Posted on 06/02/2005 8:37:15 PM PDT by CitizenM
Help! We are moving to Kodiak Alaska (ISC USCG) in August. Any FReepers up there? My husband (now retired Coastie, but civilian employee) was there for 3 years and assures me I will love it. Any information about what to expect, how to cope with the long winter nights, info. about housing, etc. will be so much appreciated. Or, just to meet another FReeper would be so nice. You can post or FReepmail me if you want to offer advice and assistance. I am having pangs of withdrawal already leaving my home and family even though I am also excited for the adventure.
Pong.
Ping
Take two week vacations in late January and go way south.
Seriously.
I hear the mosquitoes there are so big, they are capable of picking up pets and small children and carrying them off.
I was there a few times stationed at Shemyia out on the end of the Aleutian Islands and then up at Fairbanks and Clear Alaska. Kodiak Island will be different so take all yer cacooning electronics, games, Sat TV (get that when ya arrive), jacuzzi, etc along with a really good set of rain gear for each member of your family. XM radio desk top reciever or stereo receiver. Every DVD ya can find.
And a very good desktop and laptop as it ain't a run down to a puter store in some of those villes if ya break down.
I also enjoyed a good quality radio scanner from AOR w/ an antenna kit to monitor all the aircraft and ships in my area. If yer a HAM operator all the better.... a no code license is available.
Also a big chest type freezer for all the seafood in the region. And above all else as a minimum a 12 gauge pump shotgun (available when ya arrive also) loaded with slugs as a minimum safety tool against dangerous game. 2 or four footed.
But of all my suggestions.....get a copy of the milepost at your local bookstore. It's updated every year and is something that should be in each car and in yer desk at home for reference.
You'll have a great time...I did as well as my wife and kid. We hated getting transfered but had to go back to a different station in the lower 48. I suspect supply and materials availability are better than when we were in Alaska. So as stated you'll have a great time !!
Stay safe and enjoy....post us a pic of Kodiak when ya arrive. I'd like to see how it's grown.
Frozen-solid PING
Home brewing is a very popular hobby. Take enough for 3 years worth of beer. You'll find use for it.
Low taxes, huge social programs, and a repub legislature that is trying to slow growth in spending. You will find rural areas are more democrat due to lack of economy, fed shutdown of fishing, mining, logging, and just all the people who subsist on that PO box check every month.
Bottomline is even if alaska was highest taxed state; I wouldn't be going anywhere. Adversity begins to grow on ya.
Things are getting accomplished; questions being answered. We go up mid August.
We have decided to rent our house which is close to Ft. Lee, VA....so hoping to find some military tenants since the base is expecting a whopping number of new personnel from another base. Rent up in Kodiak is, however, very expensive. Hope we find something reasonable.
Thanks for your help.
We are here, but some of us hide under previous state flag.
Do get the Milepost and a highlighter. Try to cross off as much as possible. This is a very beautiful place, get out and see it. Do NOT stay inside waiting for the snow to melt.
Wandering Texan chasing Arctic Oil...
-todd
CitizenM
As it happens, I recently talked to (listened to) a guy who had spent a lot of time in Kodiak. He told me a couple of things:
1. Get a VA Medical card: his friend had a catastrophic car wreck, and when they saw his card, immediately chartered a jet to take him to Seattle where the VA took care of him. ($300,000 worth)
2. He was expecting (hoping for) a payment of $1,000,000 as his personal share of the payment to locals (fishermen, etc) for the Exxon Valdez fiasco. They have been waiting for several years while the lawyers delay and appeal.
If #2 is accurate, someday Kodiak will experience serious inflation. I have no way to tell whether either of these points are true, but the local Coasties should know.
Other things from my own memory:
1. Alaska pays each resident a portion of the pipeline revenues each year. I think it is about a thousand, and you have to have been a resident for a year, first.
2. Alaskans claim that the Brown bears/Grizzlies are dangerous, because they tend to be easily annoyed, but people often survive their attacks. They also claim that the Black bears (smaller, and not so cranky) will stalk you with the intent of eating you. The survival rate is therefore low.
3. In support of the above: when I was in Juneau, two teen boys were mostly eaten within 100 yards of the residential area of the city.
4. At that time, one could fish for Halibut commercially with a minimal license, and halibut fishing was good around Kodiak Island.
5. Mosquitoes can be horrendous on the mainland. They probably are on Kodiak.
6. In the summer, Alaskans typically work or play outdoors as long as it is light – probably up to twenty hours at Kodiak. This can be wearying to those from the lower 48.
7. In winter, many tend to hole up and catch up on the rest they missed in summer. (You may note that they often keep their homes warmer that one might usually find down below.)
8. Many Alaskans (probably MOST) are hospitable folks who have learned to help out a neighbor in need. SOME Alaskans have moved their in an attempt to escape the restraints of society in the lower 48. (Even to evade prosecution!) These types get along OK, as long as they don’t get around people. Then, look out.
DG
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