Being Here

Alaska is always an adventure for the independent traveler. When folks are interested in visiting us for some portion of this boating life, we love it. It is always fun to share experiences. We remind ourselves, and them, that Alaska has its own plan; a perceived plan is not important. A day can turn into three. A week can turn into four. During any of those, we may see nothing but low clouds, rain, and fog. The weather forecasts are only good for about 3 days out, but even then, they are rarely spot on. A traveler just needs time to wait it out. It's also possible that you'll see a week of blue skies and warm sunshine, never needing to put on that rain jacket for a trip to shore or up to town. So, although you may want to visit that glacier, explore that bay, or watch the humpbacks in the water or brown bears on shore, it may be best to hang out at the local pub, play pool, watch sports, and have some time with the townies that know what they are doing. That's Alaska for you. Forget your plans, short term expectations, and your timeline. Just live in the moment. It a great lesson and feeling because it works.

There are exceptions. When the fishing season opens, the commercial boats go regardless. Their window to bring in "fish" is short. The season depends on the species, but at times they only have a few weeks to bring in their catch. It's their income for much of the year. When we arrived here in Petersburg, the harbors were full of big 65-foot fishing boats in full preparation mode - fuel being loaded, nets being checked, carts full of food coming down docks. Fast forward a few days and all the fishing seasons opened up. Almost overnight, the seine netters, long liners, halibut, cod, and salmon fishing boats left for their fishing grounds. They'll spend weeks out there, regardless of the weather. Often, they fish offshore during the day and then duck into the bays and harbors at night. They'll offload their full catches to a tender or processing boat and then continue fishing. They call recreational boaters "Pukers." Obviously because we can't handle the rough waters without revisiting lunch. We respect their right of way and admire their hard-working way of life. When we do get to swap stories, the fishing folk show respect back when they hear about the things we've done on Iolair. But today, sitting here in protected Petersburg Harbor while it rains, looking at the empty fishing boat stalls, I am just fine being a "Puker." Hint: there's a community cold storage just up the dock where we can buy the "catch of the day." Yum. 

  Our Puker rule: don't have specific expectations about how a week will unfold. This is a chance to live in the moment, and it can be truly spectacular when you do. On a rainy day we might sit back in a pub with a beer and think about all the grand things we witness when a moment presents itself. Many of the natural wonders we've been fortunate to see boil down to a little lucky timing. But the only way to really enjoy yourself up here is to count the time in the pub as one of them.