After running all night under a nearly full moon and moderate seas we are off Cape Grant, SW corner of Kodiak Island. We are tired but all is well.

We departed 8:00 am in the rain with an uneventful morning heading East. We were very thankful for AIS (Automated Information System) as we rounded Cape Seal and found we were on track to meet a freighter. We were able to alter course in large rollers with a short chop which gave us the feeling of bobbing up and down in a child’s bathtub, however we were doing 8+ knots over the ground so we were happy. We saw numerous other fishing vessels in the area and were treated with some clearing skies. We approached Cape Castle with clear skies and took some great shots and it also marked the end of one of our weather zones… goodbye 155, hello 150. The cape was not hard to recognize as its name does it justice. The clear skies were great as there were shear cliffs with waters falls on all of the islands.

Rounding one of the islands we saw some more Dahl Porpoises and they began to streak back and forth in front of our bow. I snuck out on to the pulpit and was amazed as a porpoise veered left and right just a few feet underneath my feet!! A group would zip in from the left or right and breach briefly to catch their breath. They were so close they tempted me to jump in as they looked to be having a ton of fun, I really did want to catch one.

We have made pretty good progress today, but have to hole up short as the areas to duck in are becoming fewer and farer between. The weather outlook looks good as there are no major systems moving in and the swell is left over from the previous storms. We plan to make Kodiak Island tomorrow and work our way up the west side as far as possible to give us the best chance of a late Monday evening arrival.

Cheers,

Shane,

P.S. From Walt… We went through quite the expanse of uncharted water with numerous rocks, all the chart said was HAVE A NICE DAY!!!

Late PSS We were not happy with the anchorage situation at Sutwik Island so we are headed for Kodiak tonight. We will work shifts with 2 on at all times: 2 hr off and 4 on. This is not a good system, but it will work for one night. We have each had a nap today.

Another good day…We left Dolgoi Island at 8:00 am, the last boat to leave the anchorage. We had a squall come through at 1:30 – 2:30am. I woke up to hard rain and staggered back to the cockpit to take a look. It was an interesting site with the bright floods of the fishing boats lit up and the rain pouring down. Walt woke up around 2:30am as the swells came in and rocked us a bit and Ed slept through everything… again.

The seas were were very pleasant and we saw two whales early on and they treated us to nice tale shots, but we missed the photos. We snuck through Unga Strait at slack tide which kept our average knots up. We saw another unusual Humpback whale behavior. We spotted a large tail slapping the water over and over. We believe there were two whales, one larger than the other. The larger whale kept slapping his tale on the water, sometimes lifting the back third of his body clear before slamming it down.

In total we saw six whales today, a nice treat but we weren’t done. Making one fairly open passage I spotted something breaching the water while we were in some fairly heavy seas. It was startling but we got quite excited as Walt recognized the Dahl Porpoise. At least one made a few passes at our bow and came at us from the starboard side briefly breaching in the trough of a wave. We slowed but they did not continue their fun, but it was a great new experience.

We saw many fishing boats today, many our size which brings a good level of comfort as they know the waters better than us. The fog lifted at times and we saw the ruggedness of the land here. It is hard to describe as the jagged rocks rise at least 400 feet (the fog ceiling limit) with shards at the points. The hills are covered with a green blanket streaked by white falls in the gullies, it is a beautiful and treacherous place. We safely anchored between, Jacob Island and Paul Island in Kupreanof Harbor.

Cheers,

Shane

(55 deg 09.9 N, 161 deg 52.2 W) For as much scenery we saw yesterday, today was the opposite. Most of the afternoon we had visibility of about 1/8 th of a mile. There were some exceptions, but that was the rule. There may have been beautiful things to see, but we missed them. We got a false start this AM; it was so rough we turned back and re-anchored until about 1:15 PM – safety first. The anchorage was uncomfortable so we were anxious to leave at the sign of first let-up. As a consequence, we only went 55 miles today. We did have another first though. Ed chose what looked to be a beautiful protected cove – it is, but there are three other boats also anchored here! Ed has good taste. We haven’t seen this many boats in one place outside a marina this whole trip! The cove is on the north side of Dolgoi Island. Ed & Shane are working on an Arctic Char with sweet mustard sauce for dinner.