July 24, 2010 leaving Afognak;

Taking in the warm sunshine, as I stretch and become one with nature and going to the place that brings me joy - yoga on the bow of Equus is one of those places for me.

After a good night’s blow of 20+knots, we leave in the mist of an overcast morning and in our wake new friends.

A couple we met, he Michael from Fargo N. Dakota and she Natura a California girl. They are holed up in the middle of this mostly uninhabited remote wilderness island. Their neighbors; many salmon, dolly vardens (another type of fish), a Kingfisher (bird) couple, a few bears, and a familiar fox.

They work for Alaska Department of Fish and Game, ADF&G, they live in a quaint cabin next to the Afognak River; the cabin supplies all the creature comfort one needs to be quite content.

They have an outbuilding, originally used as living quarters for a second warden, being Michael & Natura are a couple, it was available for others needs. As they are both creative and love quilting, they have converted this outbuilding into a quilting studio.

They also have a greenhouse for fresh veggies, a smoke house, a 4-wheeler to get around the island and a banya, (sic?), Russian for a type of sauna. It is a small out building with a 55 gal. drum as the stove, large pot of hot water for moisture and bathing, 2 buckets filled with cold river water to help one sustain the heat of the spa and a couple of benches on which to sit. Of course a run outside and dip in the cold stream is always a refreshing bonus!

However, the night got away from us and we had to forgo this Russian spa. I was so looking fwd to the cleansing experience. However after a bottle of wine and a few martinis, the cleansing may have been for naught anyway.

Our dinner consisted of baked salmon, rice, salad, and a fresh baked chocolate sourdough cake and they were kind enough to give us our first sourdough starter mixture.

By the time we had finished dinner and conversation it was close to midnight and we wanted to get to the dinghy before dark, because our route out of this wilderness home was to navigate through some very tall grass and we were worried that we may surprise a sleeping bear. We hope to return for a visit later this summer.

The next evening we had planned to leave however the weather convinced us to stay and midday another sailboat came blowing in with williwaws up to 30+ knots.

Tamara is a 44 ft steel hulled cutter rigged ketch, owned by Nancy and Mark a couple who were just completing a 10 year high latitude cruising expedition. They spent the first several years in Maine and arctic Canada (Labrodor & Newfoundland) then across to the Azores, Canaries and back to South America and Cape Horn. After several years in Patagonia, they sailed to Antarctica, then back to Patagonia and on up through the Pacific to the Galapagos and Hawaii on their way to their home berth for Tamara in Cordova AK. (www.krillroye@blogspot.com)

What grand adventures we shared, we look fwd to sharing more as we both hope to be cruising the Prince William Sound area in August.

I close now for we are rounding the point and into our next anchorage Izhut Bay and then into Kitoi Bay. This is the spot we saw our first bears last fall.