Leg 3 – Dutch Harbor to Port Clarence and Nome

Greetings everyone!

As I have mentioned previously, Roberta and I flew home while the boat ran from Dutch Harbor to Nome (with occasional runs north to Port Clarence when they need to hide from bad weather.)

Roberta and I fly back to the boat on August 6th, and hopefully can start our transit of the passage as soon as we return.

Meanwhile, I asked our engineer, Hudson, to put together a short video showing the engine room. It’s now on youtube and if you are interested in the technical side of things, check it out: https://youtu.be/ZXYf92qKtSo

I asked our crew member, Lydia Pleasants to do my email newsletter in my absence. I think you’ll agree she “hit it out of the park!” Great job Lydia.

——————What follows was written, and mostly photographed, by Lydia Pleasants—————

I am writing this from Port Clarence, our safe anchorage to wait out the winds that are rolling through Nome Harbor this week. It has been a big month of miles and discovery as North Star has made it’s way through the Aleutian chain and across the Bering Sea. Here is what we have been up to!

Dutch Harbor
North Star pulled into Dutch Harbor on July 5th after departing Sand Point 26 hours earlier. You may have heard of Dutch Harbor thanks to the Discovery Channel show, Deadliest Catch. While the legendary king crab season runs over the winter here, the summer is dominated by the much larger Alaska pollock season. According to the Visitor’s Bureau, over 1.5 million metric tons of pollock are landed each year here. The city supports over 4000 people and is one of the largest commercial fishing ports in the US. There was no shortage of activity in town and we were all excited to see well stocked stores with marine parts and provisions!

North Star lined up with the commercial fishing fleet at the Carl E. Moses Marina. PC: Lydia Pleasants

We spent six days in Dutch Harbor before continuing on, taking an opportunity to service the engines and generators, refuel, fill up the water tanks, and stock the fridges with fresh food. The major store in town, Alaska Ship Supply, was advertised as “GROCERIES, HARDWARE, CLOTHING, LIQUOR”- truly a one stop shop for members of the fishing fleet. In between work, we were able to take some time to see the island. This time of year the landscape was emerald green and blooming with wildflowers which made hiking a joy after spending so much time on the boat. There are some interesting WW2 sites, a museum, historic church, and a few restaurants to choose from. A highlight for all was the $75 seafood buffet at the Grand Aleutian Hotel, notably featuring all you can eat king crab!

Dutch Harbor at sunrise. PC: Lydia Pleasants

Hiking on Unalaska Island. We left the trees behind in Kodiak Island. PC: Lydia Pleasants

Akutan Island
Captain Garrett monitored the weather closely to time our departure across the Bering. Direct to Nome, the trip is 650 miles which would take North Star about three days cruising at 9.5 knots. We still had several weeks before we planned to arrive in Nome, and we were in no rush to leave behind the amenities of Dutch Harbor.

We decided to stage the boat at neighboring Akutan Island to wait for a weather window. The first night we anchored in Hot Springs Bay, a five hour run from Dutch Harbor. The bay is named well for its geothermal activity, as seen from the billows of steam seen dotted along the valley. Pools of hot water well up and mix in with the cool stream water, theoretically creating areas that are comfortable enough for bathing.

Anchored in Hot Springs Bay. The sun did not last for long. PC: Lydia Pleasants

To give all the crew a chance on shore to see the hot springs, we split into two groups. Garrett and I went first and made our way to the black sand beach with the tender. Online there were a few comments about wild cows and we really had no idea what to expect. Soon enough we found out these were not friendly cows. While the females and calves ran off, a large bull trotted down from his lookout spot to try and chase us off. We managed to get around him to get further upstream where we dipped our toes into the warm water.

Akutan Hot Springs. PC: Lydia Pleasants

The aggressive bull cow in question. He stared us down all the way back to the beach! PC: Garrett Davis

On the way back across the bay to the anchored boat a huge gale picked up. We were pelted with rain while we hurried to get the tenders loaded safely onto the deck before conditions deteriorated even more. Unfortunately, our gorgeous spot at the base of a green valley turned out to be a wind funnel and we experienced 40kt winds all evening until 3am. This was the biggest test of North Star’s ground tackle to date, and I am happy to report that she handled it like a champ.

In the morning, Captain Garrett took a look at our next chance to cross the Bering Sea and it was still a few days out. Instead of weathering more wind in the anchorage, it was decided to move the boat around the corner to Akutan Harbor.

Akutan Harbor, located on the east side of the island at the end of a sheltered bay, has a great 560-foot by 16-foot float that can accommodate 10–12 vessels up to 165 feet in length. Unfortunately the shore power was non operational for us. There is no road leading into town yet, but the town of Akutan had a dingy dock to tie up to.

North Star in Akutan Harbor. PC: Lydia Pleasants

Tied up in the “Skiff Moorage”. Any guesses as to which boat is ours? PC: Garrett Davis

Besides a large Trident Seafood plant that adds about ~1000 seasonal workers, Akutan only has 100 year-round residents. There are no roads, so the homes are connected with a boardwalk. Surprisingly, there was a medical center, school, two churches, a small store, and a bar.

Akutan’s boardwalks and church in the background. PC: Garrett Davis

The medical center with its “ambulance” parked out front. PC: Lydia Pleasants

Without much to do but hurry up and wait on the weather, we put our fishing poles to use and caught some rockfish, which Chef Dani made into delicious tacos the next day! PC: Dani DiBattista

The Bering Sea
Departing the Aleutians marked a major milestone for North Star. Once we pointed north into the Bering Sea, there would be no more safe harbors. Conditions in the Bering Sea can change quickly, leaving little time to hide from storms. Spare parts, provisions, flights, medical care – these all become more difficult to get and exponentially more expensive the further we head north.

Luckily, the boat had been performing well and we were right on schedule to arrive in Nome around the fourth week of July. This afforded us some extra time to wait for a perfect weather window to cross from the Aleutians to Nome. Early on the 15th we dropped lines to start our passage across the Bering Sea.

Nunivak Island
Roughly halfway between Dutch Harbor and Nome there is a large flat island by the name of Nunivak. We planned to anchor here for a couple of nights to wait for another weather window to open up for the second leg of the trip. This area of the Bering Sea is very shallow and experiences shoaling near shore. Our approach past the east side of the island was careful. Coming from the PNW where an average anchorage might be 120 feet, seeing 40-60 feet under the hull while underway can be a bit unnerving! We dropped the hook in Etolin Bay, a fair anchorage around the corner from the island’s only community, Mekoryuk.

We were all very excited at the possibility of seeing muskoxen for the first time, and we were rewarded with three in our anchorage! Nunivak is credited with saving these charismatic arctic species from extinction in Alaska. In the 1930s, 34 Greenland muskoxen were shipped to the island. They did so well that part of the herd was reintroduced to the mainland, after going extinct from overhunting in the 1800s. Their wool is eight times as warm as sheep’s wool, and super soft.

In our anchorage at Etolin Bay, there were wild three muskox on shore. PC: Lydia Pleasants

Getting to and from town proved to be a bit of an adventure. Mekoryuk has no docks to tie a dingy to. Instead, the locals pull their boats into a shallow sandy harbor, leaving them to be beached at low tide. That was not a great option for us, so to give everyone a chance to go ashore, we dropped off two crew with the tender, leaving the remaining three crew onboard to be able to handle the boat in case of an emergency. Garrett and I went in the morning to walk around town and take a four-wheeler out to the river to fish for salmon. The town is home to 206 year-round Alaska Native residents which still rely on traditional subsistence. This time of year we observed the July salmon catch being dried outside homes and the collection of edible greens from the tundra that are cooked down to be eaten with seal oil. There is also a small store with expensive packaged food from the mainland that is flown in. We were blown away by how kind and curious everyone was. “What are you doing here?” “Where did you come from?” “You’re doing what??”

Kim and Hudson went in the afternoon, but shortly after dropping them off the wind and seas built to levels unsafe for our tender to make it around the cape to pick them up. With no break in the weather until the morning and no hotels in town, we were running out of good options. Luckily, a woman we had met earlier was able to send her husband over to help. Without hesitation, he picked up our crew in his truck and brought them to the airport where his bush plane was waiting. After a short five minute flight, the plane came into view at the boat and we all cheered as they landed on the beach. Kim and Hudson ran out of the plane and jumped into the tender Garrett had waiting on the beach. Nunivak Island quickly became one of our favorite stops of the trip, all thanks to the generosity of the hearty people who call it home!

That night at anchor was one of our worst yet. The wind was blowing directly into our anchorage from the east and built up due to the fetch, leaving us feeling like we were out on the ocean instead of a sheltered bay. The stabilizers were working at maximum capacity to counteract the roll, and the generators needed to be put in parallel to keep up with the variable loads, which led to a sleepless night keeping an eye on things.. We were all looking forward to firing up the engines to keep moving towards Nome the next morning. 28 hours later we landed in Nome. The crossing was gorgeous and waiting out the storms was all made worthwhile. We were happy to be back in civilization, at least for a few days.

The village of Mekoryuk, nestled in the aptly named Shoal Bay. PC: Lydia Pleasants

Mid-tide in Mekoryuk. PC: Lydia Pleasants

Kim and Hudson returning to the tender after their scenic flightseeing tour of Nunivak Island. PC: Lydia Pleasants

Here we are in Nome Harbor rafted to S/V Diablesse, a 100’ sailboat attempting the Northwest Passage this summer as well. PC: Lydia Pleasants

———————BACK TO KEN——————–

AND LASTLY

We have now reached the place where things are about to get interesting and I’ll be sending more frequent email updates. There is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email if you don’t want so many emails. There is also a link to subscribe to the newsletter. If you like these updates and want to share them with a friend you are encouraged to forward my emails and ask them to consider subscribing.

Write to me at: ken@mvnorthstar.com

That’s it for this edition of the blog.

Ken and Roberta Williams, with Pixie and Keeley

Northwest Passage – Quick Update and Engine Room Tour

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CHECK OUT OUR LATEST VIDEO GAME: COLOSSAL CAVE 3D!

Roberta and I are video game developers when we aren’t on a boat, having published literally hundreds of games during our long career. Our most recent game is a re-imagining of a fifty-year-old classic game called “Adventure (aka Colossal Cave).”

https://www.colossalcave3d.com

NEW: KEN JUST RELEASED A MARINE RADAR TRAINING SIMULATOR!

If I had to go to sea without a life raft, or … without a working radar, I’d choose the radar. A well tuned radar and the knowledge to use it effectively is mission critical. I’ve gone out on days with perfectly blue skies only to be blindsided by fog so thick I couldn’t see the bow. I’ve had to pick my way through crowded seas where the ability to predict which of the surrounding ships represented danger meant the difference between a safe passage and a really bad day.

To make a long story short: I combined my tens of thousands of sea miles with my long record of building software to create a Radar Simulator. I believe there is no better way to learn than by experiencing it yourself. Check out my radar training course, which is built around a very realistic simulator. https://navsimacademy.com/