Around the time we turned over watch we were 24 miles from the beginning of the Samalga Passage leading into the Bering Sea. The Pacific Ocean floods into the Bering Sea, so our plan was to enter the pass at the end of the flood current, then the water current slack, and motor against the water coming from the Bering Sea to the Pacific ocean (ebb current). We chose to enter at the end of the flood current because the wind was predicted to be off our port quarter as we entered the pass and we wanted to know if there were going to be standing waves before we got into the passage. Standing waves are when the wind creates wave against the current and dealing with standing waves in a small vessel can be very dangerous. We knew the current was going to be only 2 to 3 knots so we were not worried about motoring through any ebbing current because even if we were motoring at our normal 2100 RPMs instead of doing 5 knots like we normally do we would do 2 or 3 knots, but still make it through the pass safely. We were very blessed because there was no morning wind and the current was so minimal we hardly felt the effects of the pass.
As we passed through Samalga Pass we could see land on our radar, but we were blind. The fog has been so bad that we can hardly see a football field away from the boat. We have been using our awesome new fog horn in accordance with maritime law, but really traveling this close to land we are thankful for our two radars. We thought we were going to write about how the Aleutian Islands are a myth and there really is no land here because we could not see any land almost all day because of the fog. Around 4 pm the sun appeared in the sky and burned nearly all of the fog to show beautiful snow covered peaks. Most of the land on Umnak Island is baron, but half way from the water up to the peak is covered with something bright green, maybe grass?
We were a little nervous about traveling along the north side of the Aleutian Islands because tides and currents can be a factor even three-miles off shore and we were also worried about the Bogoslof Volcano erupting. Yes that’s right, there is a volcano that is at unrest and there are warnings to report any ash we encounter. Over two weeks ago we dismissed the warning because we thought the Bogoslof Island was far enough away, but to our dismay we will be traveling within 10 miles of the island volcano.
We are still in a hurry to get anchored or moored because there may be a nasty low headed our way; otherwise, we might have stopped at some of the bays along the way to Dutch Harbor. Sadly again, no fish today, but we are very excited to be arriving in Dutch Harbor tomorrow, maybe they have crabs?!
Over the last 24 hours we are now 121 miles closer to Dutch Harbor with 106 miles left to go.
Cheers,
Wade and Sara
**Due to possibly weak SSB transmission, game details are limited to vessel position. Math Be Hard For Sailors – Alaska
Ves. Pos. 53°04.649N, 169°07.064’W
