Ok, so what have we been doing here in Homer. Well really nothing but chilling at the Spit. We have met new friends/neighbors and took a ferry ride to Seldovia.
History:
The native residents are mixed Dena'ina Athabaskan Indian and Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) Eskimo. In 1787 or 1788 a Russian fur trade post named Aleksandrovskaia was established at today's Seldovia by hunting parties under Evstratii Ivanovich Delarov, of the Shelikhov-Golikov company, precursor of the Russian-American Company.[4] Although there has been little definitive archeological evidence of human habitation at Seldovia prior to the 1800s, it is said the early Russian St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, started in 1820, was built on top of an older aboriginal Inuit village site. The town's original Russian name, Seldevoy, translates to "Herring Bay", as there was a significant herring population prior to rampant overfishing early in the 20th century.
Until the development of a more complete road system in Alaska, Seldovia was an important "first stop" for ships sailing from Seward, Kodiak and other points outside Cook Inlet. At one time Seldovia was home to over 2000 residents, but today fewer than 300 persons reside year round.
The town was one of many communities along the shores of Cook Inlet, already noted for having one of the most severe tidal movements in North America. Similar to the dramatic tides of Bay of Fundy, the Cook Inlet's waters prior to 1964 would rise or fall 26 feet every six hours during the peak tides. After the Good Friday Earthquake on March 27, 1964, which registered 9.2 on the Richter scale the surrounding land mass dropped six feet.
Seldovia's "boardwalk" was a thick wooden plank and piling, and the town's main street, was built almost entirely along the waterfront. Most of the community's businesses, and many homes were similarly constructed upon pilings on either side of this "street". The sudden sinking of the land caused higher tides, peaking at 32 feet, to completely submerge the boardwalk and flood the homes and businesses along the waterfront. The waterfront was rebuilt (known at the time as "urban renewal") using fill from Cap's Hill, which was demolished to rebuild the town on higher ground.
There is only one small portion of the boardwalk left; this section of the boardwalk was built decades after the original boardwalk and it is known to the town-folk as "the new boardwalk", even though it is now the only boardwalk. The original boardwalk is completely gone, destroyed during the urban renewal process, along with many homes and businesses.
Seldovia has been home to many industries, including fox farming, berry picking and commercial fishing, including King Crab fishing. Logging and mining have also featured in local history. Today charter boats keep busy bringing the visiting sport fishermen to the fishing grounds of Kachemak Bay and other nearby waters.
Ok, One final item, if you want to learn more about Click on the Link
Ok enough about the History of Seldovia, let’s get back to the real world, ok?
We left the dock at 11:00 am and headed out to sea, our expectations? To have fun and enjoy the ride.
So, what did we see and do, now that is a question all of you reading this might asked me, right?
Of course right, so let me show you what we saw:
Of course we ran into Wayne & Kathy while in Homer
One final photo of Susan being bitten by a fish:
As Susan Says SeeYa
Safe Travels and Journeys
Della & Tilly
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