The aging ferry dock in Tenakee Springs, pictured here in February. The town will see the LeConte twice in June after its May sailings were cancelled. (Photo by Ari Snider/KCAW)
Pelican will get monthly ferry service this summer after all. A revised Alaska Marine Highway schedule released today [Friday 4-24-20] restores monthly sailings to the remote community on western Chichagof Island. And there’s some better news on the other side of the island as well: After having its May sailings cancelled, Tenakee Springs will now see the ferry LeConte twice in June.
Both towns were hit hard by the winter breakdown of the ferry system. Neither has had a sailing since October of last year, frustrating the towns’ mayors as well as many residents. Being left off the draft summer schedule entirely only added insult to injury. Business owners in particular were left scrambling for alternative options to move freight during the summer months.
The Department of Transportation later revised that schedule, sending the LeConte to Pelican and Tenakee in May, but those trips were recently cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.
Instead, the LeConte will now sail once a month to Pelican from June through September. It will also make two trips to Tenakee in June.
