Tokimata's Travels

Nome is an odd place: their motto is "No place like Nome", displayed on the front of the Nome Nugget (the oldest newspaper in Alaska), and they have many such jokes, "When in Nome.... etc". There's an off-beat and very friendly air about the locals.

We arrived about 3.00 am in bright light still - the sunset shows as the sunrise begins - and on this morning very theatrical fiery colours lit up the enormous antennae, satellite dishes, ungainly huge buildings and all the rest of USA civilisation that is quite a shock after a week at sea... As we anchored just inside the breakwater at once there was a call on the VHF "Hi sailboat! Where are you from? Welcome to Nome"...by several different people, the locals are busy here all daylight hours which is more or less 24 hours....

Next morning we moved to the small boat harbour to find film crews all over the pontoons, as well as these strange un-seaworthy craft, low to the water with small upright wheelhouses and gigantic pipes all over the deck - reminiscent of those low stretched out bicycles....... next to us a flamboyant one, "Anchor Management�" was being filmed: they turn out to be gold dredgers! 63 are registered here according to the local paper (compared with 17 registered fishing boats, all crabbers), and more being created as the price of gold goes high and TV fuels this latest gold rush with the scripted "reality" show "Bering sea gold" being filmed beside us, something like like the long-running "Deadliest Catch", a rip roaring bloke-ish Alaska program, complete with swaggering "skipper" (we watched him being directed, camera crew crowding in on the small pontoon)... these are low vacuum cleaners with a guy in wetsuit on sea bottom under them hoovering up the sand, hot water and air being piped down to him, which is then crudely sluiced on board. Further out are bigger dredges that work all 24 hours ..

Soon came another crew filming "Dangerous Waters" for the Discovery channel of 6 young men trying to go around the world on jet skis. These guys went across the Bering Strait a few days before, had landed at Russia in fog, their cameras on their handlebars only to be confronted by a tank on shore, guns trained on them by surly soldiers and an angry army colonel who unknowingly picked up their small camera and stared down at it, big fur hat and handlebar mustache no doubt giving them great TV, then they were arrested and put in jail in spite of having visas pre-arranged... After 3 days there were sent back and with contracted filming deadlines looming were desperate for more footage and advice - they have decided to do the north west passage and soon were in the cockpit filming Pete showing them charts and giving wise advice. After that they were filming farewells with Pete followed shortly afterwards touching greetings "Hi we're looking for advice etc..." , all as if this is totally normal behaviour, the animated sincerity just getting more intense as the cameras roll...But they were very likable guys nonetheless!... And walking around town you see more film crews, French windsurfers looking for ice to sail amongst loading diesel into jerry cans while a cameraman muscles in behind... weird!

The customs officer here turned out to be very friendly and chilled out which was a great relief - he looked carefully at our cruising permit (with its expiry date of 13th July) and said nothing, and made none of the usual enquiries about firearms, nothing to cause any unpleasantness!

Altogether we had two and a half weeks in Nome, waiting for the ice around point Barrow to disperse and let us through. A friendly local family adopted all the sailboats and has treated us to meals, socialising with locals, as well as trips to see the sights, amazing tundra hills around this beaten up timber town, houses, machines and dereliction sinking into the permafrost, things kind of keel over and become submerged ... Pat and Sue's house has been a refuge and Clark and Kris too let us do laundry and watch the Olympics on their big screen. These guys including daughter Anna, are special and we're sure will eventually find themselves in new Zealand, they'll love it! We're looking forward to showing them around!

Four sailboats left Nome together, and after five days we reached Point Barrow, along with Sol the Danish boat, the Dutch a little behind and UK one ahead. We had good winds, sun and calm sea through the dreaded Bering strait (Tom played guitar on deck with the Diomedes islands in the distance). We saw Esperanza the Greenpeace ship gilding by quite close to us gleaming in the sun, returning from a survey of the sea bottom up where Shell hopes to drill, we chatted over VHF and wished them well... then fog and rain and wind, now overcast but mild ad this shallow sea still surprisingly calm.