April 23, 2016 – Dutch Harbor, Alaska

Since leaving Kamchatka (Petropavlovsk), we’ve cruised eastbound in the Bering Sea, following the Aleutian chain of islands toward Alaska. The Aleutians consist of some 14 large volcanic islands and many smaller ones. Almost all of these islands are part of Alaska; but, at the extreme western end, several of the islands belong to Russia. Total length of the Aleutian chain is about 1,200 miles, and they form a dividing line between the Bering Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south.

 

We arrived this morning, on schedule, at Dutch Harbor, port for Unalaska, Alaska, one of the largest of the Aleutian Islands. It took us three days at sea to get here from Petropavlovsk, including two consecutive Thursdays, April 21st, after crossing the International Dateline. We’re still 800 miles southwest of the state capitol in Anchorage.

Dutch Harbor is on an island, within the city limits of Unalaska, and is connected to the city by a bridge. Local information states that Unalaska is the largest city of the Aleutian Islands and the 12th largest incorporated city in Alaska, even though there are only about 4,500 year-round residents. However, during the fishing season the population more than doubles, as it’s close to some of the best open ocean fishing in the world (in the Bering Sea).

Here are some more interesting facts we dug up, from reliable sources, about this small, but significant location:

- Dutch Harbor has been the largest fisheries port in the United States, in terms of volume of seafood caught, for nearly every year since 1981. This includes huge harvests of Walleye Pollock and Cod from the Bering Sea. There are now five seafood processing factories on the island. 

 

-       Since 2005, the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch has focused on the crabbing fleet and fishermen based in Dutch Harbor. We’ve never watched the show, but we understand Dutch Harbor's facilities and local pub are featured prominently in many episodes.

-    With about 225 rainy days per year, Unalaska is one of the rainiest places in the United States.

-   There are 38 miles of roads in Unalaska, only seven miles of which are paved.

Dutch Harbor was the only place on American soil, other than Pearl Harbor, to be bombed during World War II. A small contingent of U.S. Army and Navy forces were stationed here from 1941. In June 1942, twenty Japanese planes from two aircraft carriers bombed Dutch Harbor. We read that 43 Americans and at least one Japanese died during the attacks, which lasted for two days. The military ramped up the number of soldiers and sailors stationed here to 21,000 or more after the attack, but no further action occurred at Dutch Harbor. After the war, Dutch Harbor facilities were abandoned and eventually given over to the city. Many of the buildings are now in use as warehouses and living quarters for the fishing fleet.

Of course, lest we forget, two Aleutian Islands (Attu and Kiska) were invaded and occupied by Japanese soldiers soon after the bombing of Dutch Harbor in June 1942 - the only U.S. soil Japan would claim during the war in the Pacific. American forces eventually regained control of the islands in 1943, at the cost of some 1,000 American men killed in the re-taking of Attu. There were no losses sustained on Kiska, as the Japanese had evacuated the island, under cover of fog.

Back in the late 1960’s Jim was stationed in the Aleutians, at Shemya - a tabletop flat island further west toward Kamchatka (near Agattu). He was very interested in seeing Dutch Harbor; otherwise, we might not have gotten off the ship today, as it was windy, cold, and there was a light rain falling much of the day.

We’re still at 53º North today, and there is typical weather for the Aleutian Islands - cloudy and windy. The temperature ranged between 37º and 39º (F) all day, but the wind made it seem much colder. Jim can verify that the winter wind can be much stronger than this. During his 1-year stay at Shemya, there were six hurricane-force wind storms that blew through.

When the ship pulled into port at Dutch Harbor this morning it was actually sunny for a short time, but that didn’t last long. Here’s some proof:

  

 

After breakfast we went to the Palm Court for a face-to-face passport check with U.S. immigration officials. They had come onboard as soon as the crew attached the gangway. We’re assuming the ship’s crew must have sent them an electronic copy of the passenger manifest in advance, because the immigration people didn’t need to feed the passports into a reader this morning the way they do at all customs & immigrations stations around the world these days. So the process went very quickly. Our “keycards” (room keys) were scanned upon entering the room, so that the crew could register that we were there. As soon as the passports were stamped, the crew punched a hole in keycards. That way, we’d only be allowed off the ship if the keycard had the punched hole.

We went ashore at about 10:00 am. There is no passenger terminal nor are there tour buses and guides at Dutch Harbor, so the city used three school buses to transport us from the dock into town. It was cold waiting in line for the school bus, but the city’s mayor, Shirley Marquardt, was passing out maps of the city and enthusiastically and happily greeting everyone. She didn’t even look cold; maybe looking happy about the weather is part of her job!

There were three stops scheduled for the school bus - the Museum of the Aleutians, the Aleutian World War II Museum, and the Russian Orthodox Church. We decided to stay on the bus to the church, in the city of Unalaska (furthest point away from the ship) and then work our way back.

The church, actually called the Cathedral of the Holy Ascension of Christ, was originally built in 1825 by Russian settlers. The founding priest, Ivan Veniaminov, was later canonized as Saint Innocent of Alaska. He developed an alphabet for the native Aleut language, and established a school to teach the natives to read and write, while translating the Scripture into Aleut. The church was rebuilt in 1894-96, using timbers from the old structure in construction of the new one. The claim is that this is the oldest cruciform-style Orthodox Church in North America, and is lovingly called the “Pearl of the Aleutians.” It would have been nice to go into the church, but it was closed to outsiders as they decorated for Easter Sunday services. 

 

After snapping a few photos, we hopped back on the bus and headed to the center of commu­nity activity in Unalaska - where much of island life takes place - the Museum of the Aleutians, Safeway store, Grand Aleutian Hotel, post office, gas station, bank, the Norwegian Rat Saloon, and the Alaskan Ship Supply Store. The bus dropped us off at the Safeway store. We peaked in there for a few minutes and then started a cold, wet walk in the 25-30 mph wind; a light rain had started. Here’s a photo of Ginny on our trek: 

 

After passing through the Grand Aleutian Hotel (to warm up), we returned out into the wet weather and continued walking to the Alaskan Ship Supply Store. This was a great place, as it was exactly what the name said - a supply store for the adventurers and opportunists who come up to Dutch Harbor for the fishing season. There were hardware supplies, clothing, and other necessities of life (food, medical supplies, etc.). We were intrigued by the heavy-duty rain wear and boots, as well as stylish cold-weather hats. We bought a Dutch Harbor Ship Supply Store t-shirt for Jim, but that was all. They gave us a free magnet, which was all we really needed. 

 

Next was more walking in the cold, wind, and rain to the Museum of the Aleutians. This was a fairly lengthy walk - actually, only a few blocks, but it seemed like miles. A fully-loaded school bus (or maybe two) from the ship had just arrived, so it was quite crowded in the museum. Nonetheless, we enjoyed visiting this excellent facility. They had very good exhibit galleries sharing the human history of Unalaska and the Aleutian Islands. Most of us from the ship learned more in an hour or two about this remote part of America than we had ever even considered.

As we learned, the Unangan (Aleut) people were the first to inhabit the island of Unalaska and named it "Ounalashka," meaning "near the peninsula.” According to what we read, they had been there for thousands of years before Russian fur traders reached Unalaska in 1759. 

We were quite impressed with the ingenuity of the native Aleut people to survive under the harsh weather conditions here. Their homes were built in a way that they entered through a square opening in the roofs. Apparently, in good weather, they gathered on the roof to do small chores or to talk. Some of their garments were ingenious, especially the handmade lightweight, strong, hooded, and waterproof garment we saw on display. This was made of sea mammal gut or esophagus material sewn together with grass threads that expanded when wet, and were worn over fur parkas when necessary. 

 

In 1867 the United States purchased Alaska from Russia, making the Aleutians part of U.S. ter­ritory. Aleut natives, Russians, and their descendants were most of Unalaska 's population until the middle 20th century, when the involvement of the U.S. in World War II led to the arrival of American military people and the construction of buildings all along the Aleutian Islands. There was an equally interesting exhibit area dealing with the Aleutian Island involvement in World War II.

By the time we finished in this museum, it was past 12:30, and two school bus shuttles hap­pened to be there in the parking lot. We decided to take the first shuttle back to the ship for lunch. Unfortunately, it was gloomy, cold, and windy, with light rain for the remainder of the afternoon, so we decided not to venture out again. The only thing we wanted to see but missed was the Aleutian World War II Museum, and its displays on the forced relocation of Aleut natives by the military during the war. We had seen the (much smaller) exhibit on this at the Museum of the Aleutians.

This was an interesting and enlightening port stop. We’re glad we were able to get out and explore, if only for a few short hours. Our photos are mostly gray in color, due to the cloud cover and misty rain; that couldn’t be avoided.

 

We would have liked to have seen the largest mountain on the island - Makushin Volcano (5,691 feet) – but cloud cover prevented that. Our sail-away from Dutch Harbor and Unalaska would have also been scenic if it hadn’t been for the weather. Oh well, that’s what life is like in the Aleutians.

We’ve been remiss in not mentioning the many world-cruise gifts we’ve been receiving from Crystal. They’ve all been very nice. Recently, we received an alpaca scarf/hat/arm-warmer set, a tea set from our visit to China, salt/pepper set, calligraphy brushes, matching kimonos, and a collapsible, portable cooler. Of course, these are in addition to the world cruise jackets, hats, and shirts we received when the world cruise began. There’s probably more things stashed somewhere under our bed, but that’s all we can think of right now.

We attended two more nightly entertainment offerings - first was vocalist Toni Warne, and then the traditional Crystal Cruises review “Curtain Call.” Our cruise director, Rick Spath said that this show has been performed on board a Crystal ship for 15 years now. We’ve seen it at least four times, and it’s still entertaining.

Tonight we’re attending a 50th wedding anniversary dinner for Dave and Suz, two of our regular table mates, up in the Prego specialty restaurant. Jerry & Karen (our other table mates) along with several more of Dave & Suz's other friends on the ship will also be there. Should be fun. We’ll miss the show by the award-winning ventriloquist Jay Johnson in the Galaxy Lounge. Of course, we could go to the 10:30 pm show, but that’s not likely as we’re normally in bed and sound asleep by that time.

After one day at sea we’re scheduled to reach Kodiak Island on Monday, April 25th, after a 615 nautical mile journey from Dutch Harbor.

Jim & Ginny