Scene on the Sound: Cruise ships race through Puget Sound

Drag racing in Puget Sound

Story and photo by Jan Hansen

During the tourist season, Friday and Saturday evenings are a time for a parade of cruise ships, as they take their eager passengers north to Alaska.

Tonight looked different. Instead of a parade, I watched a race. 

Celebrity’s Millennium was headed out as usual, but the Ovation of the Seas from the Seven Seas Cruise Line seemed determined to pass her. 

Passing in the incoming lane, Ovation of the Seas gains on The Millenium

West of Shoreline, Puget Sound becomes narrow, and there is a mid-channel buoy to divide the shipping lanes. Ovation of the Seas went into the incoming lane and passed our shores at the speed of 21.3 knots. 

The Millennium has an average recorded speed of 18 knots with a listed maximum of 19.7 knots; she passed here at 19.1 knots. ( The term “knot” comes to us from the 17th century; 1 nautical mile = 1.15 miles.) 

It was a surprise to watch cruise ships change positions; it was no surprise that the Ovation of the Seas was ahead as the ships passed the shores of Whidbey Island.