Day 08 - 19 July - Dutch Harbor

Before I describe our day, let me say that this was one of if not the best Alaskan Port we have visited so far. It has the full on vibe of the 'true' Alaska without the 'in your face' souvenir, diamond, and jewelry shops like are found in Ketchikan, Juneau, or Skagway. There are fish processing operations everywhere with the resultant fragrances of 'ewe de fish'. Eagles abound, people are super friendly, there are no traffic lights, vehicles suffer from the ravages of exposure to salt, those that aren't are coated with a layer of fine mud, and there are no fast food restaurants. It can be a harsh climate, but those who live here embrace it with a passion not unlike young lovers. While there are no native trees here, the hills are coated in a covering of a brilliant green only broken up by majestic rock formations or the heat from volcanic activity. This is the Alaska I love.

The Maasdam arrived in Dutch Harbor right on time, rotated counter clockwise, and slowly slipped into its berth. It was really good to not have to tender here. The port provided the now typical shuttle buses in the form of school buses driven by friendly and welcoming drivers. We were on the second bus around 8:30pm which dropped us off at the Aleutian National WWII museum where the real story of how thecAleutian native peoples were treated far more harshly than their Japanese counterparts in the lower 48. Many of them could not return to their ancestral homelands and the subsistence economy was gone forever. Also the Japanese landed on and captured one of the outer islands in the Aleutian chain and bombed Dutch Harbor. American soldiers then had to retake the island and virtually all the Japanese soldiers not killed in the fight committed suicide rather than surrender.

After that somber visit we walked across the street and visited the open house at the fire station where we chatted with the fire cadets and the Captain. That was an uplifting time. He indicated we are the biggest cruise ship to visit this season and that the busiest time for them was January to April when the fishing/crabbing season is open. We then walked to the Safeway which was about 1/2 mile away and location of the final shuttle stop. We provisioned up with some bandages which I need to have on hand due to my needing to be on an anti coagulant which can cause me to bleed easily. We continued our walk to the local hotel which housed the visitor center and some local crafts people. Across the street was an office supply store where I purchased some blank name tags for future meet & greets as I forgot to bring blank ones from my home supply. Just down the street was the general store called Alaska Fish Supply which was an Ace Hardware, grocery store, and marine supplies store. It was cool to see all the fishing related merchandise, but I passed on getting a Deadliest Catch shirt. But they did have a big bag of licorice to help us make the crossing in a few days.

We found the Museum of the Aleutians which housed an extensive collection of native Aleutian historical artifacts. High on our list to visit was the historic Russian Orthodox Church, but it would be another 2+ mile walk there. Along the way we saw eagles, otters, a wrecked fishing boat, & many municipal buildings. The church wasn't open so we could only view it from the outside along with its graveyard.

Nearby was a pizza/Asian restaurant called the Dutch Harbor Cafe where I enjoyed chicken Pad Thai and Angela had seafood fried rice. We then walked down to the local library and post office before walking back to the Safeway where we took the shuttle back to the ship.

While it was nice to have a shuttle to/from the Safeway store, it would have been nice to have one that ran to the town of Unalaska where the church was. A number of passengers did either rent cars or hire taxis ($80/hour). My wife and I logged 8.2 miles walking. But since the weather was so nice we didn't mind walking, plus it gave us lots of opportunities to see eagles.

All guests and crew were on board well before 5:30, so we departed just after 5:30pm and the Captain set a northerly course across the Bering Sea (think Deadliest Catch and harsh waters) for Nome. This port is so far north that the Captain and his officers and bridge crew had to take special additional training earlier in the summer for sailing in potentially iceberg infested waters. None are expected this early, but the preparations are appreciated by this passenger. As soon as we cleared the harbor, low level clouds filled the sky and are still there as I write this at 10:30pm in very lighted conditions. More of the same weather is expected tomorrow.

Lunch was so filling I just ate two shrimp and some fruit salad for dinner. The evening show was an English acoustic guitarist, Mark Hussey, who was really good. We wrapped up the day's activities with a lively and quirky Evening Insight program presented by Jason Kelly on 'Venery' or what do we call groups of things like a 'murder of crows' or 'pride of lions. He gave a lot of historical background which was really interesting.

It's a sea day tomorrow with a full set of EXC programming. EXC means EXploration Central. This form of programming has been successful enough on the Maasdam, and it's being rolled out to the rest of the fleet. I highly recommend taking one of the Maasdam's two week EXC cruises out of Vancouver, BC next summer. Heck, you might even find us on one.