Archive for the ‘kayaking’ Category

Our 18 mile crossing to Unga went smoothly. The NW wind was lighter than forecast but gave us a gentle nudge, especially with the sails up. We passed two tiny islands to break it up.
Yesterday when we were figuring out where best to meet the Tiglax, we had considered camping on Jude island which the pilot described as “150feet high, rounded and grassy on top, rocky coast”. It was quite calm so we thought we might be able to land on the sheltered side. When we mentioned this idea to Captain Billy Pepper, he was quick to discourage us saying it’s full of sea lions. Today we discovered he was spot on. Landing on the rocks would have been tricky enough but there wasn’t a square metre without a snorting, stinky, blubbery mammal guarding the lovely looking flat grass. We’d have been very disappointed to arrive and discover we had to paddle on another 9 miles to Unga.

Our destination on Unga was a petrified forest that a few people have told us about. We needed water so landed by a river – in fact we waded up the river at low tide and are camped on the bank. In amongst the rocks we discovered small chunks of black and silvery tree that had been turned to stone. The grain of the wood and even knots are preserved. It looks just like a tree, except it’s a lot heavier. I would have probably explored further but I’m bunged up with cold and am feeling a bit low on energy this evening. I’ve been lying down for the last 3 hours trying to sleep while Sarah had done all the jobs, including walk 20 minutes for water as it’s brackish for quite some distance – Thanks Sarah! I’ve already told her I’m going to pretend to be ill tomorrow even if I’m better.

We won’t be having a relaxing nights sleep just yet though as the sea is creeping up the river at an alarming rate. What we thought was the last high tide line is already covered at 3 and a half hours before high water at just before 2am. If we’re unlucky we might have to pick the tent and contents up in the dark and move into the uneven spiky grass.

Tomorrow we hope to reach Sand Point and take a few days off to rest, relax and do a few jobs. From there it’s just over 400 miles to Homer as the crow flies – a bit more as the paddler paddles.

Today was always going to be a short hop to the next island or a 30+ miler to Unga island. With a light easterly against us we opted for an earlier finish.The 18 mile crossing can wait until tomorrow when it’s meant to be NWerly.

Today’s exciting news is that we had visitors. The Tiglax, the fisheries and wildlife boat that called in to offer us breakfast and showers in lava cove all those weeks ago is on her way back to Homer. She passed us today and once more Captain Billy Pepper invited us aboard. Last time we were about to undertake our longest crossing of the trip so we turned down the shower and rushed off to go paddling. This time we gladly accepted. It was great to have a more relaxed chat with Billy and the crew and get a bit more advice on our route ahead from someone who has 30 years experience of these waters. Last, but definitely not least, on our crossing to Amukta we were kept going by a most delicious chocolate Brownie made by Ryan, the Tiglax chef. Since that day, Sarah has been known to say more than once “why did we only take one! ” Today by special request, we were given some more yummy Brownies to take back to our tent! There are plenty to keep us going tonight and on our 18 mi le
crossing tomorrow. Thank you Ryan, Billy and the crew! It was great to come aboard.

We’re now relaxing in the tent on a patch of grass and wild flowers above a lovely crescent of sand beach. Contorted columnar joined cliffs frame the bay. Birds are chirping in the background and we’re making pizza. Later we’ll go glass ball hunting on this bear-free island. And of course our great day will end with Brownies!

We had near prefect wind conditions today, about 15 knots almost directly behind us with small predictable waves you could surf a bit. We made the most of it, put up our flat earth sails and covered 31 miles in 8 hours paddling. The sun even came out towards the end of the day. We’d like a conveyor belt like that again please!

We had fairly late launch after a fun and busy one and a half days in King Cove. Some of the local kids tried out our kayaks and it was great to see their smiles at being on the water. Time goes so quickly when we are in communities. The King Cove Corporation kindly put us up at the Fleets Inn motel and Della Trumble and her niece Jada showed us around the town of 900 permanently residents and 600 employees of the Peter Pan seafood cannery. We had a good feed in their mess Hall and in the local Chinese restaurant. A tour of the cannery was really interesting. Whole salmon come shooting in on a conveyor belt and not too many minutes later go shooting out in cans. In between, different people have specified roles, starting with picking out by-catch, to slimers who take out any innards that the mechanised chopper misses, people who make sure the cans are full enough, to fork lift drivers who take the crates of cooked cans from the oven. 220 full cans are produced from one line every
minute and they have 6 lines they can operate at once. If you have a tin of salmon in your larder check the number on the top. If it starts with 36 then it was caught and canned in King cove.

While we were in King cove a young bear was shot in someone’s yard. He dug his way into the yard where the dog, and probably some dog food was. It was sad to see the dead bear and also humbling to think we could get unlucky and come across an aggressive bear. We always hear mixed opinions about bears. Some people say we’ll barely see them and they’ll run away if they see or hear us. Others are more worried about us in bear country. I guess I took solace in the fact that there are lots of plump salmon around at the moment so bears should be full and content. The bear trying to get into sometimes yard worried me as it didn’t fit with my feel good theory. I was more relieved when someone pointed out the dog food in the yard. It was probably the smell of this that attracted the bear rather than the dog. We will continue to cook away from the tent and not have food in the tent. Tonight we are on an offshore island where there are no bears and we’ll continue to do this where possi ble.

We’re both quite tired from not quite enough sleep in King cove so time for some shut eye!

We had near prefect wind conditions today, about 15 knots almost directly behind us with small predictable waves you could surf a bit. We made the most of it, put up our flat earth sails and covered 31 miles in 8 hours paddling. The sun even came out towards the end of the day. We’d like a conveyor belt like that again please!

We had fairly late launch after a fun and busy one and a half days in King Cove. Some of the local kids tried out our kayaks and it was great to see their smiles at being on the water. Time goes so quickly when we are in communities. The King Cove Corporation kindly put us up at the Fleets Inn motel and Della Trumble and her niece Jada showed us around the town of 900 permanently residents and 600 employees of the Peter Pan seafood cannery. We had a good feed in their mess Hall and in the local Chinese restaurant. A tour of the cannery was really interesting. Whole salmon come shooting in on a conveyor belt and not too many minutes later go shooting out in cans. In between, different people have specified roles, starting with picking out by-catch, to slimers who take out any innards that the mechanised chopper misses, people who make sure the cans are full enough, to fork lift drivers who take the crates of cooked cans from the oven. 220 full cans are produced from one line every
minute and they have 6 lines they can operate at once. If you have a tin of salmon in your larder check the number on the top. If it starts with 36 then it was caught and canned in King cove.

While we were in King cove a young bear was shot in someone’s yard. He dug his way into the yard where the dog, and probably some dog food was. It was sad to see the dead bear and also humbling to think we could get unlucky and come across an aggressive bear. We always hear mixed opinions about bears. Some people say we’ll barely see them and they’ll run away if they see or hear us. Others are more worried about us in bear country. I guess I took solace in the fact that there are lots of plump salmon around at the moment so bears should be full and content. The bear trying to get into sometimes yard worried me as it didn’t fit with my feel good theory. I was more relieved when someone pointed out the dog food in the yard. It was probably the smell of this that attracted the bear rather than the dog. We will continue to cook away from the tent and not have food in the tent. Tonight we are on an offshore island where there are no bears and we’ll continue to do this where possi ble.

We’re both quite tired from not quite enough sleep in King cove so time for some shut eye!