life at sea on the bristol bay

it has been a while since i posted. hopefully some of you are still checking in. i have spent the past week fishing and figuring out how to get these sockeye salmon out of nets. the days are strange here in alaska. boats are only allowed to fish certain openings on the river in order to allow the right amount of salmon through in order to provide enough for the following year. so the fish opening can be anywhere form 8 to 4 to 12 hours. the openings are at strange times too. one was from 11 p.m to 4 a.m. we just finished fishing a 12 a.m. to 7 a.m. opening. today we transferred to the nushagak district and are waiting for it to clear. i have to head out now. i am covered in fish guts, blood and scales.

No time to Post

This is Dad posting for SeanyBigWave!!

After waiting patiently for Captain Dean to arrive for 3+ days, last Sunday was the eventful meeting. They struck their deal(got a raise after 1 day) and have been working non-stop for the week getting the boat ready an hence the reason for no posting.

Some important factoids:
1. Captain Dean snores like a grizzly bear-thank goodness for ipod earphones
2. Captain Dean starts work at 6am and ends work at 11pm-not much time to eat, but that has improved over the week.
3. The boat is about 28 feet long. It has a bucket if you get my drift.
4. The third crew member was to show up yesterday afternoon-Sunday. Sean and Dean were going out yesterday for a test run.
5. Captain Dean is type A and not a warm fuzzy, but Sean says that thru the week all is well-it better be they eat, sleep and work non-stop. He is in commercial real estate in Cour de Laine Idaho.
6. Captain Dean caught 175000 lbs of fish last year. They fish in groups in 4 areas and they are regulated by Fish & Game as to when the run is open/closed-so many salmon have to make it back up the rivers to spawn.
7. Sean is anxious to get out on the water and test his sea legs and stomach.
8. Planning to be home by the end of July-will be dependant on the season.

All is well in the booming metropolis of King Salmon and Naknek with Sean. He has learned a lot from Dean on boat preparation and fishing, but now is ready for the real experience.

More to follow...but the posts will now be intermittent as we most likely will not hear from him as frequently.

walking along the road

i was looking for a ride yesterday, when an old green bronco pulled into the turnoff and the driver said he would give me a ride after he bought some stuff inside the store. the back of the car was piled high with nets and fishing gear, so his buddy told me to just climb in and sit on top of all the stuff. the driver returned and with total dismay said to me, "you're sitting on the eggs!?!?" i did not know what to do. i was freaking out looking for the eggs until he started laughing at me and said that he was only playing with me. his name was ron. i asked him how far he was going and he responded by saying that he was shipping me to shanghai on a slave ship. ron was really kind. after he dropped me off, he told me to stop by his boat whenever for some coffee.

i am heading off tomorrow to meet my skipper, dean. we are going to talk about a contract and so it looks like this could be my ship. i talked with some people around town and they said dean was a good guy and that he runs a safe ship! well, that is all for now because i am getting kicked off in the library.

the sea is calling

yesterday was bitter cold. it rained all morning. someone said it thirty seven degrees outside. so i decided that hitchhiking would be miserable with all the rain and wind and it was a better idea to try and stay warm all day. an older man with a large, white santa-like beard came up to me as i strolled through the shipyard. "how ya doing today son?" "i'm fine thanks," i shivered my reply. he cracked a smile beneath his beard and asked me, "are ya missin' the california weather?" i smiled at his warmth, "yes, i most definitely am". i'm not sure how, but somehow alaskans seem to have a radar for people not from alaska. people especially seem to notice that i am from california. the other day a waitress asked me if i was from california. is it that obvious? oh well.

anyways, some news on the job front. i think i may have a job. i have been talking with a captain who is in seattle and is trying to buy a boat. i spoke with him this morning and said he was 99.9% sure he would be landing this boat and he would need me. so booyah! hopefully, this works out. he seems like a good guy. i am praying that this will be a good situation. i will call him back this afternoon and know for sure.

i, also, realized that i have not answered a lot of questions from the comments. i am eating. mark and i brought some food up and for dinner, i walk into town and eat from a multitude of restraunt choices, eddie's or the king ko inn. the mosquitoes are huge and everywhere. one of the deckhands on the boat next to me was bit by one and his eye was swollen shut. i'm staying dry. the rain is on and off. it is amazing how fast the weather can change around here. i miss everyone! until next time...

some light is coming

i thought that without my partner in crime, mark, that this adventure would be completely and unbearably miserable. however, i have survived and i am really enjoying the people i meet throughout the day. last night, i hung out with two guys in our yard, taylor and adam. taylor and adam go to washington state university. taylor has been fishing with his grandpa since he was thirteen and now he is runnning his grandpa's boat. both of them have been really helpful in offering me some advice on boats. also, they are both quite the sports fanatics and it was nice to talk about sports for the first time in a while with these guys. most fishermen i have talked to only talk about fish and having such a limited knowledge in fish, i can only talk around that topic for a few minutes. i also met a captain named john webb and his boat is called the webslinger. awesome. john is an older man with wavy red hair and a bushy red moustache. also awesome. one of his men backed out and he told me to keep checking in with him for a possible spot. this boat is like "the" boat in the yard. it would be a huge land for me if i could get on his boat. i met with another captain this morning about a possible spot. i have been super encouraged as i am meeting people who need to fill deckhand positions. i keep praying for that right boat and captain and a lot of fish in the net.

wandering, encounters in alaska

today is an awfully cold day in alaska. i woke up in the boat this morning freezing and the wind was howling outside. i have been pleasantly surprised by the people i am meeting here. most of the people my age have been really helpful and supportive. i met a guy named patrick. he is from minnesota and has been living all over the world, most recenlty spain and finland. he spent his past winter in north lake tahoe at squaw. he has been putting a good word in for me around town. i met an old captain named chuck on one of my first days here. chuck has been fishing for somewhere over thirty years. he has a great white beard and wears the same blue sweats and jacket everyday. yesterday, he invited me onto his ship for some water and a conversation. he was giving me all the advice about how to get a job on a boat. he told me stories about his time in vietnam, which he referred to as the university of southeast asia (we were talking about how i finished college), and the winters he spent on crabbing boats (the real deadliest catch). he has been a great person and everyday is offering me some new advice. i met andy last night who is the captain of his own boat. andy has been having some problems with one of his crewmen and may fire him and if he does i could be on his boat. i would be super excited about this and i hope it happens soon! my other new friend is named dan. he works in the control tower in the airport. dan gave mark and i a lift on our first day and since i have to walk past the control tower to the boat yard, i spend a little time in the control tower talking with dan and watching planes land and take off. dan's an excellent photography. he has spent a lot of time here and for people here all year, this place seems a bit lonely. i think dan has enjoyed the company. i'm praying that i get on the boat with andy and take off on sunday. i really like the sound of that.

well i wandered into to the naknek library to post again. today i am on my own. mark and i rock-paper-scissored for who would take the job offer last night and i lost. mark shipped out this morning at six a.m. our neighboring boat in the harbor took off this morning and gave my a lift into naknek (about 15 miles about the road from king salmon). it was the greatest feeling to be on a boat. matt, the skipper of that boat, has been teaching us a lot about salmon fishing. i have learned so much already. he has really been looking out for us. it was sad to see them leave today. last night matt went with me to me a possible skipper to make sure i was going to be in a good situation. the skipper didn't make it into town though, so hopefully i will get a chance to meet him tonight. matt is only 22 and he is the captain of his own boat. he has been fishing for since he was 13. anyways, i am going to wander the docks again today. i would be really stoked if i could meet this captain tonight and get onto his boat. hope the outside world is doing well. this town can feel like an island. i am more excited, though, about getting on a boat and starting the season.

alaska begins

so mark and i stepped off the plane and into a bug filled city named king salmon. the bugs are awfully annoying because whenever you are outside, they swarm around your face. we found our first home, the kirra b. this is our friend's boat that we are staying on until we find a job. we have been going back and forth between naknek and king salomn, wandering the docks looking for a job. we might have just received our first offer, which would split us up, but it may be a great job. pray for us in this decision that we will probably be making by tonight! we have met some interesting characters already. alaska is an interesting place. until my next post, i love and miss you all.