July 13-14 Waiting out Storm in Yakutat Days 135-136
Everyone we met in Yakutat asked us why and how we had gotten there, and those with boats offered congratulations and came down to admire the boat and ask of our crossing. Immediately we were met by Les, who invited us up to his house for dinner and offered us bikes, showers, laundry (the village has none). A fisherman held up a huge fish to us and said “Do you like ling-cod?” I reluctantly had to refuse, as we already had more fish given to us than we could eat. Justin returned later from the head of the dock with a huge halibut steak, given to him from the pilot boat. We cannot believe the hospitality offered to us everywhere we go! Everybody we meet has been going out of their way to help us, and expect nothing in return except for our story. Not many boats make the Gulf crossing, and Yakutat rarely sees visiting boats in the harbor. Justin and I spent our two days exploring town, resting and preparing for the second part of the crossing. We hitch-hiked to the gas station to fill our jerry cans. Each way the first car picked us up, we really didn’t even need to stick out our thumbs. Justin found Yakutat to be one of the strangest places he’s ever been. It is an extremely remote coastal village where a gallon of milk costs $9.25. An unexpected window of weather appeared in the forecast, and we quickly prepared for sea. The good people of Yakutat have once again treated us kindly, and I will have fond memories of this strange mid-gulf stop-over.
