_RETROSPECT The 1977 Gulf of Alaska Baidarka Expedition _{By George Dyson}

Thirty years ago, the now-ubiquitous sea kayak was a rarity on the

Pacific Northwest coast. The fleets of Aleut baidarkas that had swept

through Southeast Alaska in the 19th century had vanished without

a trace. In 1977, a small group of boatbuilders decided to bring the

baidarka back to life ...

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1. Two hundred years ago, the coastline of Alaska was governed by the Russian-American Company, a monopoly chartered in 1799 by Emperor Paul under the posthumous instructions of his mother, Catherine the Great. The Russian colonization of North America, beginning with Vitus Bering’s and Alexei Chirikov’s explorations in 1741, and driven by the trade in sea otter furs with China, was characterized by the adoption (and adaptation) of indigenous technology, especially the skin boat. Under Russian supervision, fleets of as many as 700 one-, two-, and three-hatch kayaks (termed baidarkas by the Russians) made annual voyages of several thousand miles from their home bases in the Aleutian archipelago and on Kodiak Island to hunt sea otters along the Southeast Alaskan coast.

Lithograph by F. A. Pettit, 1906, courtesy George Dyson; engraving from Langsdorff’s Voyage Around the World (1812) after a drawing by Ivan Koriukin, ca. 1803, courtesy Bancroft Library

2. The three-hatch baidarka, ranging from about 22 to 30 feet in length, served as the light utility vehicle of the Russian American colonies, carrying non-paddling passengers, as well as equipment ranging from small cannons to medical supplies to the ubiquitous “portable church” — a sturdy, canvas tent that was fully equipped for Russian Orthodox services in remote settlements and even included roll-up icons that could be stowed within the boat.

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