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PostHeaderIcon 1000 miles…. nearly!

Today we hoped to paddle over 1,000 nautical miles since Adak. Just two 11 mile crossings stood in our way. A gentle side wind looked promising but within 20 minutes it found its inner demon and started blowing 25 knots turning a flat sea into a rolling, tumbling, crashing wet and cold fairground ride. Sarah kept disappearing behind breaking crests then reappearing with spray on her face. Happily she was singing to herself in conditions which would have seen her paddling defensively and occasionally squealing at the start of the trip!

We’d been warned that North westerly winds accelerate out of these large bays and can be 10 knots higher than the forecast. Now we know why! We put the sails down as we were worried they’d get damaged in the gusts but still made good progress as an element of the wind was slightly helpful. After lunch on the mainland, we made a one mile crossing to a small island which took half a hour as the wind here was more against us. We debated going for the next 11 mile crossing- it would be possible but slow and tiring. We decided to camp early instead after about 991 miles. We’ll hopefully rest, catch up on sleep and have an early start tomorrow. It’s a similar forecast tomorrow but with a bit of luck the wind will still be asleep at 6.30am!?

We’re camped on a luxuriant bed of lush grass behind a cresent of grey cobbles that have been bulldozed into steep steps by stormy seas. It’s the only decent landing on our small craggy Island. We did find a couple of large bear prints a little way from here so we’ll be using the bear fence tonight incase they are recent. I’m looking forward to bed!

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