PORT ANGELES — It was like Mark Twain swapped identities with Jack London, or Edna Ferber’s Showboat steamed into The Call of the Wild.
The sternwheeler Empress of the North tied up at Commercial Pier in the Port Angeles Harbor on Thursday on its way from Blake Island to Victoria.
After the Empress returns to Seattle by way of Anacortes, it will journey to its winter home in Portland, Ore.
From there, it will cruise the Columbia, Snake and Willamette rivers.
Summers in Juneau
From May to September, the sternwheeler is homeported in Juneau, Alaska, and cruises to Glacier Bay, Sergius Narrows, Peril Strait, LeConte Bay and Misty Fjord.
The Empress is owned by Majestic America Line, the nation’s largest coastal and river cruise line.
The line also owns the Delta Queen, Mississippi Queen and American Queen sternwheelers that cruise the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri rivers.
The Empress’ four-night cruise through Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca is an annual event.
She visited Port Angeles in May 2004 and in September 2005.
Fares range from $1,899 to $2,979.
Launched in August 2003, the ship resembles a 360-foot-long, four-deck wedding cake.
Her three-story-high sternwheel provides 30 percent to 40 percent of her propulsion power. It is aided by Z-drive propellers that can turn 360 degrees.
The Empress can cruise at 14 knots. She carries 83 crew members.
A sister ship, the Queen of the West, was launched in 1995. It carries 163 passengers and 47 crew members.