Kushiro to Dutch Harbour
We left Kushiro in Hokkaido on the afternoon of the 9th of July bound for the Aleutians, 1350nm away. Admittedly I was not looking forward to this passage as we were bound to encounter some rough weather, fog and cold. It was the first long passage we’d really done for a while and it was just Warren, Morg and myself. As Morgan is now 16 he is considered part of the active crew, able to do watches and competently sail the boat.
We had studied the weather on this route intensively and ourselves and Takaroa decided that with a huge high sitting to the NE of Japan which looked fairly stationary for the next little while, it was time to go.
We had a lovely sail for the first 4 days with 12-15 knots of wind on the starboard quarter. The wind was very consistent and made for very pleasant sailing. We had intense fog which made visual watch keeping impossible, instead relying on AIS and radar. We passed a few fishing boats and cargo ships in the distance and occasionally heard a low drone but nothing was visible. Its pretty strange sailing blind like that but by the end of the passage we were well used to it as we had roughly 3 hours of clear weather the whole passage.
Passing by the side of the boat for the first day was an abundance of sun fish. Huge round beasts that just roll around at the surface with their dorsal fin poking out. We were also accompanied by great pods of Dalls Porpoises who love bow riding. During the night watches-which were are quite short as we only had 6 hours of darkness, the boat was surrounded by chirping storm petrels. One exhausted little fella flew in and perched on Morgs knee. He wrapped it up in a towel and it had a wee rest for a couple of hours before perking up and flying off.
By Day 4 the wind had abated a little and we started motor sailing. Nice to warm the boat up a bit too. The sea temperature had also dropped to 4 degrees. We were still on our ear a little, but comfortable enough to break out a wee warm Sake in the evening, cook a hot meal and eat inside at the table, -something we never do on passage-too wet and damp outside and cant see anything anyway.
Day 5 after some heavy rain in the early hours we saw a weak sun visible through the fog, the fog not so wet as when we started out as the decks were dry and the boat still enough for me to venture out and wash my hair. Bliss. Takaroa has blitzed ahead of us by 100nm as to be expected.
The enclosed cockpit and hard Bimini are great, really protecting us from the cold wind although the damp still manages to creep in. By Day 6 I convinced Warren to turn on the newly installed Wabasto Heater as it was getting a bit chilly. It warmed up the boat in about 10 minutes from 11 degrees to a toasty 18 degrees. Makes a huge difference, as its more the dampness that comes with the cold and fog which is unpleasant. It was so good we’ve kept it on ever since!!
The last couple of days we had wind from behind and had to sail the angles a bit as hadn’t repaired our spinnaker pole so couldn’t pole out the genoa. By this time we were all sick of the fog. Thought we may get a few days of clear weather but unfortunately it was relentless.
We arrived in Attu Island (the western most island in the Aleutian Chain) after 8 days at sea, anchoring at Casco Inlet next to Takaroa. Once inside we encountered strong willywalls gusting up to 47 knots which even under full steam we could not make headway against and proved hard to anchor in. Luckily we had sails down by then.
It was with a sigh of relief that we finally anchored, the 3 of us very happy to have made it here, celebrating with a rum and a hot shower. Happy Days!
We stayed at Attu for 3 days to explore the island, stretch our legs and rest up a bit. The weather was clear until evening when it would start to clag up. Anchored here you got a real sense of remoteness, you felt on your own and it was very liberating. No big brother here. Miles from anywhere.
Attu has an interesting history as the Japanese invaded the island during WW2 and the small native population of Unangax people were shipped to Otar in Japan as prisoners of war. The US troops landed in 1943 to take take back the island, succeeding after an 18 day battle in in freezing conditions. This was the only battle of WW2 fought in US territory. Sadly, before the Attu native people were returned to the US the American government stated publicly that it was not aware of their status. They basically lost their island.
There is an abandoned military coast guard station at Casco Cove, built in the early 60’s to provide long range navigation signals to mariner’s and aviators across the north pacific. Winter squalls here can produce gusts of 100 knots, eek.
The station was closed in 2010 although the associated runway is still used for emergency purposes. There are signs on the station door saying “entry strictly prohibited by US Military”, but seeing as the door was lying on the ground 20 meters away we strode on through and had a wander around the abandoned building.
The station building is substantial, including accommodation wings, commercial kitchen, sauna and spa room, wash room, huge utility and maintenance garages. It was fun walking around in the dark as all windows and doors (apart from the non existent one we went through) are bordered up. It appeared that everyone has just upped and left as everything was still in place. Kind of an eery feeling traipsing through all the rooms. The garages were a mans playground with an ATV parked inside which when we turned the key even started up! I’m sure if you were in need of the most obscure tool you’d find it here.
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After the station sightseeing the Takaroans and us continued on for a 14km hike doing a bit of mine sweeping. We tried to stick to what might be pathways as there is a lot of unexploded ordinance on the island. There is a number to contact in case you come upon something a little suspicious, but by then I’m guessing it may be too late. Not sure how you’d phone anyone from here either. Exhausted after our walk we all headed back to Kanaloa for dinner and lots of wine.
Next stop was a 2 day sail to Adak (further east along the Aleutian chain) where we anchored in Trappers Cove, navigating through great lengths of floating kelp at the entrance to the cove. A magical place and ashore we could see a couple of Caribou with massive antlers munching away on the moss. There were playful sea otters just chilling on their backs-they have to be the cutest things-not really interested in us and puffins (yay!) my favourite bird, guillemots and glaucous gulls.
It was quite blowy in here but we were happily dug in and enjoyed a couple of days rest snug in the sheltered cove above. We did another big walk to a water fall with the Takaroans. The scenery just beautiful. Everything so green, not a tree in sight, but lots of little fresh water lakes over the island, and moss and grasses interspersed with deep hidden holes that can make walking fun, . Great ankle breaking country. Morg, Paulo, Raffe and Oli ventured out fishing a couple of times, challenging temperatures when the wind chill is taken into account. Worth it though when they arrived back with delicious flounder and sea bass. I haven't eaten a fresh flounder for years and simply fried whole in butter-perfect.
After a few days here we headed off for Dutch Harbour to check out the Deadliest Catch!! and meet up with friends Des, Julianne and Bay.