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The Campina Adventure
15:34 p.m. EDT Jul 1, 2003
Dutch circumnavigator Henk de Velde reports in from his Campina Adventure:
Unalaska is one of the 150 Aleutian Islands forming a chain from the mainland of Alaska and ending only a couple of hundred miles from Kamtchatka. All this islands are volcanic, some are big but mostly they are not more than pinnacles rising from the bottom of the sea. At the south you find the Pacific Ocean and in the north the Bering Sea.
This area is known for its fierce storms and inhospitable weather. Many years ago they were inhabited by 25.000 Aleut-Eskimos but civilization has wiped them almost from the earth and 2000 survived the invasion of the white men.
After the discovery by Vitus Bering in 1742 Russian fur hunters came in to hunt the millions of fur-seals and otters, using the Aleutians as slaves, to disappear again when wild life was almost distinguish. There was nothing more to hunt and most of the Aleutian villages were in ruins, leaving the death not even properly buried.
In 1876 the USA bought Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands from the Russians and new gold was discovered.
Unalaska is one of the bigger islands. Dutch Harbor s the only deep-water port in the Bering Sea and Dutch Harbor became the biggest fish exporter in the US.
The Bering Sea is well known for the biggest halibut in the world and there is an abundant of crab. Crab season is in the winter and is a dangerous job when winter storms follow each day.
No one knows exactly where the name Dutch Harbor comes from but it is said that the first ship Captain Cook saw when he visited the island was a Dutch whaler, although there is no evidence that Dutch whalers practiced in the north Pacific.
The town of Unalaska is connected by a bridge with Dutch Harbor. With Campina I am moored in the northern part of the harbor and its good I’ve got my Yamaha motorbike on board because it’s more than 4 miles from the town.
In the 3 weeks I’ve been here we had 4 sunny days, 10 rainy days, 4 windy days and 3 gales. But and that’s the Unalaska story the surroundings are great. Wildlife is abundant. On the mountaintops you see the snow.
I was sitting near a waterfall and saw the great Bold Eagle roaring through the sky. On a distance the top of Mount Makushin was shining in the watery sun. With Turk and Kazumi I climbed the Pyramid Mountain and don’t say that 2500 feet is no mountain.
For a flatlander like me his was a mountain. The view was great. A gentle breeze whispered and the view over Unalaska was great. With Gregg I went fishing for halibut but we caught cod. We didn’t go out to fish. He went out to be away from the noise of the town, he said. See www.volcano-bay.com
But the town is quite. There are only few people on the street. Unalaska is an experience for birdwatchers, fishermen and hikers. I would have loved to stay the whole summer period to explore the rest of the Aleutian chain.
The sailing will be rough. The anchorages exposed but sea otters will swim around my boat, sea lions will sun bath on the stony beaches and once in a while a whale will enter the bay. Clouds will roar above me. But I can’t stay. Russia is waiting and the Bering Sea is not a sea to take easy.
The 20th of June I was ready to go. Than a low pressure came up and delayed my departure. I got my Russian visa from the first of July till the first of October.
The Bering Strait is free of ice, but the coast of Siberia is still packed. Beginning of July I will arrive in Provideniya, the doorway to the Arctic Sea in the North.
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