Trapper’s Cove, Adak Island, Aleutians May 29, 2012 7:30 PM 51N47 176W49

Our arrival night was THE calm before THE storm. The wind picked up the next day and by evening we had 55 knots on the anemometer, with gusts above (65 knots would be hurricane force). The water in our little trapper’s cove was smokin’. In the gusts Silver Lining’s rails were in the water. Our CQR anchor that cruising magazines love to hate, held fast and the front edge of the low passed in the night. We’re sure glad we weren’t at sea for that one! Although we’re not sure how much of the wind we experienced, was the venturi effect playing off the mountains to the east of us. Maybe it would have been fine at sea. We spent the next two days onboard waiting for the other shoe to drop (the backside of the low), it finally blew through yesterday afternoon – nowhere near as vigorous as its leading edge. Sorry Gart and Deb, I think its next stop will be Homer.

We finally set foot on land today. We did not make a graceful addition to the landscape; with many layers stiffening our joints, our wobbly sea-legs bouncing off the land, and those man-sized hillocks of dead grass tripping us at every step, the caribou must have been rolling on the ground laughing. I’m sure I saw 4 hooves kicking in mirth over a rise. Luckily the dead grass made for soft landings as we wobbled, veered and fell, slowly making our way up to what looked like the remnants of an old WWII radio shack (100 yards from the dinghy). Then out of breath and hungry, we stumbled back to the dingy, and sped to the boat. Living in a 45-50 degree cabin (10C) sure builds an appetite, can’t blame the tummy rumbles on exercise. The excursion did warm us up though, and I now speak ptarmigan (it’s very similar to ptoad). Tomorrow we plan to get to the top of the rise on the other side of the bay (maybe 500 yards), to see the waterfall. Or maybe we’ll sail around and watch from the boat, wouldn’t want to overdo it.

xoxomo