Dutch
Harbor, Unalaska
53°
54,355' N, 166° 30,657' W
One of
the reasons why we felt so at home in Dutch
Harbor was that, unlike
in Russia, we could actually understand what people were saying. And
what was most peculiar, almost every other person we met in town
spoke Finnish! This invasion by Finns was due to the Fennica, a
Finnish icebreaker that was staying in Unalaska for a few days.
Pekka naturally took advantage of the situation and got himself
invited to a genuine Finnish sauna aboard the Fennica.
Which brings to mind your homework! The Finnish word best known in the world is, of course, SAUNA. For Finns, sauna is not merely a place for bathing, it is a place where we socialize when in company or meditate when we are on our own. It is a place where we cleanse not only our body but also our soul and, therefore, for us the sauna is (almost) a sacred place.
The
other thing that made us feel so very welcome to Alaska was the
lovely harbour employee who, upon our arrival, showed us the most
protected place along the dock and the following day, had left in our
cockpit a box containing smoked salmon, salmon fillets, king crab,
and two bags of dog biscuits for Latte. If that's not hospitality, I
don't know what is!
We
stayed in Dutch Harbor for four days waiting for a weather window to
open up that would allow us to continue our voyage towards Kodiak,
and when we finally left, the day could hardly have been any better.
Although there was about a three metre swell left behind by a
previous gale which didn't make sailing very comfortable, the sun was
shining, the temperature was +11 degrees Celsius, and there were
hundreds of seabirds flying around our boat, amongst them both Laysan
Albatrosses and Black-footed Albatrosses. What a way to leave the
Aleutian Islands!
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