Coming into Kodiak, we were scheduled to tender as another ship was at the dock. The port is not large! Tendering once on a cruise is not that bad! I have had lots of fun tendering on Holland America in the past, however now they have a little elevator to go from the A deck to the B deck where you board the tender it is simple! WAY easier going up and down stairs like on previous voyages…
It was a beautiful short tender ride into the Kodiak harbour where lets say the gang plank UP to the dock was a BIT steep! Also, if I did not stay in a very narrow lane going up the right side, there were inverted triangle bars (for safety purposes in winter) going across the gang plank beside me, for people going down to prevent sliding!
We met our tour (A Walk Through Kodiak Harbour) at the end of the dock. It was being led by a long time fisherman who has now retired, named Toby. He knew so much about the fishing industry he was bursting with information! Our first stop was the plaque for the Good Friday Earthquake on March 27th, 1964 which was 9.2 magnitude and lasted 4 minutes. One of the strongest quakes that has hit North America.
We then moved along to the restored boat, Thelma C, which was a typical wooden boat built for fishing out of Kodiak. Toby told us a story about when the earthquake hit, a lot of fishing boats were destroyed, so the Alaska government gave the owner of every fishing boat money to get a new one! All of a sudden, the boat builders, primarily located in the Seattle area, had a LOT of work on their hands to build boats! Many boats similar to the Thelma C were built and then sailed up the BC and Alaska Coasts to Kodiak so that fishing could resume. While visiting the Thelma C, there were some sea lions playing in the bay – well really not playing – looking dead! Most people thought they were statues! Yeah right! Seen these blubber boys before – they are just conserving energy and they will sing and move!
Next we moved to the docks behind us – which was very interesting if you have spent time on docks like I have! First there was a concrete (see Dad got it right!) ramp to launch a boat which I thought was fascinating as most boats I would have thought are too big to tow and thus launch! Then next to it, Toby explained, was a boat tied up for “dry dock”. For most people in the tour – this went right over their heads and their eyes glassed over! Basically, the fishing boat ties up beside the dock at high tide and wraps its lines around specific poles that while attached to the dock, allow the boat to be secure yet “ride” the tide down until it is sitting on the clay bottom.
Just before the boat is on the clay bottom they do put some supporting logs under the hull so they can do the planned maintenance. Pretty interesting process instead of having to lift a boat out of water into a dry dock! He said it can be a challenge to book times for emergency repairs in dry dock! I fully understood what Toby was talking about… again, others were confused!
We then went down to the docks to look at the different fishing boats and Toby explained what each one was (seiner vs troller) and the types of fish they catch at different times of the year. Lots of fishermen passed us while we were on the docks who knew Toby and they were making some funny comments to him! Toby then took us back up to the main Kodiak dock and to the Kodiak Fisherman’s’ Memorial which has plaques for boats/souls lost at sea. It was interesting to hear Toby talk about it as a life long Kodiak resident, as he knew most of these people and this must be a hard part of the tour for him! To conclude the tour, he showed us the lifesaving suits that the fishermen have on board which allow them to survive some time in the sea if they do not make it into the survival boat.
After that, Andrew and I walked around Kodiak for a bit. It was Sunday and some stores were closed. The front part of the town was NOT very accessible (stairs) however when there is a store I want to get to, I generally can find a way to get there! We went around a building and down a lane and the store appeared along with a craft fair! Needless to say Andrew was patient while I did some “browsing” and poking around. Eventually we started walking back to where the tenders were located, and as I knew the tide was going down, I was SURE LOOKING FORWARD to going down the gangplank to the tender dock with bumpy right side! On our way to the tenders, there were a bunch of people gathered by the shore, so I 4 wheel drove over to check out what was happening! Look at the performance I saw!
This Alaskan fresh air is really tiring! Holy smokes! Once back on the ship we had a short SNAPPY NAP as Neil Dirom used to say and then we got going to dinner where again, we had a delicious meal, however something unexpected arrived for me for dessert, which looking back now makes sense! I had ordered vanilla ice cream… This is what showed up!
Hmm. I had not asked for the Flour-less Lava Cake… It looks like the chef sent me a gluten free item! Things are looking up! Perhaps tomorrow I should go get some cookies and see if they are now “in stock” once we get back from our tour in Anchorage!