The Nahku BAYkerRequest a Custom Loaf — $26
The Nahku BAYker

The Nahku BAYker — Wild-Crafted Sourdough from Nahku Bay, Alaska

Wild-Crafted Sourdough from Nahku Bay, Alaska.

Rare Bread for a Wilder Life.

Made by Michael Yee, one small batch at a time.

Request a Custom Loaf — $26Discover the Story

Made by request · Personally arranged with Michael

A naturally leavened sourdough loaf with botanical wheat-stalk scoring, dusted in flour on a wooden board against a soft forest background
Country sourdough, scored by hand. Baked on the shores of Nahku Bay.

01The Bread

A Little Different Each Time.
Remarkable Every Time.

Rye, wheat, white flour, and thoughtfully developed grain blends. A living starter, patient fermentation, and years of practice shape each loaf. What comes out of the oven varies with the week — that is part of the point.

A round sourdough loaf scored with a wheat-stalk pattern, dusted in flour over a deep caramelized crust
Wheat-stalk scoring, drawn freehand before the bake.
Two botanical-scored sourdough loaves on a wooden board, with Nahku Bay and evergreens behind
Fresh from the oven, above the waters of Nahku Bay.

The week’s varieties change with the season and the baker. Ask Michael what he’s baking.

Michael's active sourdough starter — bubbling and risen in a glass Weck jar, a band marking its level, on a weathered wood round
The starter — rye flour and Matthews Creek water.

02The Starter

It Started With a Little Rye and a Lot of Patience.

Michael wanted a starter of his own. He began with rye flour and water carried from Matthews Creek, at the head of Nahku Bay, and he fed the culture and waited.

For about a week, almost nothing happened. Then, in the second week, bubbles — small signs of a culture coming to life.

Over the years since, he has learned its rhythms the way you learn anything on the bay: by paying attention. He knows when it needs feeding, when it is sluggish, and how to bring it back to full strength.

That living culture is still at the heart of every loaf he bakes.

03The Maker

Meet Michael.

A life lived differently.

Michael standing beside a heavily loaded expedition raft on glacial water, with snow-covered mountains behind
Michael, on one of his many river expeditions.

Michael Yee has called Nahku Bay home for more than thirty years. Over that time, he’s built things with his hands, cooked, grown food, traveled, and explored some remarkable corners of the world.

Many of his adventures have unfolded slowly, on remote rivers and waterways, where days become weeks and the small details of a place start to matter more than the destination.

It’s a different understanding of wealth. Less about what you accumulate, more about what you experience, make, and notice.

That same attentiveness finds its way into his bread. The ingredients change. The process evolves. And there’s always something more to learn.

The same curiosity that takes Michael down a remote river is what keeps him experimenting with sourdough.

The Nahku BAYker numbered loaf tag — handwritten loaf, batch, and bake date lines

04Made by Request

A Custom Loaf, Made for You.

$26 per custom loaf

A one-off order, baked to your request — separate from the $22 weekly community artisan loaves.

Michael’s weekly bake follows his own selection of grains and recipes. For something more personal—a preferred blend, a particular occasion, or a requested pickup date—he bakes custom loaves to order, one at a time, when his schedule allows.

Each request is considered personally, with the extra planning that comes from making bread for someone rather than simply choosing from the week’s bake.

Email Michael to Request a Custom Loaf

No email app? Open a prefilled message in Gmail

nakubay@gmail.com

Michael will confirm what’s possible, the final price, and pickup details before accepting your order.

05The Neighbors

A Little Bread for the Neighbors.

Each week, Michael chooses a few of his favorite grain combinations and bakes a small batch of community artisan loaves for Skagway. These are $22 each, offered through his Facebook announcements while available. For a particular loaf or special request, Michael also takes individual orders through this website.