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- Ripple Rock meets its doom
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- John Ryan
Most passengers on the 3-day ferry run from Washington state to Alaska sleep through one of the most treacherous parts of the Inside Passage.
It's an area that was even more dangerous before the Canadian government set off one of the world?s largest non-nuclear explosions there.
John Ryan of member station K-T-O-O in Juneau, Alaska, had the ship's purser wake him up at 3 a.m. so he could join the crew of the Alaska state ferry, the Matanuska, [MAT-a-NOOSE-kah], as they navigated British Columbia's Seymour Narrows.
This sound-rich story travels back in time and incorporates the terrifically earnest narration and music of a 1958 documentary and a CBC live broadcast on the day of the big explosion.
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Piece Description
Most passengers on the 3-day ferry run from Washington state to Alaska sleep through one of the most treacherous parts of the Inside Passage. It's an area that was even more dangerous before the Canadian government set off one of the world?s largest non-nuclear explosions there. John Ryan of member station K-T-O-O in Juneau, Alaska, had the ship's purser wake him up at 3 a.m. so he could join the crew of the Alaska state ferry, the Matanuska, [MAT-a-NOOSE-kah], as they navigated British Columbia's Seymour Narrows. This sound-rich story travels back in time and incorporates the terrifically earnest narration and music of a 1958 documentary and a CBC live broadcast on the day of the big explosion.
Broadcast History
"AK," Alaska Public Radio Network, 03/10/07,
KTOO-FM, Juneau, AK, 03/13/07
Transcript
AMB: Midship! (Midship.) Steer course 285.
Captain Larry Walter guides the Matanuska on a calm winter night. He?s taking the Alaska state ferry into a two-mile stretch of the nastiest water on the Inside Passage.
Seymour Narrows has some of the world?s fastest ocean currents. Like a thumb on the end of a garden hose, it squeezes the tides streaming between Vancouver Island and the North American mainland.
WALTER: Currents are tremendous in there, they can be up as much as 14 knots, and we?re restricted when we can go through there by the velocity of the current.
For comparison, a 3-knot current is enough to stop a sea kayaker. 14 knots? That?s about fast enough to stop a huge car ferry dead in its tracks. The Matanuska?s top speed is only 16 knots. But if the current reaches just 8 knots, the captain will wait for the tide to change, rather than fight it.
WALTER: Seymo...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
Most passengers on the 3-day ferry run from Washington state to Alaska sleep through one of the most treacherous parts of the Inside Passage.
It?s an area that was even more dangerous before the Canadian government set off one of the world?s largest non-nuclear explosions there.
John Ryan of member station K-T-O-O in Juneau, Alaska, had the ship?s purser wake him up at 3 a.m. so he could join the crew of the Alaska state ferry, the Matanuska, [MAT-a-NOOSE-kah], as they navigated British Columbia's Seymour Narrows.
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John Voci
Posted on April 24, 2007 at 11:19 AM | Permalink
Review of Ripple Rock meets its doom
This is an interesting feature on British Columbia?s Seymour Narrows, one of the most treacherous stretches of water in the world because of the currents created by Ripple Rock. This feature includes some audio from a classic 1958 documentary on the blasting of Ripple Rock. This is a well-produced historical feature.