North Pacific Passage to Japan

On the southwest side of Alaska, Kodiak is the main city on Kodiak Island and it has about 5500 residents. It is famous for Kodiak bears, but we didn’t see any.

The native Alutiiq people have inhabited Kodiak Island for over 7,000 years. The area was settled by Russians in 1792 and the town was the capital of Russian Alaska. The Russians harvested sea otter pelts leading to the near exinction of the animal and fought and enslaved the native population. There is a very interesting Alutiiq museum in the town.

In 1867 the United States purchased Alaska from Russia and Kodiak became a commercial fishing center in the years since. In addition, outdoor adventure tourism partially supports the economy. It is home to a large US Coast Guard base as well.

We arrived on a wet, drizzly Tuesday morning, September 23rd,  and the ship anchored in Chiniak Bay about a mile from the docks. We went ashore by tender. Onceon land we went on our own and explored the town. One of the first stops was at the Holy Resurrection Orthodox church which was established in 1794 and home of the relics of St. Herman of Alaska. St. Herman was a monk from St. Petersburg who was part of a mission sent by Catherine the Great to Alaska. He was instrumental in the defense of the Alutiiq natives from the Russian fur traders’ abuses.

Later we hiked in the North End Park and, back in town, grabbed some lunch before tendering back to the ship.

We anchored in Chiniak Bay and went by tender to shore. (2110)