Nailed the abandoned salmon cannery . . .

[numbertwopencil]

I spent maybe four years working in various salmon canneries in Alaska. The canneries were in decline by the time I started working as a fish slimmer, cannery line worker, net repairer, and tender loader but a few of the big facilities that were started in the 1920s were still operational. I spent time on boats but most of my time was spent working in canneries.

My favorite cannery, located in one of my favorite places in Alaska, was the old Ward's Cove cannery in Port Bailey, on the northwest coast of Kodiak Island. The abandoned cannery in Bleak Inlet nails the look and feel of an abandoned cannery brilliantly. There are times wandering through Bleak Inlet that I think: I'm in Port Bailey. Pretty much every detail feels right to me, from the location of the buildings and docks on the shore, to the slime line sinks, to the debris scattered around the the old machine shop and the bunkhouses, to the half-sunk abandoned boats. The large salmon canneries were tiny cities with massive supply rooms, shops to repair everything, bunk houses, kitchens, radio rooms, stores to sell cigarettes and supplies to set net workers in the area, dry docks, and so on. All of the buildings at Bleak Inlet, the trails between the bunk houses and the docks, the radio towers, and so on all seem, to me, to be where they should be. (I'm pretty sure Bleak Inlet is _not_ based on Port Bailey. I'd guess, however, that it might be based, at least in part, on of one of the abandoned canneries in BC, maybe the old section of the Namu cannery?)

There is, however, one huge difference between Bleak Inlet and the canneries I visited. Bears were always an issue and we usually carried a rifle when we went hiking but, whew, I'm glad there were no timberwolves.

Here's a photo and a lovely article (not written by me) about the end of the Ward's Cove cannery in Port Bailey, AK:

https://trampset.org/decline-fall-of-a-great-alaskan-cannery-94b137ce4da5

[swith]

That's awesome, the atmosphere of this game really is incredible. Thank you for the article link, too, it's a great read.

[PowerOn]

Nice experience. Thank you.

[IFIYGD]

Really good article, really enjoyed that read.
Thanks for sharing it, would have never found it on my own, even with good Google-fu going.
I am guessing salmon canneries work pretty much the same as sardine canneries do.
Can't imagine what that type of life is like, even being a former farmer, down here in the US. That's some serious living.

[H34VY_R41N]

Great post. It's a joy to read.

[markwars]

I love this kind of stuff! Thanks for sharing this.

[chigger]

numbertwopencil, thank you for describing for us the setting of the canneries where you worked, and that The Long Dark nailed it. Great post and thread.