Date/time: July 7, 2006 12:00 local (z-9) Position at noon: 55D33'N 159D23'W False Pass to Noon 160 nm, 295 km Avg. speed: 8.0 kts Miles to Kodiak 294 miles Course bearing: 057D Sea state: SE swells 3' Wx: Wind SE 5 to 15 kts (10 to 30km) Water temp: 12.0D C Crew: Ben, Brad & Kevin the 'Salty Hillbillies' Remarks: A charactaristic of the North Pacific and Bering Sea is that weather can change for the worse more quickly than many areas of the world. We found that happening 3 times in 2 Days where it went from 0 to 40 and in one case 50 Kts (94 kph) in 4 to 6 hours when we were by Russia and again here Wed. A note from our friend Pat Hahn in Nome, 'I fished crab locally in Norton Bay, and it can get nasty very quickly. I also had a friend who sailed-up about 10-years ago who pitch poled (went end over end) 3 times on the return trip. Willie writes for a British sailing publication, and needless to say, there were no followers on his trip.' I had heard of a 110' fishing boat pitch poling in the Bering Sea with a companionship watching, and all hands were lost. But, all in all, we had a nice trip; and you have to expect a few bumps. It is a lovely, quiet harbor here at False Pass, population 63 with 6 school kids. Even the dogs don't bark. False Pass is the town in Isanotski Strait that divides the Alaska Peninsula from the Aleutian Islands. At Attu, we were about 1000-miles west, the outer end of the Aleutians. Yesterday we took the dinghy to shore, and went to the grocery store, but it is only open 13:00 to 15:00, so visited the post office and city office. 'City' is what they call it. Nice people and friendly fishermen. We pulled anchor at 13:00 and went across the strait and caught 2-halibut and 1-cod, then headed out. Saw a big Alaskan Brown bear as we left the Strait, feeding on a side hill. We are taking the longer, scenic route to Kodiak. We hope to see more wildlife, and get some protection if a big blow comes. -- Ben Gray Idlewild Custom Buehler 55 powered by a 55-hp Kubota Home port: Dunvegan, Alberta http://www.idlewildexpedition.ca http://dieselducks.com/Idelwild.html http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com To follow Idlewild with Google Earth: http://tinyurl.com/ksnhg For the Trawler M/V JPEG version: http://tinyurl.com/ovdt7