We’re in Dutch Harbor

Dutch Harbor, AK, USA, 20-JUL-2020 — Just a quick note to tell everyone we are safe and sound.

The rest of the trip into Dutch Harbor was uneventful, with no wind: we motored all the way.

I completely over estimated the amount of fuel we have used. We arrived with, we think, in excess of 12 gallons. We didn’t think the fuel dock was open when we arrived, so we did not fuel up on our way in, as we normally do.

The big news is that our phones don’t work. Whenever we have come to Alaska, our phones have connected to GCI (I have also manually connected them to another carrier.) Here the connection is rejected. It could well be because the phone service is via satellite, which is expensive, or because of the T-Mobile merger, which may have changed the contractual arrangements.

We are in the small boat harbor, where there are few boats, with our new friends Anja and Thomas on Robusta. It is always wonderful to arrive somewhere and be greeted by people who know you.

Without internet or phone things are more difficult — this is over the satellite link. It is a long walk to the library (internet), supermarket and phone store. We’ll try to get these items resolved this morning.

The Aleutians are, perhaps, the most beautiful places Jennifer and I have ever been. They are completely untouched. They have never been used as a resource, or had any large-scale settlements. They are as they were formed: Hard rocks covered in the frayed felt of deep grasses, no trees anywhere. The beaches in some places are covered in fishing nets and other plastics, so the signs and effects of human beings ring the islands, but past the storm high tide line, it is astounding.

We have some hurried things to get done, because we’d like to get a few things shipped to us — my Vesper AIS is dying, and new boots for me, as my Xtratufs have developed leaks.

Then things will quiet down. We’ll work on a couple of deck leaks, while very breezy weather passes by.

As always, people in Alaska are wonderful and friendly. Radio time is cheap, so we did get to listen to an ad telling us that all the masks, hand washing and social distancing is all an attempt to curtail our civil liberties. Being in a small market means that sending that message over the radio to one’s neighbors is affordable. I did not hear a counter argument from another listener.

Before I include a couple of pictures, let me tell you whales are curious. We had a lone whale come over to Caro Babbo while we were under way. The whale swam along side for a while and then turned around and swam back to where it came from. In retrospect, that is exactly what we saw with the pod of twelve.

We’re reworking our opinion what they were. Anja and Thomas suspect they were Seis, as does our friend David Bessen. We’re investigating whether they might have been Minkes. They didn’t look as large as Seis. But it is difficult to know how much whale is below the surface,

Anja talks about a whale in Patagonia sleeping next to their boat. While in many of the places we cruise, sailboats are common. In places like this and others, these animals may never have seen a cruising sailboat. It is fascinating to consider that.

–john

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Author: johnjuliano

One-third owner of Caro Babbo, co-captain and in command whenever Caro Babbo is under sail. View all posts by johnjuliano