Justine’s Blog

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.

It sounded like a whale blow just a few metres from where we set the tent up. Sarah and I both spun round to see two sea lions snorting loudly as they slithered through the water parallel to the gravely shore. They popped their fat heads up higher this time. They were definitely looking at us and all our gear strewn over the beach. Sarah made the realisation that what I had thought may be some thermal mud formation was in fact sea lion poo and we were probably camped on one of their favourite haul outs. As we filmed, photographed and grinned, one of the beasts approached the beach and started to haul his blubbery frame onto shore. Two giant flippers led the way, and I couldn’t help thinking he was like an iceberg with so much more bulk under the water than when you just see his head popping out the sea.
“What should we do? ” said Sarah imagining the damage a careless or angry flipper could do to boat, tent or body. “Should we try to scare them away? ”
Excited at the prospect of being able to watch such a magnificent beast so close but equally nervous, I suggested that we wait and see where the sea lion went and if it was close then we could move our camp further down the beach. In the end, the giant thought better of it and with a final snort, they both headed off to another beach.

This morning was much like the last two, overcast, foggy and grey with a light NE wind. Fine rain fell so lightly that it felt like the air was wet. The coastline was still beautiful and knowing we only had 11 miles or so to paddle, we took our time and poked about in some of the nooks and crannies, discovering gravel beaches at the back of caves, admiring pretty arches and weaving through the rocks.

We made camp at 2pm and enjoyed fried tortillas with cheese and salami for lunch followed by a relaxing afternoon. Despite what I said yesterday we are going to go for the crossing to Seguam tomorrow if the forecast stays at NE 10-15 knots as it’s the best chance we have all week. The last 3 days, the wind had been lighter than forecast so we just hope that extends to tomorrow aswell. We hope we might be able to land somewhere before Finch Cove to shorten the day or we can always turn back after a couple of hours if the wind is too strong.

We think the current will be going south from when it gets light until 3pm-ish – although this could be out by a couple of hours either way. We’ll try to counter this drift away from the island by heading NE from our campsite (as opposed to following the coast east for 4 miles to the end of Amlia Island) and by waiting to start the crossing about 10am. This is a compromise between getting an early start and trying to limit how much the current can push us South. The tracker on Sarah’s website will be set to update every 2 hours when we start out.

I forgot to say that last night we used or foraging skills and picked beach greens ti add to our dinner.

Amlia Island is my new favourite of the Aleutians for scenery. Jagged spires, spikes, islands, arches and pinnacles decorate every headland and much of the coastline in between. The mist shrouding the dark peaks reminds me of gotham city and adds a sense of mystery, although I’d be very surprised if batman came swinging down! Broad bays break up the cliffy sections with steep brown slopes and a smattering of coarse black beaches.

It was another great day for wildlife with seals, a minke whale, an otter draped in kelp, a big sea lion jumping from the water and endless birds.

We are now camped on a lovely beach dotted with pretty green pebbles. I went for a little explore while Sarah had a sleep and watched 2 eagles playing in the sky.

The forecast is for never ending North Easterlies at the moment which is not helpful as we head East. We made 16 miles today and had a slightly earlier finish as Sarah wasn’t feeling on top form. If it’s similar strength wind tomorrow – 5-15 knots then we should reach the eastern end of Amlia, or at least as close to that as we are able to camp. We won’t be going any further until we have a different forecast as from there it’s about 32 nautical miles to our next campsite. The 15 mile wide Seguam pass lies between us and rocky Seguam Island. The pass had a reputation for rough water and the pilot says the current runs at over 4 knots at almost right angles to the direction we need to travel. We have an idea of when it will be going North or South but there are no available current tables so to some extent we will need to suck it and see. So weighing all that up; even 10 knots of headwind doesn’t really appeal. So we’ll wait and see what the weather brings!

I felt quite sad paddling away from the small crowd of people who gathered on the beach at Atka to wave us off this morning. We had a fun 3 days getting to know some of the folks.

Today’s weather was more typical of the aleutians with a layer of fog sitting 100 metres above sea level hiding the peaks and spires of the coastline. It sometimes drifted down to sea level shutting out the view totally or lifted tantalisingly for a few moments revealing a glimpse of a rocky mountain or grassy hill. We crossed Amlia pass a mile North of the narrow part, avoiding the breaking waves that guarded the entrance on the Amlia Island side. The highlight was a glimpse of a whale’s back – Sarah thinks it was a bottlennose whale.

The wind was NE but not as strong as expected so we were able to paddle 20 nautical miles. The coastline was really pretty with spires, stacks, small islands and lots of rocky or pebble beaches.
Thousands of birds sat on the sea and swirled around our heads; puffins, eider ducks, black guillemots and many others.
As we came ashore tonight Sarah spotted steam rising from the sea and suggested it might be a hot spring. I was sceptical but we went to check it out. The sea water was indeed warm, almost warm enough to go for a dip.. But not quite. We searched for the source of the heat but couldn’t find any one spot. It seemed to be seeping up over a large area. Very exciting none the less!

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