The Ring of Fire

28 May The Ring of Fire

Written by Clay Hutchinson

Yesterday we set our clocks back to match the local time at Dutch Harbor, so we now have the privilege to experience our second Wednesday, May 27th. A Mulligan. We are making good progress towards Dutch Harbor, and the weather forecast continues to show favorable conditions. The normal cruising speed for “Starr” is about 8 knots at 1450-1500 rpms, but we are currently running at 1600 rpms and making about 9 knots in an effort to arrive Dutch Harbor before a forecast Easterly wind moves into the area.
At noon today we were abeam Semisopochnoi Island, one of the Rat Islands group. The name is Russian meaning is “having seven hills” and is pronounced semi-sah-puhch-n-oy. The island is located just over the International Dateline at longitude 179 degrees 36 minutes 03 seconds East, making it the Eastern most place in the USA. Here is some clever trivia: Alaska is the northernmost, easternmost, and westernmost State.

Semisopochnoi’s Mount Young, within an 8 km wide Caldera, is an active volcano that last erupted in 2023. Past eruptions have been pyroclastic explosive eruptions. Good thing we got past before the next eruption.

The Aleutian Islands are part of the Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire is a belt of active and dormant volcanoes that are formed by the subduction of the tectonic plates around the perImeter of the Pacific Ocean. Credit Wikipedia for these fine illustrations.

Well, that’s enough science for today. Here are some photos of some of our neighbors out here in the Bering Sea. The whales, Orcas, dolphins, and seabirds are guiding us along our voyage to Dutch Harbor.

                                                                                                                          Laysan Albatross

                                                                                                                        Laysan Albatross

                                                                                                   Short-tailed Albatross

                                                 Short-tailed Albatross

                                                                                                                           Humpback Whale

                                                                                                                                     Orca!

Related posts:

1082nm from Los Cabos, 09d 55.00 N, 122d 54.00 W – Friday, 23nd March, 2001 Mainland Coast of Mexico: Puerto Vallerta to Barra de Navidad – December 17, 2000-January 18, 2001 Seattle to Mexico – November, 2000 Seattle, Washington – September, 2000