Day 5 Of Our Alaska Cruise Vacation 2010 - Hoonah and Icy Strait Point

Day 5 of our 2010 Alaskan Vacation Cruise was great. We went to Hoonah, Alaska. For more information about Hoonah Alaska, please click here... Hoonah, Alaska. For more information about other sights to see please click here... Icy Strait Point
Hoonah, Alaska is home to the largest Huna Tlingit Village in Alaska.

The day started off a little overcast.

Please remember...if you want a better look at any of the pictures, please click on the picture to enlarge it.

First a little information about Icy Strait Point, which is where our cruise ship dropped anchor and tendered us in. There is no actual pier or dock for these large cruise ships to pull up to like they have in all of the other ports of call that we stopped in.

Here is the information about Icy Strait Point as it is stated on their web site:

Icy Strait Point was originally built as a Salmon Cannery and has been an important part of the community for many years serving many functions.

Below is a timeline explaining the many incarnations of these historic buildings.
1912 Hoonah Packing Company Opens.

1914 Hoonah Packing Company cans an amazing 2,367,072 cans of Salmon.

1933 Hoonah Packing Company transfers ownership to Pacific American Fisheries.

1934 Pacific American Fisheries transfers ownership to Peter J Andrae and finally to Icy Strait Salmon Company.

1944 The City of Hoonah burned on June 14h. Many of Hoonah’s residents made the Icy Strait Salmon Cannery their home until Hoonah was rebuilt.

1953 Last year that Icy Strait Salmon Company operated as a full fledged canning operation.

From this point until 1999 the property functioned as a maintenance and support facility for the seine boat fishing fleet.

1954 Fish caught by the Icy Strait Canning Company fleet were transported by Icy Strait fish tenders to Pelican, Alaska and canned by the Pelican Packing Company.

1956 Ownership transferred from Icy Strait Salmon Company to a partnership composed of the Pelican Packing Company, Pelican Cold Storage and the Alaska Transportation Company.

1959 Purchased by the Alaska Transportation Company.

1962 Purchased by Excursion Inlet Packing Company (Wards Cove).

1996 Cannery was purchased by the current owners Huna Totem Corporation.

1999 This was the last year the cannery served as a maintenance and support facility for the seine boat fishing fleet.

2001 July 8th Groundbreaking ceremony for Icy Strait Point, Americas only private cruise ship destination.

2004 May 23rd Celebrity Mercury makes the inaugural call at Icy Strait Point! 2004 32 ships visited.

2005 36 Ships visit Icy Strait Point.

2006 71 Ships visit Icy Strait Point.

2007 80 Ships visit Icy Strait Point,2007 May 14th ZipRider! the worlds largest zipline opens

2008 58 Ships visit Icy Strait Point.

2009 69 Ships visit Icy Strait Point.

2010 64 Ships are scheduled to visit Icy Strait Point.

Below is what the inside of the tender looked like. These are actually part of the Pearls "life raft" fleet. The cruise ship has several different styles of "life raft" vessels. This one carries over 100 people and has enough food and water for 1 -1/2 weeks...can't remember the exact time

The Pearl lowered approximately 10 of these tenders into the water and they acted as water taxis to take the people from the Pearl and up to a smaller pier at Icy Strait Point. Just up the road and around a corner, you could see the town of Hoonah
Here you can see where the Pearl dropped its anchor and the tender boats in the water ferrying people back and forth from Icy Strait Point. It was our first time being tendered and we found it both fun and interesting.
An old boat being fixed up in Icy Strait Point

Below is the the Native Heritage Center Theater where they have an interactive performance showcasing the rich heritage of a people shaped by the wild lands and the mysterious sea. Performing and dancing in their colorful regalia, the Huna Tlingit proudly share their history with you through interpretive song, dance and storytelling. This is your opportunity to absorb the rich history and local culture and join in a traditional celebration. (this information was taken directly from the Icy Strait Point web site)

The NCL Pearl anchored of the coast where Icy Strait Point is located

This is Icy Strait Point

Veronica and I took an approximately 1 1/2 mile bus ride into Hoonah, AK. The photography opportunities were fantastic.

This area had the largest population of ravens that I have ever seen and these birds were huge!

I found these antlers that had been placed up on a high ledge of rocks. So of course I just have to climb up and try to take a photo. I was trying to lean back, while holding the camera in one hand and hanging onto the top of this ledge with the other. I couldn't lean far enough back to get everything in the frame but it was not for lack of trying.

They had several old and abandoned homes in Hoonah. I saw the stove through the window and knew that I had to have a photo of this scene.

There were a lot of interesting boats in the area too...great photo opportunities

Another one of the 20 pound Ravens. This one was giving me the "evil eye"

This is the other Ravens brother. He decided to put me on ignore

Fishing boats of all shapes, sizes and in all types of conditions

This boat was back at Icy Strait Point

As we originally arrived at Icy Strait Point, we were each given a little plastic packet containing the card below and a cedar chip to put in the ceremonial fire

Veronica and I placing are cedar chips in the ceremonial fire

Looks like one of the postcard photos. A German couple offered to take a photo of Veronica and I together. I did not realize that I had the camera set on the "movie" mode. So the guy clicks and he holds it still for about 5 seconds and then gives me the camera back. I did not find out until I was reviewing the photos, that this guy actually took a pretty decent 5-6 second movie of Veronica and I standing under this sign. As it turns out, we had about 12 other couples ask Veronica to take their pictures under the sign. They just kept coming one after another but Veronica did not mind. As soon as there was a break in the action, we were out of there.

I do believe that Veronica and I netted the same fish

Icy Strait Point...inside the red building they had several exhibitions and many shops

Here is an excursion boat...probably for the whale watching cruise

Back to the tender boats so that we could return to the mother ship

Here are a bunch of kayakers that the kayaking tour

At the end of our visit, the skies turned even more gray and you could see the rain shafts. It really was interesting to watch as the rain shafts moved

I really enjoyed our visit to both Icy Strait Point and Hoonah, Alaska. It gave us a brief view of what life is really like in a small Alaska town. I almost forgot to mention...they have the worlds longest zip line ride at Icy Stait Point. I was too chicken to try it out because of the height involved...but wouldn't that have made for a great movie on my camera...but then again I probably would have dropped it. I think that I made the right decision and take a movie of others riding it while I was standing firmly on the ground with my hands doing a death grip on the camera. Tomorrow we will be spending the day in Ketchikan.