And we sailed the Bering Sea.

On the 2nd of July, near 1400 hrs, after 3 days of waiting for the right weather forcast. Empiricus cast lines from the port of False Pass.

Crew Member Dan Duame flew in to join us on this leg to Nome.

Based on the recomendationds of some local fishermen, we set out to cross the last marks of False Pass, just after slack high tide. The depths were as little at 15 feet under our keel in 6-7 foot seas with shoal water all around. I was glad we made this run in daylight.

Approaching the shallows under a reefed main and power.

Once clear of the marks, we filled our sails with a steady Southwest Wind. we rode that wind for the next 450 Nautical Miles on a single Port Tack, making an average of 110 Nautical Miles per day. It was amazing. Weather like this is a gift and was enjoyed as such!

During our “Dream Ride” we took on a temporary passenger. This dirty Seagull sat on the stern for a while until Bruce decided to get closer.

I scolded Bruce for trying to eat our tired friend. I guess the bird took to me because he promptly relocated to my head as a perch!

He rode there quite contently. I shook him off after realizing the heavy bird was well fed. Letting him remain could have urned for the worse, so he was shook off, though taken as a good omen.

we spent the 4th sailing hard and enjoying festive foods. Such as Red White and Blue Pancakes!

But major celebration had to be postponed in favor of the compass. We had to squeeze every advantage from this wind while we had it.

My friend Mary Owen shared with me a little about the Bering Sea before we departed. She spoke of fog and wind. She was right. because thats all we saw for the first 5 days. Fog and wind.

Never the less. The Bering sea is a dream to sail. There is a steady lump of sea from the West that never subsides. It lies under the wind driven fetch at the surface. Like a wave machine drives it from foreign shores though the Shallow Bering Sea