August 26, 2014
Mitrofania Island, Alaska
Anchor position: 55 49.3' N 158 52.3'W
Grey and blustery conditions made for a slow start yesterday, we finally pulled away from the Sand Point dock at 11AM and hoisted sail. The forecast was for West 25 and 9 foot seas, perfect for a broad reach along the Alaskan Peninsula. Once away from the cover of Popof and Korovin islands LightSpeed was hustling along in the 9 knot range and enjoying frequent surfs into the mid-teens. As we neared the Kupreanof Peninsula the wind and seas picked up a bit making for some truly spirited sailing.
Our AIS (Automatic Identification System) alarm sounded indicating we'd be close to a collision with the 'Northwestern' in about 4 miles, I tweeted our course 10 degrees to open the gap to ~1/2 mile. As we closed with the Northwestern we could visually confirm that it was the 'Deadliest Catch' vessel owned by Sig and Edgar Hansen. This gave us a laugh as every night for the last few weeks we've watched old episodes of the Deadliest Catch and we're currently half way through season 3.
I was hoping to make Salmon Ranch Bay in Mitrofania bay yesterday as it looks to have lots to explore and good fishing, but we pulled into Mitrofania Island instead. Boy was that a mistake, with the West 25 wind and probably stronger winds overnight we had a restless night of sleep with williwaws blasting us, they weren't too strong, but the unnerving thing was we spent much of the night veering around and often pointing East or North.
This morning it's sunny and calm despite a forecast for West 20? We have the main up and are motorsailng toward who knows were, but maybe Chignik where the Silver Salmon should be jumping.
That's it for now.
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