to swing in your mirrors in if asked, and to deal with clearances of 6" or less when they move you around and things get tight. Again, they are GOOD and we had no problems. SLOW is the word of the day. Go very slow and don't panic. Just watch their directions and and spotters.

Traveling by ferries is a ball. We found the food was good, relatively inexpensive, and the accommodations comfortable. You will have to have your propane turned off and they will seal it with a piece of tattletale tape to be sure you don't turn it on, but our gas/electric fridge stayed cold for hours and the freezer was also fine. Some people have had issues with overhanging rears or hitches dragging when loading at extreme low or high tides, but if ferry personnel can and will adjust the ramps for you, and they have shoring available so there is no problem. Skagway at low tide going from the unloading dock to the main dock might be a problem, but go slow and they will shore the angle up if necessary.

We had 2 fantastic weeks with 5 layovers between Prince Rupert and Haines starting May 17 last year. Although we had only 22 feet of truck camper, a crew member would still tell me which way to turn the steering wheel when backing up. I never saw any of the big rigs have to go forward and give backing up another try. Don't worry about backing up! It's a piece of cake with the crew's help!!

Another hint I'll always give: Spend enough time in Sitka if you go there. We had 4 nights. It was our favorite town in our total of 8 weeks in AK and Canada.

Moved to RVing in Alaska

Loading depends on access to the ramp. Sometimes from the side, sometimes from the end. Also depends on where you are getting off. We got on and off 5x with our Class C. They put Busses, trailers, trucks, bikes you name it.

Call the 800 number and they will help you out. We made all our reservations over the phone since we had trouble understanding the web site info. (no info on arrival times and we wanted to lay over at each stop). We were on 4 different ships for our trip.

Also consider the cost, you pay by the foot, length, height and width.
For a fiver, that may not include while connected to the truck. You will not have access to the truck or trailer except in port, and they will secure your propane in the off position while on board.

We were able to boondock the night before in the ferry boarding area a couple of times. Departure times depend on the tides and we usually had to be there 2 hours before and most were between 3 and 6 in the morning.

Great trip, good reasonably priced food. Crews were topnotch loading and unloading us. You drive your own vehicle on and off with them guiding you from the lot till it is parked.

The State ferry I was on, you load from the side near the bow. It's not a problem, they're loading tractor trailers on there with 45' vans, maybe even 48' vans. The crew is very experienced, just do what they tell you. Ours was a 40' DP.

Bill