The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society has produced a new brochure with information about historic locations on Sitka's water- front and the various fishing vessels in Sitka's harbors. The brochure is being distributed at visitor information racks around Sitka. Copies also can be obtained by contacting us at sitkamaritime@gmail.com.

  Panelists Joy Light, Grant Miller and John Neilsen shared memories and knowledge of herring reduction plants, commercial herring operations and traditional subsistence herring harvests at the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society annual meeting on February 12. The event drew a full house in the Centennial Hall Maksoutoff Room with members of the audience also sharing their experiences. The Sitka National Historical Park loaned a herring rake for a display, and panelist Joy Light provided dozens of photos from her family's Kuiu Island reduction plant.

   Harry Jimmy, who purchased his Katlian Street shop from mid-twentieth century Sitka boatbuilder Andrew Hope, has donated a number of items from the shop to the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society.  The items, which had once belonged to Hope, include four wooden and two metal planes as well as molds for a Davis-style boat, a yellow cedar bowstem, a pattern for the keel and transom angle, and planking stock.
   The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is incredibly grateful for the donated items, which come form the heyday of wooden boatbuilding in Sitka.  They will be provide a visual link to that era for years to come. Read more here.

    The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is proud to have raised over $25,000 this summer for work on the Japonski Island Boathouse renovation project.  Summer construction is complete, but the renovation project is not over and neither is our fundraising push. 
    You can make an on-line contribution to our project by clicking here.   Thank you for your support and interest in our project!

  The Russian tall ship Pallada stopped in Sitka July 27-29 as part of a four-month tour of the Pacific.  Sitka was one of only two Alaska stops on the tour.  The public was invited to tour the ship, and cadets and officers from the Pallada spent a fair amount of time exploring Sitka and attending a few events with locals during their stay.  The Sitka Maritime Time Heritage Society presented the ship's captain a copy of an 1850 Russian harbor chart of the Sitka Harbor at a reception Thursday evening hosted by the mayor.  
   The Pallada is home ported in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East and serves primarily as a training vessel for students from eight Russian marine institutions.  The ship has 26 sails and masts of over 150-feet tall.  Its visit to Sitka is part of a goodwill voyage to the West Coast of the United States and Canada coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union's first manned space flight.  See more pictures of the Pallada in Sitka in our galleries section.

    Funding for a ground source heat pump at the Japonski Island Boathouse has been approved in the state budget.  Once operational, the pump is estimated to provide over 80 percent of the heating needs for the building at far lower costs than heating oil or electricity.
    The pump will be installed in the fourth stage of boathouse renovation, with heat exchanging tubing being installed in the tidelands at that time.  More information on the pump and its innovative use of technology will be posted in the Boathouse Project section of the website later this summer.

The Sitka Maritime Heritage Society is seeking a new executive director. For information about the position and how to apply, download the file below.

Sitka Maritime Heritage Society Executive Director Andrew Miller can be reached at sitkamaritime@gmail.com.

Our mailing address is Sitka Maritime Heritage Society, P.O. Box 2153, Sitka, AK  99835