Today we decided to visit the town of Valdez. The weather was still very cloudy with rain threatening. Although we had discussed taking a boat trip out on Prince William Sound, the weather just wasn’t cooperating.
First we went to the seafood processing plant to see about buying fresh fish. The Peter Pan processing plant, like most of the processors we have seen, provides dormitories for the workers. They are usually quite shabby but have gotten rid of the former tent cities.
To get to the Peter Pan office we had to walk through the worker’s break room, into the processing factory, and up some metal stairs. (Hint, you probably don’t ever want to go through a cannery tour.) Peter Pan had no fresh fish for sale. They told us that they were canning all available fish. Apparently much of the salmon is canned rather than sold as filets. Based on conversations with Alaskans it seems that they prefer canned salmon, both regular and smoked. We weren’t interested in canned salmon.
Next we decided to walk along the small waterfront. As was the case on Friday, there appeared to be many fishing boats in the harbor. I was wondering, if this is the prime fishing season, why are so many boats in the harbor. Later I learned that instead of issuing a quota to each boat, the Dept of Fish and Game opens fish season every few days. For example, the season might be open only Monday, Wednesday and Friday of a particular week.
You can see the fish cleaning table in the front of this picture.
We hoped to take an ocean kayak trip from Valdez – but not in the rain. I thought these kayaks were pretty as they floated waiting for customers.
It does appear in most places we’ve been that there is surplus capacity. Places are not crowded and there don’t appear to be many tourists.
As we walked along the waterfront we noticed that every car had a plug sticking out of the hood. The plug is to plug in the electric engine heater in winter.
In addition to being known for the Good Friday Earthquake and the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, Valdez often receives record snowfalls. The town averages 325 inches of snow each year plus 64 inches of rain. This place is wet!
We went out to the old Valdez town site (pre-1967) that is 4 miles away. There isn’t much to see there, only the concrete foundation of the former post office.
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