Unimak Strait, Alaska
54°21.1'N 164°58.4'W
As planned, we departed Nome on Monday for a straight run across the Bering Sea to Unimak Strait. Unimak Strait is the first ship passage SW of the Alaska Peninsula into the Bering Sea. It would allow us to pass through to the south side of that iconic string of islands known as the Aleutians. The Coast Pilot doesn't mince words when it talks about Bering Sea weather. It says "the weather over the Bering Sea is generally bad and very changeable. Good weather is the exception and it does not last long when it does occur." It continues with more along the same lines, but, that probably gives you an idea of what it can be like. We left with a good forecast for four days of strong northerlies. We were looking forward to a fast passage over this desolate stretch of water. The passage, about six hundred miles, took six days, two of which ended up having gale force winds. When you're offshore, there's no safe harbour to run to when the weather forecast changes unexpectedly. Our weapon of choice for these gales was to just keep sailing, fast! We were going in the right direction and Gjoa just took it in her stride. We were treated to a fine display of Aurora Borealis one night, so, that was a plus.
We didn't hear a single voice on the VHF, or, see any other ships, even on the AIS, for the whole six days. That all changed when we got near to Unimak. We were then surrounded by many fishing boats and multiple freighters transiting the Pass. There is a significant tide through the Strait (2-6 knots) and we tried to time our passage accordingly. We missed our window by about two hours and as night was falling, decided to wait the twelve hours for the next one, in daylight. So, we jogged along, dodging boats all night and lined up for the morning. We were in the right place at the right time, the conditions were calm and we just coasted through. In retrospect, we didn't get the tide boost we'd hoped for and we probably could have gone through at any time as there didn't seem to be much current.
Now in the North Pacific Ocean, we are about five hundred miles from Homer (but who's counting?) and hope to get in, all things considered, by the end of the week.
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| Scotch Cap - Unimak Pass, Alaska |
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