Chimera is a 100 foot custom sailboat from Australia. Her 2008 voyage took her to Japan, then a long cruise down the Aleutian chain to Kodiak. She has completed her voyage and is now in San Diego.

 

Cruising aboard Chimera in Kodiak

Keith Jacobs
Captain, SV Chimera

 

Alaska has for years been the most popular west coast destination for super yachts.  It is also a popular west coast destination for cruise ships, four to five a day visit Juneau and Glacier Bay alone on there route through the inside passage before disappearing on their annual migration to Mexico or the Caribbean for the winter.

 

The more adventurous may venture further a field to Prince William Sound or Seward and Homer.  These are all world class destinations no doubt about it, but if you are looking to travel beyond the cruise ship Mecca and take a step off the well beaten path there is a previously seldom visited island, affectionately referred to as the Rock by some of the local inhabitants.

 

Kodiak Island is located on the 56 parallel, south of Cook Inlet on the western side of the Gulf of Alaska at the base of the Alaskan Peninsular.  It was discovered by Russian fur traders in 1763.  The Russians established permanent settlements that became centers for fur trading in the following years.  Kodiak remained a Russian territory until the Alaska purchase by the US in 1867.  The town of Kodiak still has Russian street names and an onion-domed Russian church.  Captain Cook passed by here 1788 looking for the fabled North West Passage, which for only the second time in recorded history has been free of ice, indeed Kodiak is on the road to discovery again.

 

Kodiak makes a logical base for super yachts to cruise this seldom visited part of the world, home of many Alaska fishing fleets fishing for Halibut, Cod and Salmon to name a few, it is well suited to larger yachts up to 180 feet and has a well established network of suppliers and trades people to help if things go wrong.  There are plenty of flights from Anchorage that connects daily with Seattle, Vancouver and Los Angeles all weather depending, as is any activity in Alaska.  Even a trip from Europe is not to daunting at about 10 hours for the Europe to Seattle leg.

 

The locals are friendly folk and staunchly proud of their island, its flora, fauna and seafaring tradition.  Being ready for the inevitable inclement weather is made easy by the abundance of literature and DVDs on all topical to Kodiak. These media aids only enhance your visit, when the weather clears, the sun comes out and The Emerald Island again shines brightly.

 

The gales that batter the Kodiak coast in winter and subside in summer are inevitable but also a necessity, it is those same gales that have over millennia carved away the stunning landscape that make it so unique and those same weather beaten peaks provide shelter from the storms.

 

The spells indoors pale in significance to the long cold winter that engulfs the region for a good part of the year, it will help you appreciate what the locals go through, while you ingest the fresh halibut, salmon or rock fish that has been landed on the aft deck that very day by the exuberant guest or crew who would normally be more accustomed to chartering a game fishing boat in much more tropical waters.

 

King and Dungeness crab can be found with a bit more equipment and local knowledge or more easily gifted by a concerned fisherman passing that doesn’t want any visitor to go home with out tasting the delicacy that is home to these waters that have been made famous by the Worlds Deadliest Catch on The Discovery Channel.

 

Timing your trip to Alaska, while needing careful consideration for safety, is not a problem.  The fishing and wild life viewing are spectacular.  All the animals are more that willing to display themselves at any time in the summer, spring and fall.

Whale spotting will become a daily experience and only limited to how much time you have to make the tidal gate reaching the next anchorage.  We planned our trips to get there in time to get see the bears catching salmon or digging clams.

When I first visited Kodiak in 2005 there was very little sign of tourists apart from die hard sea kayakers and the bundles of fisherman and hunters that descend from all over the world to partake in the summertime fish and game harvest.

Now there are obviously more tourists than hunters, here for the wildlife viewing taking photos rather than pot shots at the native animals.

 

There are all sorts of companies offering daytrips to various destinations in the area by sea and air, but with your own yacht it opens up a whole new world of wild life viewing.  Areas that are frequently visited by day trippers are all yours for the mornings and evenings, too.  You may be holed up indoors waiting for the weather to break, but when you quickly cast your eyes ashore you might see a mother bear and cubs beach combing, the salmon jumping, or sea otter swimming past with new cubs on their mother’s tummy.

 

Kodiak’s Marinas were all we could ask for.  It is refreshing to be able to come to and go to a marina as you wish without the usual dramas of reservations, weeks months or seasons ahead of time.  Marty Owen, Harbormaster, and his staff are always at hand to make you feel at home and allocate you a berth for your intended length of stay.

The local hardened fisherman surprisingly do not look upon your shiny super yacht with contempt but with the respect that every mariner deserves for taking the chance of visiting what can seem such a remote and challenging area.  With modern technology the risks are well calculated.  Kodiak is home to a NOAA weather station and the accurate and regular forecasting makes safe passage of the region and its various bays and passes possible.

 

A 7-10 day visit is fleeting and possible with delays to inclement weather no major issue but a 10-14 day experience will leave you going home with a happy owner and guests and have them talking about “next time we go to Kodiak”.

When we have had problems with major systems, parts not available locally or out of anchorage are on board from the lower 48 very quickly.

 

For those not armed with guides and guns but only cameras and bear bells there is no need to worry, you will get more than comfortably close to the action and the famous Kodiak bears.  There are numerous bays where the bears come to fish and are used to sharing the space with humans.  With a good helping of common sense, reading any of the numerous literatures on bear safety, the bears will seemingly gladly pose for photos.  More often than not you will get a better viewing from your tender than the paying passengers who travel an hour by air and hike across river flats to wait patiently for hours for the possibility of a Kodak moment.

 

It is some comfort to know that Kodiak is home to the worlds largest U.S. Coast Guard base, but it is a reminder that these are troubled waters and the large tides should be treated with due care by the prudent mariner.