Yesterday began with a three hour nap in the Anchorage airport waiting for my 6:00 AM flight to Kodiak. Mindy picked me up upon my arrival and we spent the morning searching for bears, catching a loose bird in the house (yes it's true!), and talking about the sinking of the Magnum. It's been great to see Mindy, Mitchell, and Calista again. They are special people. I haven't seen Dale yet since he's out catching salmon on board a boat called the Captain Kidd.
Today I am leaving at noon to go spend some time with him on the boat out there. I will go down to a cannerey here in town and hop onto a tender. A tender is a larger boat that ferries fish back and forth from the canneries to the the smaller boats out on the fishing grounds. Using this system, salmon fishermen can spend more time fishing and less time running into to Kodiak and back. The tender called the F/V Pacific Venture will take me on about a six hour run to Dale's boat where I'll get a first person salmon seining experience.
One of the most difficult tasks in writing the first draft of From the Wing to the Wedge has been to describe the fishing they were doing out there without ever having seen it personally. I'll use this experience to enhance those parts of the book and hopefully do a better job of describing what they do out here.
My next post may a few days away since I'm not sure when I'll come back in, but it should include some good pictures. I am posting a picture today of me standing next to the Cornelia Marie of Deadliest Catch fame. It is moored in the large boat harbor here. If you zoom WAY in, you'll see a salty old fisherman standing in front of it. OK, so I'm not salty yet, but just give me a couple hours!
Thanks to those that have signed up as followers to this blog. If you haven't done so yet, please do. I'm not sure exactly what the advantages are of following this blog, but it is kind of cool to see seven followers on there. Also feel free to post comments at the bottom of each blog. Finally, I'll remind again that if you're new to the blog it might be helpful to scroll down and read them in order. Until next time....
-Anchors Aweigh
That is so cool Jeff! The boys recognize the ship from Deadliest Catch! I hoope you packed your Dramamine for this leg of the trip!
ReplyDeleteHey Man- Jeff here! Second that on the Dramamine in those tough seas. Glad you made it safe and sound. I've been reading your blog- cool! Tell Dale and Mindy I said hello and see if you can get our camera from that kid. Bon voyage!
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