It’s near the end of our first day on Amukta island, an island I’m told no one really comes to much as it’s pretty desolate with only a couple of possible landing places. After getting to bed after 2am we didn’t get up until just after midday, I guess 16 hours of paddling takes its toll! So everything is happening pretty late today, I’m just cooking pasta on the fire at 8 30pm.

We only decided to do the big crossing yesterday morning at 5am when we woke up and checked the weather forecast. Saturday had been looking like the better day but Friday’s winds has swung round to be N and NW and light (helpful as opposed to the earlier prediction for NE). Saturdays light following wind had picked up to 17 knots in the afternoon with the threat of stronger winds later that could come in early. We had got everything ready the night before incase that happened. The only issue was that we had a breakfast date at 5.30am. The Tiglax, a fish and wildlife ship had offered to call in on us on her way to Adak from Homer. I’d phoned her captain Billy Pepper before the trip as he’s been skippering these waters for years. He’d given us lots of useful information on currents, weather patterns etc. Now he offered us breakfast and a shower. Andy brought a skiff to the beach to pick us up and took us to the mother ship. It felt very big and more like a house than a boa t! I
kept forgetting I was on the sea until the floor suddenly moved. We declined the shower as we wanted to get kayaking but we enjoyed a hearty breakfast of pancakes, sausages, maple syrup and yoghurt, and a quick chat with Billy and some of the crew and scientists on board. They also pressed the extra pancakes and sausages into our hands, and a couple of Brownies. Those were very welcome additions to our on the water food. The Brownies were amazing!

We set off paddling at 8am, a later start than ideal for a 45+ mile day but with the wind helping we hoped we’d arrive before dark at 11ish. I figured I’d rather arrive in the dark on a calm day than cross on Saturday when it could be windier. The tide gave us a push along the South side of Seguam and we covered the 7 miles in less than 2 hours. The place we’d earmarked for a campsite on the SE corner didn’t look that great so we were glad we’d stayed in lovely Lava Cove. Once in the pass, open to swell from all directions and subject to stronger currents, the sea felt twitchy, like a sleeping giant that could wake at any moment. For no obvious reason, tidal rips would form randomly and the current changed direction often and without any pattern that I could see. The wind was probably a maximum of 10 knots all day so I was glad we weren’t stirring the giant with stronger gusts.

We expected the flooding tide to take us North to start with but first it was against us and then the opposite happened and we were taken South. This reversed several times including 6 hours later at exactly the time I was expecting it to start flooding North again, except it started going south. We’d originally intended to aim at Amukta and let the tide take us North and South but when we realised that the tide wasn’t predictable and anything could happen, we started adjusting our bearing as the current changed to stay roughly on target. We had 2 choices for camping on Amukta, a cove on the North or a beach on the South. At one point it looked like the current would take us to the northern spot but for the last few hours we were pulled South so the decision was made for us (given the imminent arrival of darkness). We could see the island from about 25 miles away, first a smudge on the horizon then the snowy flanks of it’s central volcano slowly taking shape.

We made good speed for the first 11 hours. The sails helped at times as did an element of the current. Just as we felt confident we’d land in the light, with just 10 miles to go, our speed dropped to 2 knots. The current was against us for the next 3 and a half hours and we inched forward, watching the clock tick down. What we’d expected to take 3 hours, was now going to take 5. Even with a final helpful push, we arrived at the headland just as all it’s features disappeared into blackness. Luckily there was very little swell and we could still make out the outlines of rocks in the water.

A loud grunt made us aware there were some sea lions on the rocks. Splashing and honking revealed about 15 more in the water directly in front of us. I could just make out silhouettes of them craning their necks up to get a good look at us. Since they were in a channel that we had to pass through, Sarah started taking to them loudly telling them to go away, “nothing to see here”. They did make way for us and we headed in towards the beach. Billy had shown us a sketch of the bay with a sand/ boulder beach in both corners, separated by a lava flow. We could see the lava flow and headed for a lower section to the right. Sarah landed first on a steep cobble beach with a small amount of surge. We managed to drag the boats up out of the wash zone and I was suddenly really cold, achy and tired. It was midnight, not surprising perhaps after being up since 5am and after16 hours of nearly continuous paddling, with just a short break every hour.

It was 2am by the time we snuggled up in our sleeping bags on a black sand beach above the cobbles. This morning ( well, afternoon) it was fun to get out the tent and see our surroundings for the first time. The volcano is an impressive backdrop, even shrouded in cloud. The black beach is littered with driftwood and the craggy lava flow dominates the landscape….it looks like we’ll have another day off paddling tomorrow as it’s due to be pretty windy.