As we made our way towards Dutch Harbor the real Bering Sea came to life, the ship rocked back and forth and the front bow was closed off due to the roughness. It was nice to experience the Bering Sea as most fishermen face on a daily basis. Of course, it was even nicer to have had such smooth sailing on the Healy. Still the rough seas drew a large crowd to the bridge to watch in awe as wave after wave crashed into the ship bringing water and spray onto the bow and even spraying the windows of the bridge.
The bow is sprayed with water as a wave crashes into the ship.
The heavy rocking from side to side made it hard to walk and even harder to get from deck to deck. It really was a good thing that we didn't experience this for the whole trip. This rocking did make it easier to fall asleep even though it was still daylight as I went to sleep for the last time on Healy. It was hard to realize that by morning we would be docked and the excitement of being on land and heading for home eased my mind as I drifted asleep. I don't know exactly when we docked but it was a weird feeling to wake to a very stable ship and to having my roommate in the berth.
Looking out the porthole and seeing land was a welcomed sight. Maggie and I were excited to spend the day exploring Dutch Harbor. The ship took on a new atmosphere with everything packed away in the main science lab and people saying goodbye. The hustle and bustle was contagious but we hesitated to disembark. I suggested that we might as well eat lunch on the ship and enjoy the company of those that had stuck around on the ship. It really was a surreal experience to leave the ship that had been my home for the past six weeks.
Port of Dutch Harbor with the ever present fog and fishing ships.
Yet, I won't lie it was great to think of getting the chance to talk to my family and getting to take a nice long bath. So Maggie and I got a taxi, bid farewell and headed to the Grand Aleutian Hotel. It is funny how our journey would end exactly where it began. It got even weirder because I ended up in the room Maggie had at the start of our adventure. We called home and then headed out to do a little exploring.
Alright, who am I kidding? We needed some retail therapy. Plus we had plenty of people back home that we needed to get a token of Dutch Harbor to bring back to them if we needed to rationalize our shopping spree. We even had a chance to go to the Museum of the Aleutians and learned quite a bit about the history. We both bought a few things in the Museum store and enjoyed talking with the staff. Time went by quickly and we came back to the hotel and enjoyed dinner with a few other comrades from the Healy. With good food and friends, Maggie and I both headed to our rooms and agreed to meet for the buffet the next morning at 10AM.
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