Archive for the ‘kayaking’ Category

Today’s highlight for me was walking up to the snow line on the lava hills behind our camp. Spongy mosses started out underfoot, soon replaced by clumps of mostly dead grass then just sharp black lava fragments, with just a few hardy plants getting a foot hold in the sea of black. At 500 metres, snow joined the party and the view became black and white stripes, with 2 white volcanic cones poking out on top.

Tomorrow’s treat will be a visit from the Tiglax ( which means eagle in Aleut). This US Fish and wildlife service boat is on it’s way to Adak and the captain Billy Pepper has offered to call in on us bright and early and take us on board for a shower and breakfast! After that we’ll make our way 8 miles to the eastern tip of the island and camp, ready for the 37 nautical mile crossing to Amukta island on Saturday. Unless of course the forecast changes and then we might go for the crossing tomorrow after a hearty breakfast!

Follow our progress here

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We are still at our lovely beach at Lava Cove. Our neighbors the white caps were joined today by 2 fat sea lions who spent most of the day plonked on the other end of the beach, stirring only to scratch an ear with a flipper or pick a short fight with each other. At one point an eagle flew over scanning the sea for fish and I got a photo with the eagle and sea lions in the same shot. Since I had to point out the tiny dot that was the eagle to Sarah, I don’t think it’s going to be an award winning photo!

Today we mostly relaxed in the sun, and of course ate. Sarah rustled up some powdered mashed potato into potato cakes for lunch which were particularly yummy. As was the hot chocolate we made by melting a bar of chocolate into some powdered milk. It seems we have more bars of chocolate than we have chocolate powder! All this elaborate camping food might seem excessive to some but why not bring some delicious things along instead of all dehydrated meals? Food is our engine and it’s also a great morale booster and an activity on a day off paddling.

I haven’t seen tonight’s forecast from Karel at kayakweather.com yet but if it’s the same as last nights then Saturday looks good for our next crossing. For now, in curling up with “where the sea breaks it’s back” , an excellent book that Michael Livingston sent to Sarah about the naturalist Georg Steller’s role in the exploration of Alaska.

To see our progress and follow our tracker visit Sarahs page here

No alarms were set this morning as we knew it would be too windy for our next paddle which is a 37 nautical mile crossing. I woke up when the sun warmed the tent and enjoyed laying in my cosy sleeping bag for a bit longer. It was great to come outside and take in the gorgeous expanse of black sand surf beach framed on either end by short, steep lava flows, with the snowy peak of a volcano just visible in the distance.

Last night when we arrived late, I discovered a crucial bit of our excellent optimus nova stove was missing. The top bowl of metal which spreads the heat must have fallen off when I was packing the stove that morning (possibly because I was watching the sea lions at the time?) or if it fell off after that, we can’t find it. I managed to boil enough water for dinner using a square of foil from the heat shield as a replacement. On the list of jobs for tomorrow is to try to make a more permanent replacement from the lid of a tin can but for today we enjoyed making a fire and cooking everything on that. I set myself the challenge of lighting it using just dried grass and driftwood from the beach, and my firestick that makes sparks. Within a few minutes we had a roaring fire and the kettle was on which I was excited about ( Thanks Patrick from Backwoods survival for showing us how). Sarah jubilantly got out her machete and saw and started producing batons to burn. While I woul d have
made do with driftwood of all shapes and sizes, it was easy having the batons there ready to go and I know Sarah really enjoyed playing with her toys!

First use for the fire was pancakes with freeze dried Black currants (yum). Then we heated up hot water and washed body, hair and thermals. Lunch was home made dough made into pizzas. We took a break for a beautiful walk to three impressive 30 metre waterfalls streaming down over a black lava flow, sending spray flying sideways, and forming small rainbows. Lots of little birds tweeted away everywhere we walked and some stood still for photos. The ground is so spongy here, it’s packed with mosses and small wiry plants. It feels very healthy and alive. Sarah even found a Japanese glass fishing float on the beach!

Back to the fire and dinner was a delicious lentil stew with beach greens picked from a few metres away ( Thanks Crystal and Danny for showing us you can eat them). Desert was 3 marshmallows each roasted. .. We don’t have many so we had to ration them! Now I’m laying in the tent about to go to sleep and hoping tomorrow is as sunny. At the moment, the forecast is looking too windy to move to the next island until possibly Saturday so we are in a nice spot to be stuck. Before then, we may move 8 miles to the easternmost point on this island where the pilot says “there is a fair landing North of the neck”. If it is somewhere we could land and camp then we’d be knocking 8 miles off an already long day to Amukta island.

Today started at 4.30am when Sarah woke me up saying she could hear the sea lions back again. In the dark we could just make out the shape of a large rock- or sea lion in the water- and another one on land snorting loudly. They plonked themselves on the beach 150 yards away from us. Every half hour or so a cascade of grunts and snorts would come our way but apart from one brief move towards us they stayed put. We tried to go back to sleep with the tent door partly open and would check they were still there every time there was a grunt. When we finally got up, we made breakfast and took down the tent before our new neighbours noticed. After staring at us for a while, they flopped back into the water, their gigantic bulk dissapearing into the liquid. Their cobra like heads craned up for one last look before they disappeared off.

Jeff Hancock, from Dutch Harbour, Unalaska warned me on the phone that the weather here doesn’t read the forecasts; it changes many times as if on a whim. Today perfectly illustrated that. The forecast was for Eastetlies about 15 knots. It started with thick fog and a light northerly breeze and we thanked our luck. Within 90 minutes it had picked up to over 10 knots and proceeded to swing around to almost every direction possible, varying from 2 knots to 20. The advantage of the stronger winds was that it blew the fog away, treating us to a view of snowy volcanos on Seguam, cloaked in a veil of mist.

To start with the current was running South -ish as expected, at a maximum of about 2 knots. I was pleased to find that it turned about 2pm which is pretty close to the predictions and gives me more confidence when planning for future crossings. .. including the next one which is the biggie; 37 miles.

It was a long old crossing; at times we moved quite slowly with wind and current hindering progress. Hundreds of birds kept us company including petrels running on the water and albatrosses who landed right by the kayaks during the lulls.

We decided to head for a beach on the South coast hoping it would be sheltered from all the NE winds we’ve been having. As we approached it a20+ knot offshore wind sprung up from nowhere and it was a battle to reach the beach. Spray was being carried towards us from the surf which was a worrying sight but it was just 1 breaker that you could avoid with good or lucky timing! A wave broke on Sarah on her run in but she braced into it and rode it to the beach with style.

We were very happy to land on Seguam Island after 10 and a half hours on the water and 28 miles. Tomorrow is definitely a rest day and we look forward to having an explore.