What an amazing day sailing past Unmak and Unilaska Islands today. As we approached Unmak, the clouds had obscured everything for the last day+. We had passed the “Island of the Four Mountains (actually three islands and four volcanoes) with no visibility and a little disappointment. The Aleutian weather is a take what you get exercise though, so we reveled in what we had seen, not what was obscured.
As we approached Unmak, we crossed the last of our major stretches of open ocean on the Aleutian Chain, where the Bering Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. It’s less of a sea than a collection of rivers. Crazy currents, eddies and even slow whirlpools are everywhere, miles from land and over 1000’ of water. Swells are coming in three separate directions, and discomfort is the game.
We finally get behind the point of Unmak and the water calms, the breeze strengthens, and Josh and I run the boat up the coast in the early light. As we move north along the chain, the clouds begin to lift, showing another amazing, volcanic landscape. We catch glimpses of Mt. Vsevidof, the highest on the island at 7k feet but only parts as the clouds still obscure.
As we approach the end of Unmak and the beginning of Unilaska, the clouds truly begin to lift and gradually expose the entire Makushin massif. Multiple volcanoes at 6000’ topped by Makushin, an active major cone at 7K, show spectacular crevasses and cliff faces, steam issues from a crack in the face. Every mile opens up more views.
And then the ocean turns on. Whales everywhere. We pass a large bay and immediately enter a huge feeding ground. Whales come up all around the boat. Circling to round up krill. Snorting to create bubbles. It’s craziness. Birds follow them wherever they go. Pod after pod goes by.
Finally, we round Cape Cheerful and enter Dutch Harbor, here for business. We see a kind of weather window opening up followed by a number of potentially significant storms. One of those will be the remnants of Typhoon Nina reforming into a pacific low. Fall weather in August, always a danger up here. No partying this time. Just shopping and refueling and repairs. Game on.
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