Fairway Island, Affleck Canal

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Fairway Island, Affleck Canal

by | Aug 31, 2023

Fairway Island is on the southeastern coast of Kuiu Island, in Sumner Strait at the entrance to Affleck Canal, about 86 miles (139 km) southeast of Sitka and 71 miles (115 km) southwest of Wrangell, Alaska. The island was named in 1886 by Lieutenant Commander A.S. Snow, for marking the fairway, or the navigable channel, into Affleck Canal.

Kuiu Island lies between Kupreanof Island to the east and Baranof Island to the west. The island is 65 miles (105 km) long, and 6-14 miles (10-23 km) wide. The island is 748 square miles (193,731 ha) and is the 15th largest island in the United States. The entire island is part of Tongass National Forest. The island was first surveyed by Joseph Whidbey and James Johnstone in 1793–94 during Vancouver’s Voyage of Discovery. Johnstone first explored the northwestern coast of Kuiu Island in the spring and summer of 1794.

Affleck Canal was charted in 1793 by Joseph Whidbey, master of HMS Discovery. The bay extends 20 miles (32 km) north from Sumner Strait and nearly bisects the island. Vancouver named the bay for Admiral Philip Affleck, a contemporary of Vancouver in the Royal Navy, and who was in command of the Jamaica Station at Port Royal before being promoted to a Lord of the Admiralty in 1793. Read more here and here. Explore more of Fairway Island here:

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