Fairbanks to Whittier is 417 miles. Furthest we've driven in one day! Had to be done - late cancellation aboard M/V Kennicott gave Pablo RoRo Deck Space and us a 4 Berth Cabin on the Alaska Marine Highway from Anchorage, Alaska to Bellingham, Washington.
Would have been a 2,174 mile 42 hour drive by road. Instead we let the ship take the gyp on our five day voyage through Icy Bays and the Gulf of Alaska!
The Alaska Marine Highway is a ferry service operated by the U.S. State of Alaska.Operating along the south-central coast of the state, the eastern Aleutian Islands and the Inside Passage through Alaskan and British Columbian waters, ferries serve communities in Southeast Alaska that have no road access, transporting people, freight, and vehicles. AMH's 3,500 miles of routes go as far south as Bellingham, Washington, in the contiguous United States and as far west as Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, with a total of 32 terminals throughout Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington. It is part of the US National Highway System and receives federal highway funding. It's a shipping line offering regularly scheduled service for the primary purpose of transportation rather than of leisure or entertainment. Voyages can last several days, but, in contrast to the luxury of a cruise line, cabins cost extra, and food is served cafeteria-style.
Built in 1998 the M/V Kennicott is a nine-deck, ocean certified vessel able to serve as a command and logistics vessel in the event of disaster or oil spill. The ferry system, taking advantage of her ocean-going status, sends the vessel on a monthly trans-Gulf of Alaska ("cross-gulf") voyage beginning in Juneau and concluding in Kodiak. On this voyage, the Kennicott is able to provide service to the isolated Gulf of Alaska community of Yakutat and is the only vessel to do so. The cross-gulf voyages are very popular and quite often sold out. On board amenities include a hot-food cafeteria; cocktail lounge and bar (currently closed due to rowdy behaviour); solarium; forward, aft, movie, and business lounges; 51 four-berth cabins; and 58 two-berth cabins.
Following our fast and furious 417 mile 7 hour drive, 30 minute Fred Meyer Anchorage Supermarket Sweep, and claustrophobic trip through the 2.5 mile Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel (longest highway tunnel in North America - a one-lane multi-use highway and railroad tunnel, shared by cars and trains travelling in both directions) we arrived at Whittier Harbour just in time to board the M/V Kennicott for our 11:45pm departure.
Cabin 87B comfy and spacious, while Pablo's berth on the Car Deck dry and secure . Had a midnight tipple on deck looking on as the Ferry negotiated hundreds of 'Gillnetter' fishermen dispersed right across Prince William Sound in their flotilla of small boats. As one unlit Gillnetter boat loomed out of the darkness dead ahead, the Kennicott performed a full speed U-turn, just avoiding the foolish fisherman! It's Salmon Run season when hundreds of thousands of fish swim across the Sound, back to the rivers and lakes where they were spawned, to match and hatch new generations. And thousands of Gillnetters fish 24/7 to catch and despatch many unlucky runners.
Prince William Sound? Ring any bells? Exxon Valdez ran aground here in 1989 spilling 10.8 million US Gallons of (Prudhoe Bay) Crude Oil into the sea. All the more reason for Kennicott's Skipper to plot a safe passage out into the Gulf!
Calm waters meant a good night's kip in Cabin 87B and after a hearty breakfast we docked in Yakutat (Population 613) from where no roads connect with the rest of Alaska or Yukon Territory which Yakutat abuts. Locals rely instead on the fortnightly Ferry and an airstrip built by the USAAF in WWII.
The name is Tlingit, Yaakwdáat ("the place where canoes rest").
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, English, French, Spanish and Russian explorers came to Yaakwdáat. The Shelikhov-Golikov Company, precursor of the Russian-American Company, built a fort in here in 1795 to facilitate their trade in sea otter pelts. It was known as New Russia or Yakutat Colony. When the Russians cut off natives access to the fisheries nearby, a Tlingit war party attacked and destroyed the fort.
Quite a War Party waiting dockside today (including a Police K9 section sniffer dog!) - many flooded aboard headed straight for the 'Hot Food Cafeteria' where they ate a hearty lunch - then flooded back ashore!
We strolled around town, picked Salmon Berries, found a bar with Icy Bay IPA and WiFi, then sprinted back quayside summonsed by a double toot of Kennicott's horn!
