Hike

This was from a hike up to the ridge that rises over the house to the north. Once I reached the top, I could count 6 glaciers and see all of Juneau down below! The glacier snaking out of the mountains in the picture is the Mendenhall Glacier.

Instead of selling our crab directly to the processor at the dock, we have started shipping the catch to a buyer in Portland who offers a better price. The only downside is that the crab has to be packed in insulated totes and delivered to the airport by 4:00 AM. The alarm went off at 1:30 AM (after only falling asleep at 11:00 PM, and we spent about 3 hours packing them in ice and transferring our 2,400 pounds to a flatbed trailer for delivery. The cool part was this happened on the longest day of the year and it never got dark. We were slinging crabs around under the silhouetted mountains in a twilight of dusk. They were caught and delivered all the way to Portland in under 24 hours time. Pretty amazing what airplanes and automobiles can do!

The pics are from the last trip. Nikki tagged along with us, and Steve says he can't decide if I look like a farmer or fisherman with my hat on...haha.

Oh...I was eating waffles in the kitchen when I saw this bear stroll through the driveway. Steve and I chased it out of the cul-de-sac with Lucy (the dog) doing most of the intimidating.

Humpbacks!

We came across this pod of about 15 whales while running in the channel. Was hoping they were bubble feeding but looks like they were just cruising.

pics

week 1 done

Getting all the pots from land into the water proved to be very demanding work, especially the 120 pots that were stashed in the woods. We had to move them from the woods to the beach, the beach to the skiff, the skiff to the boat, from the stacks on the boat to the hopper for baiting, and then finally the last pick up to throw in the water. Talk about a sore back. The pots are bulky and the boat is always swaying back and forth, so my balance is improving quickly. I was standing in line getting some tea yesterday and caught myself swaying in the line like a drunk sailor. Even in the bathroom this morning, my mind was tricking my body into thinking the walls were moving with the water. The first two days launching the pots we worked 28 hours and slept 3! I was also fighting a cold that seemed to drain my energy, so sleep, eat work was my mantra for the week. Now that the 300 pots are soaking in the water, the two of us can run through them and re-launch in two days time. We will leave the house around 5 tomorrow morning and return late on Wednesday night. Probably back to back 15-18 hour days. This work is just as intense as green roofing or farming, but it lasts for many many more sustained hours. If you want to test your work ethic and durability, come work on an Alaskan fishing boat for a couple months. I felt tested everyday and kept the momentum moving forward with humor, food, and beautiful scenery. Our first haul averaged 3.3 crabs per pot for a total of 2,100 pounds of crab, after only two days soaking. Steve said this should double as we progress and let them soak for 7 days. This Sunday we start gill netting for salmon, which will add 3-4 days to our week. We will fish salmon for 3-4 days, then run through the crab gear before heading back to town. More pics to follow.

More prep

Today we put the boat onto the "grid" during high tide so that we could replace the propeller once the tide lowered. We also finished getting the crab pots ready for staging tomorrow and painted a new high water mark around the boat to discourage barnacle growth. Learning lots all the time. You can see what just one year does to a solid brass propeller...the new one looks nice eh? Excuse the quality of the photos, I took them with my phone. Season officially opens on Wednesday, so on Tuesday we have to ride about 3-4 hours to where 120 pots are stashed in the woods. More updates soon!

Alaska

It has been over a month since my last entry (I am especially sorry to those of you who have been eagerly checking everyday....haha), but I am finally in Alaska.

Steve didn't waste any time putting me to work. After spending the night in the Seattle airport, my flight got into Juneau at 7:00 AM on Thursday. We went back to the house for breakfast, and then headed straight over to the gear to start sorting things out. The picture (excuse the quality) shows what I have been doing the past three days: getting the 50 pound crab pots ready to launch on Monday. This involves checking for holes, repairing/replacing any worn out parts, and recording all the tag numbers. We have 300 pots total(the trailer in the foreground is only 60, just to give you an idea of how many I have to move around). We also replaced the boats batteries, got all of our permits, passed the coast guard inspection, and of course stocked up on supplies for our first trip on Monday.

We were all hanging out in the driveway yesterday afternoon, and all of a sudden Lucy (the family pup) raced down the drive way into the cul-de-sac. She was chasing a black bear out of the neighborhood and holding stake to her territory! I wasn't even here for two days, and I already had my first of many bear encounters. Last night Molly, Steve, and I went mountain biking with a bunch of their friends for Steve's 44th birthday party. I am surrounded by 3-4,000 foot snow capped mountains...this topography (and climate) is starting to get under my skin, and I look forward to a day of exploring.

Steve took the second picture over Memorial Day. Just wanted to show you the landscape and where we will be fishing. Looks nice, eh?

More soon.
:)