A boy’s first Alaskan salmon is a coming of age milestone, like his first date, only less pretty, usually anyway.
A proud mother looks on.
She, Caleb (pictured), Andy, and myself joined an all day salmon fishing charter aboard the M/V Aurora that took us to the far end of Resurrection Bay, and beyond. Fishing was slow, slow for up here anyway, but by no means dismal. In addition to the haul the other fisher-people on the boat took in, our group of four managed to land ten silver salmon and many rockfish.
The murderous proof:
We fished among whales, one of which surfaced very close to the scrum of charter boats constantly maneuvering around each other to get over the “hole” where the fish finders indicated the salmon were. It’s an unsettling experience to be aboard a forty foot vessel bobbing up and down atop Pacific swells, and then suddenly see an oily-black behemoth longer than the boat itself surface not fifty feet away. It causes you to re-estimate quickly your position in the food chain. Not that Humpbacks are carnivorous, but one errant move by one of those beasts and you can imagine a boatload of people being tossed into the frigid water where hypothermia would finish them in fifteen minutes or less. Yet somehow the whales know precisely where the boats are and are not inclined to malicious behavior.
Captain Chris strictly forbade bananas on our boat. I had to jettison the three I’d brought in our lunch cooler before we departed from the dock. Neither he nor his deckhand, Shelby, would touch them. Superstitious? Possibly. But Capt’n Chris had anecdotal evidence associating bananas with bad outcomes on the boat, and sometimes associations are all you got.
The clouds parted briefly here and there to reveal some bluesky but closed up just as fast and the day overall was overcast. Still, it doesn’t get any better than this, zooming over Resurrection Bay powered by twin turbocharged diesels en-route to the silver salmon killing fields.
We fished til 4 pm then called it quits. All the way back to the port of Seward Shelby cleaned everyone’s fish. The endless draft of seagulls ensures that nothing goes to waste:
For this and his overall attentiveness to his customer’s wants/needs — bating hooks, netting fish, untangling lines, witty remarks — we all tipped him generously. Capt’n Chris, too, who contributed just as mightily to a very satisfying day on the water.
We had an absolutely great time with everyone last week!! Our typical vacation is toes in the water, tush in the sand, and probably a drink in our hand…. But this was something different, being an avid outdoorsman who likes to hunt and fish, this was a great experience. We loved the hike up Flattop and the sand dune, a fun drive to Seward (never imagined seeing topless girls in Alaska while eating ice cream!), walks on the beach, kayaking with our fearless guide, competitive (and never ending) Super Scrabble games, fantastic day of fishing with whales, sea lions, porpoises, selfies at Exit Glacier, train ride from Seward to ANC, movie times with wine and “shushing”, and fantastic food including our fresh “catch” of the day, great pizza, or even a bucket of “but”.. All of that in one enjoyable, busy, but yet relaxing week.
Our journey home was a bit of an adventure. Spending the entire Friday night until Noon Saturday trying to get out of ANC, finally getting to Seattle Saturday afternoon, then arriving at Chicago Midway about 1am, taxi ride to O’Hare at 2am, a few quick hours of 15 minute naps until 5am, and finally one last flight back to A-Town Sunday morning. Two nights of not sleeping, is not good for the body! Even writing this Monday afternoon, I feel a little loopy and out of it.
I just wanted to say thanks again for everything. You were great hosts that opened up your home and cabin for us to invade, and even took personal vacation to spend time with us and guiding us around the beautiful area. (Well Nancy that is, I’m not quite sure if Rod works or not yet)… I always felt welcome and this will be a great memory for a long time. I look forward to the day we hopefully come back and can share old stories and create even more memories. I love seeing Kelly and Caleb smile and enjoying this new path in life with me! This is a fantastic family and I’m thrilled to be part of it and hope to be for a long time.
Take care, we will miss you! -Andy