July 1 - Kodiak Island

After sailing all night, we woke up this morning about an hour outside of Kodiak Island after chugging across Cook Inlet and out into the Gulf of Alaska. We pulled into the town of Kodiak via a very narrow channel and into St. Paul Harbour.

St. Paul Harbour, Kodiak Island

Welcome to Kodiak!

St. Paul Harbour

We made a quick pit stop at the Visitor's Center on the dock and then crossed the street over to the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Center. The Center is free to wander through and well worth the time. They have some excellent displays, complete with lifesized sculptures of Kodiak bears (the largest Grizzly subspecies in the world). They're enormous! The Center is run by the Fish and Wildlife folks and they do fieldwork as well so they're very informed hosts and have a lot of interesting information to share.

Updstairs is a skeleton of a Grey whale that the community salvaged and preserved. In  2000, the Grey whale died and washed up on the shores of Kodiak Island. A biologist found it and recognized the opportunity for the community so she gathered up some support and they dug a huge trench and buried the whale for 4 years to decompose. In 2004, they dug it up again and removed all the bones, cleaned them up and then a team of people reconstructed the skeleton on a metal framework and installed it in the Center in 2007. They have a series of information panels that tell the story and show photos of the 7 year project. Fabulous!

Grey whale skeleton in Wildlife Refuge Center

Panoramic of Kodiak

Kodiak marina

From there we wandered through the town and out along the walkway by the marina and along some canneries. We went out onto the small spit and watched the marina activity (including two guys who got caught unawares and got high centered in the marina when the tide went down) and then crossed town to the Monk's Rock Coffee House. The Monk's Rock is run by some Russian Orthodox missionaries and the funds they raise support youth programs on the Island. It's a warm, welcoming cafe with a small bookstore on one side. We had some fantastic borsch for lunch with a homemade bun and spent a bit of time talking with "Uncle John" from Boston who came out a few months ago to work in the cafe and help out. Upstairs is a thrift shop that has a lovely homey space with more tables for dining amidst shelves of books and thrift wares. I wandered around the shop and found a brand new pair of colourful wool socks from Germany and then I spied a gem! A book and CD set of Italian folksongs for children, recorded by Padre Paisii de Lucia who works for the mission but came from Italy originally. I haven't been able to listen to the CD yet but, thumbing through the book I recognized a couple (Santa Lucia and Funiculi, Funicula!) so I'm looking forward to learning them all (including the one about the ant and the cricket who were going to get married but then the cricket "broke his head" and was pronounced dead so the ant went and had a nice glass of wine!) to my grandsons! Who  knew, in Kodiak, Alaska we would find a lovely traditional Russian lunch, some wool socks from Germany and a book and CD of traditional Italian songs!

After lunch, we wandered over to the oldest Russian Orthodox church in Alaska. Outside, there is a rather large collection of bells, some of which were ruined in a large fire years ago. We noticed many of the windows were boarded up and thought they might be doing renovations but we found out later that several days ago, someone (with a bone to pick of some kind against God? The church? Who knows...) went into the church and set about smashing everything he could - windows, furniture, holy relics and other objects etc. He didn't steal anything, just tried to smash as much as he could, we were told. The whole community was devastated but are slowly making plans for restoration.

We carried on to the Branov Museum which is a turn of the century Russian house that was also used as a center for trade over the years. They have an excellent section about the Alutiiq people from this area as well as the Russian and European history. They also have a section dedicated to the 1964 tsunami that leveled most of the town of Kodiak and was a result of the 9.2 earthquake.

Branov Museum

Kodiak is a place of "Biggests"  - they have approximately 3500 Kodiak bears on the Island which are the biggest subspecies of Grizzlies in the world. The Island itself is the biggest Island in North America and second biggest in the US (only outranked by the big island of Hawaii).  The Port of Kodiak is Alaska's biggest and most diversified fishing port and it's consistently ranked in the top 3 commercial fishing centers in the United States. The country's largest Coast Guard base is located  there as well. The Island is home to almost 13,000 inhabitants and even boasts a small Walmart although it's about 4 miles out of town (not sure why...) Say what you will about Walmart - the locals are pretty happy to have it because other than it, the only other store is a TINY Safeway about the size of a small 7-11. Beyond that, you have to get to Homer (a 13 hour boat ride or a flight) or Anchorage (the boat ride plus a 6 hour drive or a flight) for supplies. There is also a Navy Seal training facility on Kodiak which is VERY high security - so high that someone, a few years ago, was shot for coming into the compound without authorization. A local young man told us that sometimes, they can hear the Seals in the middle of the night when they are doing survival training in the bay. They're all out in the water, arm in arm, and singing in the dark to keep morale up. He said it's kind of eerie to hear it...

Back on the ship, we set sail and enjoyed an excellent meal. The weather was picture perfect and, after dinner, we sat out on the deck and watched the islands go by. Around 8pm, we were absolutely delighted when a pod of about a dozen killer whales travelled in the same direction as our boat. The Captain came around to bring us a bit closer and we travelled with them for about 30 minutes. They were rising as they swam along and many of them would slap their fippers or slap their tails. It was so fun to watch! Shortly after that, we saw a Fin whale. What a GREAT way to wrap up the day!