Namu 05.30.2013

Then it was off to Namu!

After a 4 hour run we arrived at Namu. 

This is a place right out of the Sci-Fi show the Twilight Zone.  You arrive at this falling down cannery with an old rusting hulk of a Japanese fishing boat in front.  The docks are old and everything is falling down.  Everything looks abandoned.  Ron & Lynn stopped in and spoke with the caretakers on the way in but didn’t stay long enough to walk around the old buildings. 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

In its boom time, this cannery town had 600 people living here in the winter and over 2,000 people in the summer!  Namu began as a sawmill in 1893 and was purchased by B.C. Packers and made into a cannery in 1912.  The cannery closed in 1980 and has just deteriorated from that time. 

The caretakers during the winter months move their home and sawmill which are on barges to a more protected cove deeper in the cove near a river stream.  The river powers a small electrical turbine for power which gives them electricity for their workshop and of course the satellite TV and internet!!  Oh my goodness!  This is taking living in a trailer to a whole new level!!

 

 

Marty & Jelly (pronounced YELL-ee) took Marty’s fish boat, which has been nicknamed “A&W”, into explore the old buildings and met the caretaker who gave them a tour of the buildings.  They said it was like walking back in time.  Jelly said that the caretaker spends time everyday in the gardens and so there are flowers everywhere!  You can’t see them from the water you have to go walk around on shore. 

Unfortunately this will be the last season that the caretakers will be at Namu.  They have decided to move to a more populated area as they are getting older and the winters are getting to hard.  Hopefully this old cannery will be saved in some capacity.

While we were anchored in Rock Inlet we met Paul & Carol who are the new owners of a sailboat named “Raven’s Way”.  They purchased the sailboat in Oregon (seems everyone is buying a boat from OR!) and are sailing their way home to Alaska.  They live in Palmer and will be storing the boat in Seward which is a few hours away.  It will be interesting to see how they make this work.