After a rough night in the Sea of Okhotsk, the water has flattened off nicely. We've passed a few more islands, and now we're coming up on the southern tip of Kamchatka, a peninsula of spectacular snow-clad volcanoes. We've even had a fair smattering of wildlife, from watching the comical efforts of puffins racing across the water like demented paddle steamers in their efforts to get airborne, close encounters with dolphins and seals, and we've seen our first couple of killer whales, their distinctive sail-like dorsal fins slicing through the water.
The Russians have decided we're not allowed into Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy harbour until Monday morning, despite the fact that we could easily get there by Saturday night. The latest they could accept us Saturday is 1pm, which they extended to 3pm, neither of which we can make. So we're expected to anchor offshore until Monday morning.
We've accepted we can't refuel until Monday morning, but not that we can't go into a harbour and tie up. After all, Kamchatka is supposed to be very beautiful, and our hosts on the ground would be in a position to show us some of it on Sunday. But sadly that's been denied them.
We've pointed out that we're only a small craft which will be on the verge of running out of fuel, we've pointed out that the only anchor we have is a sea anchor designed to stabilise us in dangerous conditions. We've even offered to pay extra (they're charging us enough already) but none of these has persuaded them to make an exception for us.
Our options now are to make reasonable passage to Kamchatka and find a quiet bay somewhere, or to slow down. At the moment we're making just 10 knots, which will get us there on Sunday, but we have to find the happy medium fuel consumption-wise. It's possible to go too slow as well.
In the meantime, we can do no more than enjoy the starkly beautiful scenery and wildlife, and we'll worry about what happens in P-K when we get there.
Clive Tully
Copyright Clive Tully ©2002
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