June 19-20
Hi All,
Did they have fun or what…..after a bit of a challenge to get Mystic tied up to the rather large wall at the Small Boat Harbor in Sweeper Cove with sloping and protruding pilings and wind blowing Mystic off the wall….TG for thrusters….we started the celebration!!!!! Just like us, Andy and Sue have experienced some of the roughest waters ever in their cruising history and with no human contact for 2-3 weeks we all felt like letting the-party-out-of-our-heads!!! Japanese Nitka whiskey and Australian Katnook Syrah wine aided the celebration!!! Lots of war stories to tell as we had not seen each other since leaving Kushiro Japan on May 27…..3.5 weeks ago…..and for us over 1900nm!!!! But, A/S were getting up early Wednesday to head to the next island of Atka so we kept it civil…well, at least put a governor on the distributor:)))
Early in the celebration we took on 690 gallons of fuel. We had been emailing with Cal at Adak Petroleum and he had advised us to go to the fuel dock when we came into Sweeper Cove…..but one look at the 20′ wharf and we said no way and he agreed that bringing a fuel truck to the SBH would be better. The fuel looked clean…price was $3.26 but with tax was $3.45/gal…..we just took on plenty to get us to Dutch Harbor where the fuel is ~$0.25/gal cheaper….less tax as well!!
I was pleasantly surprised that we ended up with 313 gals of fuel here in Adak…..my estimate was for 250-275 gals but this last run we did quite well on the fuel consumption….yippee!!!!
There is one cafe here in Sweeper Cove and A/S had breakfast there and said it was quite good. We asked Cal if he could call Michael the owner and see if he would either deliver some burgers or come and pick us up as it is a good 1-1.5 mile walk and it is very cold….air temp in the mid-40’s but with 15 kts of wind the wind chill makes it quite cold. Sure enough Michael shows up about 7pm and we all climb into the bed of his pick-up and takes us to his home, which he has converted the downstairs into a cafe…..cheeseburgers in paradise….but, he does not sell liquor but suggested we take his pickup to the local liquor store….about 1/2 mile away….so, Andy and I get in….oops, forgot to tell you no reverse gear….but we get there and see the liquor prices are about 3x normal USA prices…..but some beer and wine later and a delightful conversation with 12-year resident Nicole we make it back for a wonderful dinner!!!
The next day we left the boat about 10:30am for a the 45+ minute walk into town…..delightful to see the wild Lupin flowers in bloom!! The breakfast was a hardy Alaskan affair at Michael’s Blue Bird Cafe….big omelet for me, cheeseburger for Kathy and a 12+” dia and 2″ thick pancake for Mark…..whoa!!! From there we learned that most places…..grocery store, liquor store, and bar were all closed due to the 2 times per week Alaska plane coming in ~4:30pm this afternoon. It seems many of the 35 permanent adult residences (+16 children) work for Alaska and the plane coming on Wed & Sat is a big affair. We heard that the grocery store does not stock any fresh produce anymore….the Health department said they had to leave their refrigerators on all the time but that was too expensive….electricity is about $1.20/KW…the highest in the USA….kind of a stupid regulation since it’s 40*F outside most of the time….like a natural refrigerator. So now all the people have to order their food separately from Fred Meyers in Anchorage and have Alaska Airline deliver…yep, very expensive and what a hassle!!!! We did walk to the fish processing plant…..they have 2 seasons here….one in winter for king crabs and cod and the 2nd season now for halibut and cod…..the plant was just finishing a processing shift and doing cleanup. Since nothing was open and we had done about 4+ miles we decided to head back to Mystic. On our way a gentlemen stopped in his pickup and we ended up with a very fun time the rest of the day!!
Justin, 61 years old, is a contractor for the US Navy, working on ordinance cleanup in Attu. He spends about 1 week/month here managing a contractor crew of 50…..they can work for 7 months until the winter weather gets too rough. The US government spends about $12 million/year to find and destroy the ordinances leftover from all the military training days…..at one point over 40,000 troops and 40,000 support people during WW II….they have been at it for about 18 years and are almost done!! Justin, loves cruisers and for many years he has been taking care of us….offering internet, albeit very slow, laundry, showers et al….wow!!! He also acts as a tour guide and he gave us a 3 hour driving tour of the island…..outstanding.
He first took us to Finger Bay where the US had a submarine fleet during WW II. There is still the hollows of one of the submarine pens and sites of old buildings and some old submarine nets they used to protect the bay. Then onto many of the magazine bunkers used to store all the ammunition used in the Attu battle as well as training during the cold War of the 1950-1960’s. He even took us to the maybe yes/maybe no nuclear bomb storage facility!! Next was a tour of the underground facility completed in the 80’s to house the base personnel in case of a nuclear attack. They had a whole city complex underground!! Next was a tour of the Adak forest….evergreen trees planted 20+ years ago that are surviving. Then onto Clam Lagoon where many otters/sea lions hang out but unfortunately it was mid-tide and the current was running too fast near the Rainbow bridge where he took us…drats!!! We also saw remnants of a deep space listening array where people listened for extraterrestrials…..interesting!!
Kathy and Mark wanted to see the Alaskan 737 land….yes, easily entertained….but we then saw sv Dione coming into the SBH….this is an Australian couple that left Japan even before us…..so Justin took us back to the wharf so we could help Glen and Sue tie up to the large wall….then let the games begin again…..they got sorted and came over to Mystic and along with Justin we had a delightful time….much wine and beer consumed plus we had prearranged with Michael to deliver 2 large pizzas so a good time was had by all. Dione left Osaka on May 24….spent 29 days getting to Adak….they were trying for a direct route to Dutch Harbor but couldn’t make it…..they went through 2 severe Lo’s and ran from several others….at one point they had 50G70kt winds for 40+ hours…..got knocked down twice even while hove to…..wow!!! They did sustain some damage and will take some time to recuperate and figure out repairs. They did tell us they know of 12 boats crossing….about 8 are still out there…..and they have started an SSB net that we will join so we can stay abreast of the latest and not feel so lonely out here!!
Also, during the evening, Justin and Michael delivered to us some fresh produce….bananas, lettuce, plums, nectarines, carrots, broccoli, califlower and a zucchini….plus Michael’s wife made us some outstanding halibut cakes!!! Wow….such hospitality, kindness and friendliness….we were touched indeed….welcome back to USA!!!!
The Plan: Today we traveled 61nm to Bechiven on Atka Island….more on that in the next blog. We left a day earlier than planned from Sweeper Cove which was disappointing especially since Justin was ready to show us a lot more….arghhhhh!!! But, the West winds are still blowing and we thought we best make tracks while the going was good….yep, we are all a bit tired of some of this rough weather and the stories from the other boats make us cringe!!! Tomorrow, Friday, June 22, we will do another overnighter to Hot Springs Cove on Umnak Island….262nm, 34-36 hours….ETA, late Saturday afternoon. We will have to miss the town of Atka, supposedly an Aleut village with some history…plus Internet and a decent store…disappointing to miss….but we are about a week away from Dutch Harbor so we can get everything there we need!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!!
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