Haines woke up Tuesday morning to fog horns and a surprise cruise ship after a second rock slide event above Skagway’s railroad dock diverted a Star Princess cruise ship to town.
Haines merchants took advantage of the additional 2,700 people in town.
Tom and Liz Heywood sold their bookstore on Friday and were enjoying retirement Tuesday morning when they heard about the news on KHNS.
“We immediately quit drinking coffee and tried to get ahold of (the new owner) by text but didn’t hear from her so Tom went over to let her know and we came down and opened the store because that’s what you do when a cruise ship comes in unexpectedly,” Liz Heywood said.
She said customers starting streaming in as soon as Tom unlocked the door around 9:15 a.m.
Some cruise ship passengers didn’t seem to mind the detour.
Phil and Chris Notarange from Bel Air, Md spent part of the afternoon basking in the sun on the bench at the corner of Main Street and Third Avenue.
Phil Notarange, who plays the role of a cabinet member on the Netflix series “House of Cards,” said the cruise ship’s captain informed passengers at about 6:30 a.m. that they would be stopping in Haines because of a “mud slide” near the Skagway dock.
“I don’t know what Skagway’s like but it doesn’t matter,” Phil Notarange said. “To come where we can wear short sleeves, and have clean air and bright sun is great.”
The first rockslide above Skagway’s railroad dock occurred less than two weeks ago after heavy rains the night before. That slide prompted two ships to tie up at other docks.
White Pass and Yukon Route owns and operates the railroad dock. The company called in geotechnical engineers to survey the area, who gave the go ahead for ships to continue to tie up.
The same engineer is working with an engineer Skagway Borough Manager Scott Hahn hired to gather data on the steep cliffs that are prone to slides.
“Our engineer came (Tuesday) and today the White Pass engineer is going to go up there and do measurements,” Hahn said. “Data points are long established there to see if anything is moving at all and assess future risks.”
Skagway bound cruise ships for the next few days are docking at the aft end of the railroad dock and lightering tourists to the small boat harbor, White Pass marketing manager Tyler Rose said.
Rose wouldn’t comment when asked about the engineer’s report issued after the Aug. 26 slide.
Tuesday’s closure of the dock could mean additional ships heading to Haines. Haines Tourism Director Carolann Wooten said she’s waiting to hear what happens with the railroad dock. “I would suppose it’s a possibility. (Wednesday) we have a Holland America ship in but we have an open dock Thursday, Friday and Saturday so anything’s possible.”
With the closure of the railroad dock, Skagway can only accommodate three cruise ships. Four ships are scheduled to dock in Skagway on Tuesday.
Craig McCormick lives aboard a charter boat on the “A” float in the Skagway boat harbor. He was drinking coffee when he heard the slide.
“I jumped up and it sounded like a waterfall around there,” McCormick said.
He took pictures just after the slide until he was chased away by White Pass personnel. He’s concerned about a large rock “the size of two houses” at the top of the cliff in the slide zone.
“It’s not if it’s coming down,” McCormick said. “It’s when it’s coming down.”