By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Some young Sitka surfers recently enjoyed catching waves on the spectacular coastline near Yakutat.
While some who attended the Yakutat Surf Club in July had prior experience on the water, for others it was an entirely novel activity.
Aliyah Merculief, 15, has often watched the surf hit the shore in Sitka, but had never surfed in Alaska waters before. She was impressed by the size of the Yakutat surf compared to Sitka’s.
4-H youths from Sitka and Pelican participate recently in a two-day surf camp in Yakutat. From left are Landon LaDuke, Alley Slater, Aliya Merculief and Emily Pound. (Photo by Bethany Goodrich).
Participants in the Yakutat Surf Camp pose for a picture on the beach in Yakutat on July 24. The Yakutat Surf Club, which has been around for four years, and the Sitka Conservation Society Sitka Spruce Tips 4-H program sponsored the two-day camp. (Photo provided by Bethany S. Goodrich)
“The waves were really crazy at first, because they’re a lot different from here,” Merculief recalled. “They called them whitewater waves because when they crash they would make whitewater.” By comparison, Sitka has “baby waves,” she said.
Prior to her trip to Yakutat she had surfed once in Hawaii, but she said the experience in northern waters was quite different. She attended the camp in the last week of July.
Aside from surfing, she enjoyed meeting new people.
“Definitely surfing, but the experience, I guess,” she said. “Meeting people that surfed that were from a lot of places and some people that already lived in Yakutat and it was cool how they were already used to it.”
Landon LaDuke, a Sitka sixth grader, also attended the surf camp. He arrived July 22 with no surfing experience, but was eager to learn.
“My first time surfing was actually in Yakutat… I just like boogie boarding and surfing,” he said. “I liked everything,” he added.
Like Merculief, LaDuke took note of the unusual and beautiful beaches.
“Really sandy beach, and it was black sand,” he said.
Although he’s a multi-sport athlete already, the 11-year-old is new to water sports.
“It’s a lot different than all the sports I do because none of the sports I do have a board involved with it, or being on the water,” he said. “The waves were really nice. The people were really nice. Everything was awesome about it.”
About 240 miles northwest of Sitka, the Yakutat foreland juts into the Gulf of Alaska and is flanked by immense, glaciated peaks and ice fields. South and east of town, sandy beaches ideal for surfing stretch for dozens of miles through the Tongass National Forest and into Glacier Bay National Park.
The area’s surfing beaches have long been known to enthusiasts in Sitka who make seasonal excursions to ride the spectacular waves.
Yakutat has a year-round population of about 600, but it has the advantage of regular mainline jet service by Alaska Airlines. The airport, originally a military airfield, has two paved runways, each well over a mile long.
The Yakutat Surf Club, which runs the nonprofit surf camps, was founded in 2019. The camp was organized in conjunction with the Sitka Conservation Society and the Sustainable Southeast Partnership.
The club’s website (https://yakutatsurfclub.com) says its purpose “is to empower, educate, and inspire community through exposure to the Tlingit culture and the ocean.”
Camp director Gloria Wolfe, who is Tlingit and grew up in Yakutat, stressed the cultural values of the camp.
“It’s so healing. I feel like people are drawn to this camp,” she told the Sentinel today. “Once you’re able to go it feels so important because of the healing component of the ocean, because of the way we are able to support one another and uplift one another. The camp is open to anybody and everybody… and allows an opportunity for youth who maybe wouldn’t get along otherwise. They get to see each other in this place and it breaks down boundaries.”
Wolfe has been camp director the past three years. “It’s important that our Indigenous youth feel like and understand and fully embrace that they can bring their Indigenous identity to all places and all spaces at all times, including surf camp,” she said.
As camp director and lifeguard, safety is a key part of her job, she said.
“Through my career I’ve hosted many culture camps and Tlingit language conferences, kind of like an event planner kind of vibe for Indigenous activities… Making sure that we have lifeguards on the beach and making sure that we have a safety plan, that was the biggest thing for me when I went on the team – how are we being safe,” Wolfe said. “Because I’m a lifeguard, I brought that mentality to it, and this year I finally decided to surf.”
Attending the camp costs families nothing, she added, and a typical session includes between 30 and 50 kids. The final Yakutat Surf Club session for the summer is scheduled this weekend. Later this month a handful of camp alumni will travel to California for another surf camp.
Aliyah Merculief and Landon LaDuke have high praise for their summer adventure.
“I would really like to go back to surf camp,” Landon said.
“I want to go every summer!” said Aliyah.
