(Originally published September/October 2019)
By Capt. Tred Barta
Most people remember Valdez, Alaska, as the place of the great oil spill. Today that 1989 incident is only a monument and a place where the earth has healed itself, and it remains the most breathtaking place on earth. I have traveled around the globe three times and that includes the greatest mountain areas of the world and quite frankly I have never seen anything like Valdez.
On March 27, 1964 a mega-thrust earthquake struck Alaska about 15 miles below Prince William sound halfway between Anchorage and Valdez. The quake had a magnitude of 9.2, making it the second-most powerful earthquake ever recorded. The tsunami that was created wiped out the entire town, killing about 50 people who were accounted for, and sealed the fate of Valdez forever.
Well, that’s what the world thought, but due to the fortitude of some of the toughest men and women who ever walked the earth, the entire town was rebuilt. Today Valdez is a vibrant major port that marks the end point of the entire Alaskan pipeline. It is here that most of Alaska’s oil is pumped into huge transport ships and distributed around the world. Valdez infrastructure reflects oil money that is present; public buildings are overbuilt strong and beautiful, their hospital is way above the normal small town.
Valdez also has a vibrant charter fishing fleet and a large commercial seiner fleet. Two large modern up-to-date marinas are full to the gills in summer and fall. If one stands
