It has been two days of rain and winds of 30 knots where we have been anchored and we started to wonder of our decision to sail so far west to Atka. But today the wind moderated, we had intermittent sunshine, and no rain. We woke early knowing and hoping of the opportunity of a nice day, unlike the last two days where we stood on the back of our boat in full rain gear ready to put out our net only to change our minds as we would see the sheets of torrential rain blow by. This morning would be different we hoped and indeed it was. We set our net and then we would dinghy along side the net looking into the water for a caught fish. We would catch a few and then take them back to the boat for processing and then pick some more from the net. It is such a satisfying and special feeling to be catching such a quantity of fish. And unlike a couple weeks ago, we are catching reds, coho salmon, these are the ones we have been wanting and the ones we feared for which it might be too late in the season to now catch. But today is one of those special days, a day when everything is going right, be that fishing or the panoramic views of the green mountain sides and huge waterfalls, no doubt from all the rain of the last couple days. We think of those we love and how much and how special it would be if they could share with us a day like today. Honestly, words escape us as to how to describe how much fun we had and how beautiful this and other such days are.
Even though it seemed too rainy and windy the last two days to set a net, we would still go to shore to look for caribou. But unfortunately they seemed to have left our area. Either they are smart to put distance from us or they looked for some place more out of the weather. We hope they are plentiful such that we find them at other places on this island, especially because we let so many huge Bulls trot away from us during our first visit to shore without a gun.
One of the things we forgot to mention, we are so remote right now, so much in the middle of no where’s, that as we were sailing north of Atka Island, someone from Adak saw our AIS signal and called us on the VHF radio from 80 miles away, just to talk and say hello. Our AIS signal identifies us as a sailboat from Minnesota, so that is a little unique, but still we expect that not many people frequent this area. It feels truly special to be so alone, yet safe, to be exploring this island with the alluring unknown ahead of us.
Cheers,
Wade and Sara
Deep Bay Anchorage 17 feet Sand 52° 06.473’N, 174° 37.201W
No VHF Weather Signal, Great SSB Signal, We have sent the Iridium Go off for repairs
To find where are Wade, Sara, and SV Just Drifting were at noon, type/copy these coordinates 52.10788333,-174.62001667 into Google Maps!
