Adak (Civilization)

Position  N 51d 51.712

                W 176d 38.055

Sorry for the delay in posting.  We got caught up in the “rat race of civilization”.  Not really but there are about 250 people here right now.  They do have an airport with scheduled flights twice a week.  They have a store, very limited Wi-Fi in the community center, a Mexican Restaurant, a Singapore-priced liquor store, and most importantly a fuel dock.

We arrived in a gale, at 0400 am (dark, wet and miserable) but we anchored and caught a couple hours sleep before coordinating with the port people on where to get fuel and where to tie up after.

After fueling and tying up to where they wanted us to be we went for a walk about.  Adak used to be a thriving Navy base and there are loads of vacant houses.  Some of them have asbestos in so are in a state of dis-repair and demolition, but some are rather nice.  As we were walking we saw a guy mowing his lawn and we waved. He quickly turned off the mower and came over for a chat.  Come to find out he and his wife just moved here and are starting some type of business.  They purchase one of the properties here and moved in permanently about a month ago.  But they had been coming to the island for vacations for a few years so they quickly gave us the low down, a map and some advice.  Their house has a good view of the mountain on Great Sitkin Island which is a beautiful snowcapped volcano sort of reminiscent of Mt Fuji.

From there we walked to the former Pizza Hut which now houses the store and found out it is open two hours a day from 6-8 pm.  We met up with our friends from Rhapsody and waited for the shop to open.  Meeting and chatting with some more of the locals.  After getting some essentials it was off to the liquor store to have a look for rum (our supply was deleted in Attu), but at $40 per bottle we decided sober was a good thing.  Then over to the Mexican restaurant for some burritos and enchiladas.  We love the fact a family with Mexican heritage settled here and opened a restaurant.  Great food and a homemade hot sauce that was worth every penny.  Then home for a major sleep.  The next morning didn’t start until lunch time! 

While we were doing chores two of the other boats that left Attu earlier than us arrived.  They had been exploring and island hopping in between Kiska and here so we were able to catch back up.  Then in for an impromptu party, which was aided by the fact that one of the fisherman came by and gave us some huge great slabs of fresh halibut.  So we partied until late. 

Today it is off for the internet and a chance to check weather, maybe some site seeing with our new friends this afternoon (if the weather breaks, it is raining right now).  And either tomorrow or the next day we continue our journey toward Dutch Harbor.

We are starting to think about how we are going to winter over.  We would love to find some winter jobs here but they are probably pretty scarce as most employment here is seasonal.  So we may put the boat on the hard and fly somewhere to try and find some temporary jobs to support us through the winter and hopefully have some cash left over for our journey next year through southern Alaska, Canada and into the lower 48.