pre season #1

Greetings from the Bay, everyone. I’m sipping on a stiff cup of coffee brewed here in our small room in the bunkhouse, trying to figure out how to get even a sketchy internet connection so I can copy and paste this text from Word into my blog. This could be interesting.

It has been a good first couple of days. My flights were fairly flawless except for an hour and half delay in Anchorage which wasn’t all that unusual. The Pen Air flights leaving Anchorage for King Salmon, Dutch Harbor, Cold Bay, etc. are always late. Upon arriving King Salmon I grabbed a cab and made the jaunt to Naknek with all of my gear. As soon as we pulled into the AGS camp and I had killed almost all of the mosquitoes which infiltrated the inside of the van when loading, I was home. (It’s VERY buggy up here when there’s no wind.)

Dad is doing exceptional. He is at ease up here. The boat is purring like a kitten. We’ve been eating well. Father’s Day treated him well yesterday – a ton got done on the boat and in our net locker, and I took him to dinner at the only real restaurant in town, the D & D. We took the four wheelers down to dinner and afterward went for a cruise on a dirt road out into the tundra to a high point which looks over the town, river, and Bristol Bay. We then came back and kicked the crap out of Paul and Doug in a fierce game of best out of three cribbage. The night was rounded off by some priceless rowdiness and jabbering in the bunkhouse.

Projects have been as follows:
• Add a flow control valve (needle valve) to the hydraulic anchor winch
• Hang leadline on two fifty-fathom shackles of gear
• Install satellite radio on board
• Load nets on the boat before we launch
• Pass the Coast Guard safety inspection

Consider all of these items checked off the list. We are going to launch on this morning’s tide and will probably go out and have a shakedown cruise. At the beginning of every season there is continuous fishing around the clock before the season really starts – sometimes there are fish but most times there isn’t much to see – however it’s a good opportunity to go figure out what works and doesn’t work on the boat, get the gear in the water, etc. Starting Wednesday at 9:00am the free period ends and we go onto emergency order status. But today we may go try and catch dinner.

Plenty more to come. It’s beautiful up here. Hot and sunny, actually. I hope the weather’s good where you are.