After the Aleutian Island diving trip and being at sea for twenty-four days straight, a break in Dutch Harbor was welcomed. Dutch Harbor is actually a small island connected to Unalaska by bridge. When I think of Dutch Harbor I think of eagles. They are everywhere. Bald eagles are gorgeous and majestic creatures and they are also creatures of opportunity in scavenging. That was my polite way of not just calling them dirty birds. Here is a shot of them gathering to pick off debris from a fishing net stretched out for repair. Neither traffic or me approaching with a camera phased them.
This shot was taken in the parking lot of the Grand Aleutian, which is “the” hotel in Dutch. Upstairs in the hotel is a restaurant that serves the best food in town with a nice wine list and you should be dressed in your finest fishing gear. My favorite spot for a meal and cold beverage is the bar and restaurant in the airport. Here you can have a great bowl of Vietnamese Pho’. Of course, anything that anyone else is cooking tastes great to me!
Most of my time is spent provisioning when we are in port. In Dutch Harbor there are two must-stops to hit, Alaska Ship Supply and Safeway. Between the two, any ship can get anything that they need from lettuce to foul weather gear. Alaska Ship Supply now has two locations, a large grocery store by the spit dock(the original location) and a brand new facility next to the Grand Aleutian and Safeway, which has all of their logo gear, great clothes and shoes, books for your nautical library and more.
These stores are located just down the road from the Museum of the Aleutians which is a must-do-stop. The museum is state of the art and well-maintained with all of the rich history of the Aleut people. Make sure you spend time and money at the gift shop! Here is a shot of me and the record holding halibut, all 459 lbs of her. Most amazing is that the fish laid and estimated 5 million eggs per year.
Well, we are now in the Bering Sea and I will send out some information on our current cruise and slip in some more foodie fun when I can. Bare with me as we are struggling a bit with bandwidth and internet connectivity. Right now the weather is amazing for the Bering with some sun and calm seas, hooray! You wouldn’t catch me out here in the winter with the Deadliest Catch boys….no way.
