Category: kayaking

Wow, today is day 50 of our Aleutians journey. To celebrate our half century, we endured a short battle into a nasty, gusty headwind, progressing just 6 miles before deciding our time would be better spent resting up on a beach waiting for less tiring weather. As we pulled up onto a rare brown sand beach, our total mileage notched up above 600 nautical miles which means we are approaching half way to Homer. That puts Sarah on target to win the sweepstakes on how long it will take us- she said 100 days, I reckoned 83. But with luck we’ll have less days off due to weather now we’ve nearly completed the Aleutian Islands part. We’ve had 21 days off so far, often while waiting for good weather for a crossing. But just 3 more crossings now lie between us and the Alaskan peninsula so maybe we’ll speed up a bit?

We chose the east end of our beach to set up camp as the other side was occupied with the great brown hulks of 11 sea lions, sprawled out on the sand. They were oblivious to us as we made a fire and cooked our sweet potatoes and onions in the coals. Occasionally one would sit up and growl at the others or have a scratch of his nose with a long flipper but mostly they would just lie and snooze. Later we crept up above them in the grass and watched them and took photos. I looked through binoculars and could see every whisker and every raw red scar on their blubbery bodies. I think they were all big males so perhaps they are too young, too old or too ugly to have a harem of women on a rock somewhere?

We’d hoped to reach Aiktak island less than 15 miles from here as 2 biologists are working there and have invited us to call in and stay at their “puffin palace”. Today’s wind was creating 2 foot white caps in a bay just a mile wide so we soon decided that crossing a 3 mile wide pass in strong currents with a fetch of several hundred miles probably wasn’t a great idea. Once we abandoned that objective it was an easy choice to stop at the next possible campsite. It’s likely we’ll have a day off tomorrow in more strong winds and hopefully get to Aiktak on Thursday. Hopefully we’ll manage to nail our biggest remaining crossing to Unimak island on Friday – if the forecast stays similar.

For now I’m looking forward to reading, eating and exploring tomorrow.

We came close to a collision today- and not with a boat! As we at started out across Akun strait, our attention moved from studying the small breaking waves to a sudden loud roar. The small plane that flies from Dutch Harbour to Akun was hurtling towards us not that far above the water. Whoosh and he was past leaving Sarah and I amazed and amused. It was a bold hello from the pilot and one that had me bursting into spontaneous giggles regularly for the rest of the day!

What a day it was. We enjoyed most of it in the community of Akutan, chatting to some of the 80 people who live in the village, visiting a small museum in the library, eating ice cream and driving through the massive Trident fish processing plant which employs hundreds of seasonal workers. The small cluster of bright houses linked by a wooden boardwalk had a happy, friendly feel to it. The locals again showed us great kindness with gifts of halibut chowder, canned salmon and seagull egg pie ( a delicious rich egg custard). Yesterday we relaxed in a steam bath (a wood fired sauna) and were offered a bed by nurse Wendy. It was Wendy’s quad bike “ambulance” that took us around the fish plant.

It’s always sad to leave these communities and I felt guilty leaving after just 26 hours but it’s due to get windier tomorrow from the NE and we wanted to cross some passes while we had good visibility and only a light headwind. It turned into a beautiful evening and we just kept going making the most of calm seas, sunkissed islands, and a helpful push from the tide at times. We launched at 4pm and landed on a steep boulder beach on Tigalda island at just before midnight, watched by a fox, a seal and an otter as the last pink glow lit up the sky.

Tomorrow? We’ll see how windy it is and it won’t be an early start!

Jagged cliffs 100 metres away were disconcertingly hidden from view. The world was grey. It was hard to see where the sea ended and the fog began. As we discussed whether to make a 12 mile crossing to Akutan island, the low hum of fishing boats carried clearly through the murk. Sarah wasn’t keen and we turned and headed East along Unalaska island. Plan B involved island hopping; shorter crossings but stronger tides and more chance of rough water. The 3 mile Unalga pass was predicted to be flooding at 5.6 knots. We approached half an hour before slack and tentatively nudged out into the ruffled water. Land soon faded to grey behind us and we hoped no boats had waited for slack to travel through the pass. A few white caps livened things up a bit but the crossing went well. We spotted the pinnacles off a headland when we were almost upon it.

“Pfffff”, the unmistakable exhalation of a whale was really close. And again. “11o’clock, 100 metres away”, I called to Sarah. The small humpback rose to the surface through the mist six more times before diving deeper with a glorious flick of his tail. It amused me that our best whale sighting so far was in a near white out.

We decided to make the most of the east going ebb tide and cross to Akutan island. This worked great and we reached 6 knots in the strongest current. A mile from Akutan, the faint outline of a high mountain emerged in monochrome. Within seconds it took on colour as we burst out of the low band of fog that had trapped us all day. How great to see the vibrant green of the hillsides and the deep blue of the sea and sky. We enjoyed a few hours of sunshine and pretty views until we landed on a steep pebble beach after a varied and enjoyable day of 26 miles. The downside of not having much wind is there are thousands of flies swarming around dead seaweed, but they haven’t bothered us much beyond committing suicide in our drinks and food.

Being the summer solstice we enjoyed a tipple of homemade mead kindly given to us by Josh and Missy in Unalaska. Yum! Tomorrow we hope to make it to the community of Akutan which is about 15 miles away.

A full life is full of contrasts and this Aleutian journey is certainly that for me. One day, the sounds of the sea and wind fill our ears and minds, we’re cooking on a tiny campstove and sleeping with only thin canvas separating us from the heartbeat of the natural world. The next day we are amongst people, cars, restaurants and the busy hub bub of America’s busiest fishing port.

When we left Nikolski we spent 2 days of searching for hot springs and trying to create pools to mix the ‘too hot’ thermal water with the ‘too cold’ stream water to make a warm bath!  As we moved on, the weather was mostly very good so we covered the 150 miles or so in 8 days. The hills have turned from brown to green and most days it feels a little warmer than a month ago. We enjoyed paddling close to shore, craning our heads up at cliffs of craggy black lava flows, punctuated by noisy white cascades tumbling down in ribons, or pouring out in one solid spout. The clouds parted to reveal jagged snowy peaks of volcanos – both extinct and active.  Otters, sea lions and whales escorted us into Dutch Harbour, part of Unalaska town (on Unalaska island). Then suddenly our eyes were drawn from the rich marine life to fishing boats and the outlines of buildings; a big hotel with a red roof, a supermarket and a gas station.  Unalaska is by far the biggest town in the Aleutian islands, with 5000 people living here year round, and up to 15000 here during the main fishing season. Cars seemed to be moving very fast on the first paved roads we’ve seen since Adak. Some local kayakers paddled out to meet us and we enjoyed a chat and a laugh with them, feeling a shared connection immediately. We were taken to an appartment with a lovely hot shower and heating, we cooked a meal in a kitchen, logged onto the internet and slept in a bed. I love the transition to comfort, mod cons and people although I also miss feeling the moods of the weather through a thin nylon veil. There is a satisfaction from making a meal with just the ingredients you have in your kayak, plus whatever you can catch or forage. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed the ‘all you can eat’ seafood buffet at the Aleutian Grand Hotel or the burger and chips at the local fast food restaurant!  It’s been great to get to know some of the locals in Unalaska and we’ve been given the same warm, friendly welcome here as in all the communities along the way.

Roger and Josh showed us around some of the 2nd world war bunkers that litter the hillside above town. They were built very quickly after Unalaska was attacked by the Japanese during the war. The Aleutian museum had a replica baidarka and had dressed a manequin in the gear that Aleuts used to wear when kayaking and hunting. We could feel the seal intestine parkas and the spray decks made from their throats which was really interesting.

Four days has passed quickly in Unalaska and I’m sorry to leave new friends and an interesting town. Equally, I’m looking forward to kayaking east along the chain once more and having our every movement affected or dictated by the weather and environment. We’ll stop at the small community on Akutan island in a few days then it’s a few hops before the Alaskan peninsula. We are almost half way to Homer and the first road to somewhere. Let the adventure contine!

Thanks to everyone here who has offered help, homemade jam, home made mead, taken us out for a meal, let us store the kayaks inside and stopped for a chat. Thank to Lauren Adams and Jeff Hancock for letting us ship things to their address, for a delicious meal and advice. For anyone wanting to kayak, bird watch or take a boat trip from Unalaska, Jeff’s company can surely help you!