seven hours around a broken dock

and as of today, nobody has to make that drive anymore.

The ferry dock in Skagway is open again. It shut down last month after staff spotted structural damage, and once crews looked closer it got worse.

Cracks spidering through the concrete support that holds the vehicle ramp, and nineteen chains holding the float in place, every one of them needing repair.

All nineteen are fixed. The ramp is reset. Electricians were still bringing the power back as of this week. Which is the unglamorous part of running a ferry system.

While it was down, the people it hit were the ones with somewhere to be. Seasonal workers trying to get out at the end of the season. And the teams running the Klondike Road Relay, an overnight race that covers more than a hundred miles, who had to solve it themselves.

Some of them drove about seven hours around from Haines. Others paid for private boats.

One of the race organizers said the relay is as much a feat of logistics as it is athleticism, which was true this year in a way nobody wanted.

The state transportation spokesman explained why they waited to call it fixed. He said something could happen, and he'd feel bad telling people to cancel their backup plans and then having it go wrong.