Kodiak Archipelago News

Naval engineering firm Glosten and Associates of Seattle will guide the state as it plans a new ocean-going ferry to replace the 49-year-old ferry Tustumena, reports the 'Kodiak Daily Mirror', citing news from a meeting of the state's ferry advisory board in Anchorage. The state is prepared to spend up to $10 million designing the Tustumena, money that has been reserved from the state's vessel replacement fund. The design study report will recommend a particular vessel design, and the state may proceed with procurement at that point.

Afognak is the name of an island, and a mountain in the northern part of the Kodiak Archipelago. It is also the name of a passage between little Whale Island and Afognak Island on the shores of which Kevin O’Leary has 143 wilderness acres and a cabin. So when it came to naming their new boat it is the passage, Afognak Straits, that Kevin O’Leary and his vessel partner, Walter Sargent, chose for their new longliner. Delivered by Fred Wahl Marine of Reedsport Oregon this past summer the Afognak Straits is currently, as of September 20, in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.