Back at Deep Bay, Atka

August 8, 2014

Anchor Position: 52 06.4 N 174 37.3W

Side arm of Deep Bay, Atka Island, Aleutians, Alaska

The wind shifted from S to W, so we moved the 15nm back to the side arm of Deep Bay to pick up my tools I'd left on the beach and do some more fishing. Yep, this is the same bay that channels a South wind like a demented demon, but in west wind it's really nice. The fog lifted, the sun came out and we had a glorious day exploring the lake above our little bay. The Sockeye salmon that had been schooling in the saltwater have now moved into the lake, so no more fresh Sockeye salmon dinners, it's just Pinks now which in the salmon hierarchy is a shift first place to fifth. But, we can't complain about fresh salmon dinners where the fish is still twitching when we pop them in the oven. Delicious!

The small stream flowing out of the lake grew considerably with all the stormy weather and the attendant rain. We were going to walk up the stream then hike around the lake when the idea struck me to drag the dinghy up the creek and into the lake. No small feat, but good exercise and a unique opportunity to explore an Alaskan lake. At the head of the lake I caught and released a few beautiful Dolly Varden and by quietly drifting along the shore we could see bright red Sockeye salmon guarding the reeds of eggs. Getting the dinghy back down the stream into the lake was considerably easier and we were back on the boat about 8:30PM, gotta love the long days.

Overnight it got a little gusty, but was mostly under 20 knots with only a few gust in to the low 30's. Normally, I might complain, but after the other night with the crazy weather, it seemed pretty tame.

The NOAA forecast:

PKZ175-081200-
SEGUAM ISLAND TO ADAK BERING SIDE-
304 PM AKDT THU AUG 7 2014
.SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT...
TONIGHT...W WIND 30 KT. SEAS 11 FT. PATCHY FOG.
FRI...W WIND 30 KT. SEAS 11 FT. PATCHY FOG.
FRI NIGHT...NW WIND 25 KT. SEAS 10 FT.
SAT...NW WIND 25 KT. SEAS 9 FT.
SAT NIGHT...W WIND 20 KT. SEAS 7 FT.
SUN THROUGH MON...W WIND 25 KT. SEAS 8 FT.
TUE...W WIND 15 KT. SEAS 7 FT.

Saturday night with W 20 is looking pretty good start the 48 hour run to Dutch.

That's it for now.

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