And on to Kodiak
With the rental car return taken care of, I made my way to the terminal in order to check in for my next flight. The line at the AS counters was pretty long, but the agent to the left of that bag drop sign offered to print boarding passes for those passengers who were traveling with just carry-on baggage. Check-in and security thus took just 25 minutes in total, and the TSA agent was actually friendly.
Once airside I even got to see the moose bull that had eluded me a few days earlier in the national park, albeit stuffed.
Anchorage ANC- Kodiak ADQ
Alaska Airlines AS 089
STD: 13:45 / ATD: 13:53
STA: 14:21 / ATA: 14:50
B737 N614AS
Seat 7F
Nothing to be seen outside.
Service on this 45 minute flight was limited to a beverage round and before we knew it we had landed on rwy 26 in rainy Kodiak.
I quickly found a taxi for the 10 minute drive into town. My accommodation was right off the main square in downtown.
Though the weather hadn’t improved at all yet, after checking in and leaving my things in the room I went to explore St. Paul Harbor, the nearby fishing port. Right in front of the harbormaster’s office is a memorial for the Kodiak fishermen that perished out at sea.
A quick look out the window at dawn the next morning gave reason for hope regarding the weather.
I needed to stock up on some supplies for the ferry trip and asked my host for directions to the closest supermarket. “It’s far”, she replied and promised to take me there later in the day, but as she then got busy with other things I looked it up on Gmaps and headed there on foot, thinking “What do I have two healthy legs and lots of time for?” On the way, the sun actually came out, however briefly.
It was a nice 40 minute walk out and another 40 minutes back, but it didn’t seem to be that far. In fact, the supermarket appeared just as I was thinking that I must be about halfway there.
Not only in Kodiak, but all over Alaska, reminders of the early Russian settlements are omnipresent, and many inhabitants still practice the Russian Orthodox faith.
Holy Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral, Kodiak
Taxis here are mostly these massive pick-up trucks. Gasoline seems to be of no concern.
From downtown I crossed the bridge over to Near Island and hiked through a forest to a point with views towards the town. My ferry, the M/V Tustumena, was moored at City Dock No.1 while a Seabourn cruise ship had docked for the day at City Dock No. 2 in the distance. I came across several of its passengers during my wanderings.
Further along was yet another fishing port, St. Hermans Bay Harbor.
In fact, most everything in Kodiak revolves around the fishing and the seafood processing industries. There is an incessant stream of fishing boats unloading their catch at the processing plants and then an incessant stream of refrigerated containers being loaded onto freighters. A fishy smell also wafts through town at all times.
As it was on the way, I dropped by City Dock No. 1 to inquire of the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) staff whether the ship would sail on time the next day. The disheartening reply was that at that point they didn’t even know if the ship would sail at all. There were some issues with the Coast Guard or other authority that needed to be ironed out and only once these were duly signed off they would be able to give an estimate. I was told to come back at 4 in the afternoon to get an update, as by then they should know.
With some time on hand I went to the nearby Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, which had excellent exhibits of the local fauna.
Later that afternoon I went again to the AMHS office to learn that the ship would actually sail the next day, but not at 1:00 p.m. as scheduled. The new departure time was around 12 hours later, at 1:30 a.m. Before the trip to Unalaska the ship first had to go to Homer – the starting point of the route – and then return to Kodiak. I was told to show up at the office by 11:30 the next evening.
Now I had to discuss options with the inn’s landlady. Official check-out time is noon and she had reservations for all rooms for the following night. I was offered to stay in one of the other rooms until the party that had reserved it arrived at around 6 p.m., and to wait in the common areas for the remainder of the time.
The next morning dawned with rain again and would remain like that all day.
Although the city dock was only a few hundred yards away, the innkeeper offered to take me there after closing the restaurant for the night, an offer I gladly accepted. Just as I arrived at the AMHS office, the ship was docking after its journey from Homer. Only a few more hours to wait!
At 11:30 the purser handed me my boarding pass and up I went the gangway of M/V Tustumena.
