Over 200 community members made their way to the Unalaska Spit on Friday afternoon to hop on board the Kimball Express.
The United States Coast Guard invited the community to spend the afternoon touring the cutter, where visitors learned how to tie knots, throw heaving lines on deck and sip hot cocoa in the mess hall. Santa and his elves were also spotted on board.
The Kimball’s home port is in Honolulu, but the cutter spends a lot of time in the Bering Sea, with Dutch Harbor being a regular stop. Captain Allen Craig said that Coast Guard cutters are in town often, but he understands there can be a disconnect between crew and community.
“We love the community here, and we really wanted to do some kind of community engagement, just to kind of say thank you,” he said. “We feel very welcome while we're here.”
First officer Eric Quigley said that it’s hard being away from home during the holidays, and hosting an event like this helped spread cheer to the crew.
“It is a little challenging being underway and away from our loved ones right now,” he said. “This helped bring some of those same senses that you get with the different festivities when you're back home.”
Craig added that it was especially heartwarming to see so many people from the community, including the Unalaska Fire Department — which showed up with fire trucks and holiday music to help celebrate.
