Harmon and Randall's Voyage…

Leg 2

Blog 3

July 3, 2024

Thirty-eight hours since leaving Geographic Harbor, we are following the Aleutian Peninsula SW on our way to Sand Point or Dutch Harbor. This is our first extended motor-sail which will total somewhere between two and four days depending upon where we end up. Do we try to meet-up with Randall’s fisherman friend Adam presently fishing for Cod off Sand Point OR keep the petal-to-the-metal and reach Dutch Harbor and make our grand entrance to the Bering Sea? Adam tells Randal that he has a small Halibut with our name on it so perhaps the Bering Sea could wait a day. Not that we are going hungry…

Today’s lunch consisted of sockeye salmon two ways – lox and smoked bellies. We still have plenty of fresh food and vegetables from Kodiak and Homer. Two tips from the Homer Farmers Market:

1. Local seafood shipped to you! (Salmon, Halibut, Shrimp, Cod, Black Cod) – https://www.citizensalmonalaska.com
2. Bridge Creek Birch Syrup – no website but email annammeredith@gmail.com (907) 299-6599. Birch syrup is lighter and more complex than maple. It can be rare and hard to find, but unique and super tasty.

Either way, conditions out here have mellowed a bit as the rain and wind have subsided and we are in full cruise mode.

Here we are just a few miles off Mitrofania Island – Randall finding wind where there is little….

With not much action to report on at present, let me take you back to Kodiak when we landed there last year. I have a few pics that are worth checking out:

With a population of well under 6,000, Kodiak residents have no problem being themselves as witnessed by this person calmly playing their autoharp at a bus stop.

I saw this a few times while driving around….people here like to have their dogs hang out on their car roof. This was a pick up truck owned by a contractor working on the sidewalk… with his best friend just hanging out…

And the trees were right out of “The Hobbit”.

The salmon runs on Kodiak are legendary. Here are a multitude of Sockeyes in their final days swimming up a creek that leads to a culvert. Next video is the folks waiting for them on the other side of the culvert.

The Kodiak Brown Bear is unique. They get so much salmon that they grow to a larger than normal size. In addition, many of them choose not to hibernate because there is no need to conserve energy in winter (as they are so big). They get all of the salmon they want, sometimes only eating the liver and entrails of the salmon (highest caloric content) and throwing away the rest.

Here is a juvenile getting his fill of Sockeye. Mama is nearby. Even so, humans can get closer than normal because the bears just do not care. Just so you understand, we are not THAT close….

Well good night to you all. This is the 2230 (local time) sun breaking through the clouds. Decision made to go to Sand Point. See you there tomorrow morning at 0600. It’s going to be a long night…