Passage to Relaxation in Northwest : Spirit of Alaska touches nature in places where oceangoing vessels are too large to tread.

“What a wee vessel. No wonder I couldn’t find you over there where the big cruise ships come in!”

My Canadian friend had finally located the 143-foot-long Spirit of Alaska, tied up among the private yachts in Victoria’s Inner Harbor. It looked more like a party boat than a cruise ship. But with 82, mostly retirement-age passengers on board, it was more “wee” than “whee!”

I ended up here by boarding in Seattle on Sunday evening, awakening in Vancouver Monday and sailing three days. This visit was part of a five-day cruise that took us in a loop from Seattle, north through the Inland Passage between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia, as far as Princess Louisa Inlet (roughly 100 miles north of the city of Vancouver), back down to Victoria in time for Wednesday afternoon tea, then through the San Juan Islands before returning to Seattle Friday morning.

It had been an hour since our spick-and-span little vessel had sailed into the busy harbor in the center of Victoria to dock almost in the shadow of the Parliament Building. Other passengers had disembarked and were off to Butchart Gardens to view the roses, savor high tea in the lobby of the grand old Empress Hotel or browse the exhibits at the Royal British Columbia Museum. And I was impatient to get on with renewing my acquaintance with this most British city in Canada.

The Empress had gotten a face lift and a convention center since my last visit, and I didn’t remember all those upscale condominiums overlooking the harbor. It was all part of the preparation for the 1994 Commonwealth Games, my friend, who lives in Victoria, explained. Athletes would be coming from all over the world for the British intramural version of the Olympics.

As I walked with my friend along the cobblestone streets last October, I admired the baskets of vivid flowers adorning every street light and brick sidewalk in Victoria’s historical section. We strolled up Parliament Street to look for bargains in British tweeds and sweaters, stocked up on royal teas at Murchie’s Tea & Coffee Ltd. and sampled toffee at the English Sweet Shop. Low-key activity for a big-city dweller, perhaps, but high excitement compared with the itinerary of the cruise I had been on for the past few days.

Once on board, the passengers on the Spirit of Alaska had gotten their kicks from Mother Nature.

The yacht takes two days to make the one-way trip from Seattle up the craggy coast to spectacular Princess Louisa Inlet--the same territory the giant Alaska-bound cruise ships cover overnight. It’s never in too much hurry to explore a beckoning inlet, check out whale spottings or circle a tiny island for another glimpse of a perched bald eagle.

What the Spirit of Alaska does best is to tiptoe through narrow passageways along the Canadian coast, permitting its passengers to window-shop natural wonders as if they were in a canoe.

Scenic highlight of the itinerary is the idyllic Princess Louisa Inlet, which has an entrance so narrow (60 feet wide) that even the tiny Spirit of Alaska seemed to inhale to squeeze between the rocky crags at slack tide. Once in the inlet, the vessel had to stay until the next slack tide allowed it to make its way back out. That can be up to six hours in a place that looks like paradise, if weather conditions are right. If conditions are less than perfect--well, frankly, six hours can seem closer to 24 as dark clouds blur the mirror image of the glaciers in the glass-smooth lake. After a couple hours of cruising along a shoreline of mountains covered with evergreens, I felt in need of a nap. My version of paradise comes equipped with sunshine, not an October drizzle.

Suddenly, as if ordered up by the British Columbia Department of Tourism, a seal appeared off the port bow to restore my humor. He swam by the yacht as if jet-propelled, then spun about--just eyes and nose above the water surface--to give us the once-over. He waited just long enough for his audience to reach for cameras, then disappeared, leaving a wave of laughter in his wake. We saw at least 100 seals that week, but that peek-a-boo clown is the one I remember.

After crisscrossing the four-mile-long inlet for ample opportunity to appreciate the scenery, the yacht made a bow landing at midmorning. Passengers could take the short hike to view Chatterbox Falls, gather wildflowers, search the shoreline for clams and mussels or dive from the deck into what turned out to be icy-cold water.

Much of the Spirit of Alaska’s charm is her maneuverability. She can snuggle up to a rocky shoreline and stick her nose into tree branches so the cruise director who doubles as botany lecturer can pluck a leaf to illustrate a point. Or she can turn on a dime at the sighting of an Orca whale. Pods of Orcas--as many as 25 at a time--are common in this area. The Spirit of Alaska checks them out at every opportunity.

Life aboard the yacht is strictly casual. Dress is parka, sweaters and jeans. Cabins are small and water for showers is at a premium. Food, served family-style at tables for 10, is hearty if not gourmet (daily choice of meat or fresh seafood at dinner; soup and sandwiches at lunch; fresh baked bread, pastries and calorie overload at breakfast; coffee, tea, hot chocolate and fruit, any time).

Nightly entertainment is restricted to a player piano in the cocktail lounge, and even it is quieted by 11. Most passengers are asleep long before midnight. My advice: Take a good book. Take two. Thick ones. Still, that laid-back atmosphere promotes conversation and friendships develop quickly on deck when one person helps another spot a bald eagle perching in a treetop, points out an approaching seal or identifies a water fowl. Avid photographers discuss the pros and cons of various lenses and film speeds. Grandparents compare snapshots of progeny.

Since the five-day cruises along Canada’s northwest coast occur only in spring and fall, before and after the conventional Alaskan cruise season, the passenger list tends to be well-traveled retirement-agers. Others use this brief cruise as a sampler to see if they might be interested in investing in a longer, more expensive cruise to Alaska. Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West, owners of the Spirit of Alaska and its sister ship, the Spirit of Discovery, is the only line that offers cruises to Alaska from Seattle.

On the morning of our last full day at sea, we sailed into Friday Harbor, a small fishing village in the San Juan Islands. Some passengers piled aboard a bus for a tour of the harbor, in the islands once claimed by both British and American troops and now part of the state of Washington. Others, like me, were content to wander the hilly streets, visit shops offering quality crafts and explore the barn-like whale museum that includes everything from a phone booth where you can listen to the melodious sound of whales to an exhibit on the sex life of an Orca.

The last trip ashore came that evening at La Conner, Wash., an art colony on the Skagit River, across the water from the Skagit Indian reservation. It was last chance for shoppers to purchase gifts for the folks at home before heading back to the ship for a farewell dinner.

Next morning early, we were back in Seattle, disembarking by noon for an early flight home. I’d had my fill of pine trees and nature talks but, gee wiz, I was going to miss that seal.

GUIDEBOOK

Cruising in the

Pacific Northwest

The Spirit of Alaska is owned by Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West, based in Seattle. Remaining 1992 Pacific Northwest five-day cruises depart from Seattle April 12, 19 and 26, plus Sept. 20 and 27, Oct. 4, 11, 18 and 25. Fares for Sunday night through Friday morning cruises start at $699 per person, double occupancy, meals included.

Eight-day summer cruises, round trip between Seattle and Juneau, on the Spirit of Alaska and the Spirit of Discovery start at $1,495-$1,695 per person, double occupancy, meals included.

For more information: Contact Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West, Suite 700, 4th & Battery Building, Seattle, Wash. 98121, (800) 426-7702.