A 2.316Mb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE
I’ve surveyed all over Alaska and almost every place is pretty cool, interesting, and exotic in some form or fashion. But this is my favorite location to work… the Aleutian Archipelago. A true gem on earth, raw beauty. The weather can sometimes be absolutely brutal but when it’s nice, it’s really really nice plus they don’t have bears or bugs. This is Akutan Island, its basically one big active volcano and is also home to the Trident Seafood Plant. The crabbing boats you see on Discovery Channel’s "Deadliest Catch" show come in here to dump their harvest. The town used to be supported by two Grumman Goose flying boats. But they were built back in the 1940’s and it was getting to difficult to maintain them anymore so they built a hovercraft base to service the seafood plant and village. I’m not sure that was such a good idea, though. During weather conditions such as this it works fine but most of the time the wind and wave action are too much for the hovercraft to deal with. Most people trying to get out or in end up hitching a 6 hour ride on a fishing boat to get to and from Dutch Harbor. Here we are surveying a route from the Village of Akutan to the hovercraft base at the end of the bay.
A 2.316Mb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE