As we arrived in port at Kodiak Island this morning, we thought we had moved to an Alaskan island with even worse weather than Dutch Harbor. There was steady rain, gusty wind, and 39º temperature (F) when we left the ship on our excursion this morning at 9:00 am. Being realistic, Kodiak (at 57.8º North latitude) is located 4º further north than Dutch Harbor. We also read in advance that Kodiak is nicknamed “Alaska’s Emerald Isle,” thanks to its abundant amount of summer rain. However, April isn’t really summer yet in Alaska.
Kodiak is located 250 miles southwest of Anchorage, off the east coast of the Alaska Peninsula (on the western side of the Gulf of Alaska). We’ve read (on Wikipedia) that Kodiak is the second-largest island in the U.S., equivalent in size to the state of Connecticut; the big island of Hawaii is the largest island in the U.S., and Puerto Rico is the third largest. Two-thirds of Kodiak Island is set aside as part of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. Another interesting fact is that approximately 3,500 brown bears (specifically, Kodiak Bears) occupy the island, specially in the 1.9-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge (which is only accessible by air or charter boat).
We departed the ship at 9:00 this morning on a shore excursion titled, “Panoramic Kodiak.” The time allocated for the excursion was only one hour, so we knew it would be a short “drive-by” of the sights. There are no tour buses on Kodiak; once again, yellow school buses were used for both shuttle buses into town and for shore excursions.
Even the local government, in their Official Visitors’ Guide, acknowledges that “Let’s face it, no one comes to Kodiak for the weather … Kodak is a rain forest and cool even in summer months. Rain gear, including rain pants that can easily be slipped over fleece pants is a must. A hoodie under a waterproof rain jacket will keep you warm and looking like a local. Rubber boots are the Kodiak ‘tennis shoe’.” We didn’t follow all those fashion rules, other than the waterproof rain jackets, so we got very wet in the rainy, windy weather just walking to the bus for the excursion. The jackets and rain hats helped a little, but not enough. Other people had brought umbrellas, but the wind was so strong that umbrellas were being blown inside out.
Our school bus driver (Deborah) told us there are only two seasons on Kodiak - Winter when it’s cold with lots of snow (about 70 inches worth), and Summer when it’s a little warmer, with lots of rain (about 70 inches again). She further said that those few days when it’s sunny are wonderful - making it all worthwhile - as Kodiak wilderness in the sunshine is beautiful. She told a joke that school kids think there are actually four seasons on Kodiak – halibut, salmon, bass, and cod. Apparently that’s what their fishermen fathers tell them.
She also said that the population of the whole island, including the city of Kodiak and all the outlying villages is about 12,000. That number includes 3,000 Coast Guard members with their spouses and children. The largest Coast Guard contingent in the U.S. is here in Kodiak because of the very large fishing fleet (about 700 boats) and the dangerous nature of the fishing business in these rough waters. We saw in a tourist brochure that 6,000 people live in the city of Kodiak and the other 6,000 are in villages not accessible by car.
The excursion drove through the heart of town, past cannery row, the small boat harbor, several museums, and then to a “scenic overlook,” where Deborah stopped so we could take photos of the view. Jim and about three or four other passengers (of the 31 guests on board the bus) got out. Then Jim turned right around and got back on, as he didn’t want to get his camera water-soaked taking a picture of the rain that was falling (obscuring the view). On the way back into town, we passed by Mill Bay Beach and the high-water mark left by the 1964 tsunami. We also passed by “the world’s smallest Wal-Mart store.” Deborah then stopped the bus at the Russian Orthodox Church, where Jim did manage to take a picture.
Deborah told us that there are a lot of indoor sports and craft groups for the winter season. Their high school has strong music and indoor athletic programs. Almost all food and supplies must be shipped onto the island, as there is no top soil on top of the granite rock - nothing edible grows here. For excitement, there’s one movie theater and six coffee shops in town. Recently a Taco Bell store opened, and it caused such a large traffic jam that the police were called in to clean up the ruckus. Lastly, Deborah told us that one exciting thing for the ladies on Kodiak to do is to go to an overlook point outside of town where they can watch the Navy Seals (special forces guys) do cold water training. We then returned to the ship. It was a nice tour, but the weather could have been nicer.
Once on board, we went immediately to The Bistro for a hot chocolate. Unfortunately, it was standing-room-only at The Bistro. We ordered two hot chocolates in a “to go” cup and took them up to our room. Amazingly, after lunch the rain stopped long enough that Jim decided to take the shuttle bus back into town about 1:00 pm, so he could walk around and see the sights.
The shuttle dropped him (and a few other guests) off at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. This is a small but interesting site that describes the 1.9-million-acre habitat area, most famous for the estimated 3,000 Kodiak Brown Bears living in the government-regulated wildlife refuge. Kodiak bears are a unique subspecies of the grizzly bear. They live exclusively on the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago and are said to be the largest bears in the world. Jim read that Kodiak Bears have been isolated from other bears for about 12,000 years. A large male Kodiak Bear can stand over 10-feet tall when on his hind legs, and 5 feet when on all four legs. They can weigh up to 1,500 pounds, but the average male weighs between 600 and 900 pounds; females are generally 20% smaller, and 30% lighter than males.
After leaving the visitor center, Jim actually saw the sun come out; so he spent a little time wandering around town admiring the views. He went inside the blue-domed Holy Resurrection (Russian Orthodox) Church, which is probably the most recognized building in Kodiak. He read that the current church building is the fourth on this site and was built in the 1940s after a fire destroyed the previous church. Most interesting are the holy relics and icons on display at the altar. We understand that this religion still has a following on Kodiak island.
The Baranov Museum is located in a National Historic Landmark building known alternatively as the “Russian-American Magazine” and as the “Erskine House.” (shown below)
Jim spent a little time exploring some history in the museum. The community now known as Kodiak was established in 1793 and was the first permanent Russian settlement in North America. Kodiak served as its (Russian) territorial capital until 1808. This building (the Russian-American Magazine”) was built in the first decade of the 19th century as a storage facility (or "magazine") by what was called the Russian American Company (a company chartered in 1799 by the Russian Tsar to expand colonization in “Russian America” by establishing new settlements). Alexander Baranov was the first, and longest-serving Governor of Russian America (1799 – 1818). Alaska was sold by the Russians to the United States in 1867. In 1911 the building was sold to W. J. Erskine, who used the building as a private residence.
There are informative exhibits in the Baranov Museum about the devastating Good Friday earthquake of 1964 (the strongest on record in North America at 9.2 on the Richter Scale). Portions of Kodiak sank 1- to 10-feet as a result of the quake itself, but bigger damage was caused by the resulting 30-foot high tsunami tidal waves. Forty-percent of Kodiak’s city center, along with 158 homes and most of the waterfront industries were destroyed. The tsunami killed a total of 15 people in the Kodiak area. Three outlying native villages were completely leveled by the tsunami waves.
On the way back to the shuttle bus, Jim stopped to look at the Star of Kodiak, a WWII liberty ship (formerly named the Albert Boe) which was brought to Kodiak after the 1964 earthquake and tidal waves to serve as a temporary fish-processing plant. It became a permanent fixture and is still in use today, along Cannery Row at the waterfront.
It was a great afternoon in Kodiak after the weather cleared up. Here’s a view of town (in the sunshine) from our ship, with portions of Cannery Row in the foreground:
From our cabin's balcony, we think we even saw a breaching whale (about five miles away from the ship). To top everything off, there were also relatively good views of the island upon our sail-away from port at 5:00 pm.
Tomorrow, we're scheduled to dock at Seward. We're hoping that the nice weather might be headed that way also.
Jim & Ginny
Jim & Ginny
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