Welcome to my 1997 Alaska Adventure!

Part 1 of 4
(Commercial Fishing Prince William Sound)

Enjoy!

First, the cast:  Me (Good Toad); my wife Kathy; Daughter Jen (11); Son Joe (14).  My mom (Leona); her husband, my Step-Father, Fritz Pfisterer; my sister, Bev; her husband, Milt Stevens (the Captain of the Harlequin); Their oldest daughter, Monica; and their youngest daughter, Tara; and Tasha, their lab.

This trip, like the previous one, began about 9 months before the trip. We knew that we had a lot of planning to do and we wanted to avoid a ticket fiasco like we had with the last trip.  The photos and stories we brought back from our first trip convinced my wife, Kathy, to join us this time. So, for the first time, my whole family was going.  Also, because of all the rushing around we did last time, we are planning an extra week this trip.  So, with 4 1/2 weeks to explore Alaska, we had a lot of planning to do.

We managed to secure reasonable tickets, from a reliable airline, so that shouldn't be a problem this trip!  Our plans called for starting with a commercial halibut fishing trip on Prince William Sound, aboard the Harlequin, with Joey and I (while Kathy and Jennifer joined my mom and Fritz on a cruise out of Seward).   This would be followed up by two weeks on the Kenia river for King and Red salmon.   Since this trip spanned our anniversary, Kathy and I were planning to take 3 days from the river to travel to Homer, Alaska, for a short vacation from the vacation.   After the river, I planned on settling a score with a certain mountain pass to be followed by a trip to Denali (aka: Mount McKinley)

Like 1995, this trip was one in a million.  While we did similar things, there was nothing about this trip that felt 'repeated'.  Even to the start of the trip.  While 1995 created panic with loss of tickets and concern of even getting to Alaska, 1997 boasted a more agonizing beginning than anything 1995 had to offer!  It all began with our trip to the airport in Boston.  We scheduled an airport limo (big van) for convenience.  We got the Boston with plenty of time to spare.  We checked our luggage, mostly coolers as our plan is to use the coolers to carry fish, should we get lucky fishing (we'd ship the clothing back).

Wednesday: A light dinner, off to our gate and boarded. Ready to go!  The plane was running about 10 minutes late (I was a little concerned about our connecting flight as we only had about a half hour). But we finally taxied out and waited our turn...
      ...and waited...
              ...and waited...

Seems Chicago was stormed in. We couldn't become airborn till it cleared and they didn't want to taxi back to the gate as clearance could be given at any moment. We sat on the tarmac at Boston for 5 and one half hours!   Our long day was getting so much longer!  Our only hope was that our connecting flight was delayed by the same amount of time.  I was really concerned about our commercial fishing trip.  Our whole trip is timed like a space shot! Milt and Bev

are getting the Harlequin ready for her trip in the morning with the plan to leave port tomorrow night.
It didn't take long to figure out we had missed our connection.  Once we got into Chicago, we discovered the earliest flight would be at 8am with a stop in Seattle!  We tried our best to sleep in the airport, but none of us really slept well, if at all.  I had already called Bev to tell her the news.  She was also concerned about us making the fishing trip.  They really can't hold up waiting for us, it would screw up all our other plans!  In any event, she would meet us at the airport, bring us home
for a quick shower then we would have to run right out to the train station at Portage Glacier (about a 2 hour drive), then a 45 minute train ride through the mountain to Whittier.  Gonna be tight, we can't afford any more screw ups!

Thursday: We arrive in anchorage and what do we have? A screw up! A bonafied, made in America, grade A screw up!  All of our luggage is missing, lost somewhere between Chicago, Seattle and Anchorage...  Thinking quick, we head to Bev's, shower then head to the mall for some basic clothing (we'll borrow most of what we need from Milt).  It's frustrating! We're missing all of our clothing, my 35mm camera, our warm outerwear, rain gear, gloves, boots, everything!  Plus, we had to say a quick goodbye to Kathy and Jennifer as we were leaving them with Mom and Fritz for a cruise out of Seward.  Too rushed!  After a frantic hour of showers and shopping, we are enroute to Portage.  At last, we get to relax after being up for almost 48 hours!  We get there just in time to catch the last train to Clarksville, er, I mean Whittier (there are NO roads to Whittier, train, plain or boat are the only ways in!)

Well, we made it! I don't think Kathy's too happy.  It's like we unceremoniously dumped her at mom's house for the weekend.   I'm sure she'll enjoy her trip though.  In fact, I kinda wish I was going too, as I don't expect I'll have much time for sightseeing over the next 2-3 days...

Milt and Monica met us at the station in Whittier.  We loaded our stuff on the Harlequin and set off for some ice for the hold.  4 skiffs worth (about 600 pounds)!  All of Joe's snow shoveling pays off!   After the ice, with our schedule running late, we had to make a decision: 1) Motor out 3 hours to our anchor point, baiting hooks the whole way and get to bed around 1am, or 2) back to the docks to sleep till 4am and head out then.  Troupers that we are, we headed out and began baiting...

Not much scenery when your baiting a whole rack of hooks... 

Monica cut the bait (herring) while Tara, Joe, Bev and I baited hooks.  (I spied a look at the Captain...   ...I swear he was steering with is toes, nursing a hot cup of coffee, watching the beauty around him...)  The tail sections were hooked through the end and back through the meaty part; the mid-sections were hooked widthwise, under the backbone; and the heads were hooked through the eyes and back through the gills (this specific hooking is to prevent the bait from coming loose while setting the line on the ocean floor).

When Monica cut all the bait, she helped us hook 'em.  We did about 1500 - 2000 hooks (the first of 2 sets), filling 5 large bins with baited hooks!  What a stinky, repetitive job!

Fortunately, we were covered, head to toe, in rubber suits.  When we were done we were covered, head to toe, in fish entrails and slime!  20 minutes with the bilge pump and we and the boat were clean - though I am sure it will be a week before I get the fine aroma of herring out of my hands...

After washing up and stacking the bait crates, we went to bed (man was I beat!)  Monica let me take the lower bunk, because I had so much trouble sleeping the last trip (1995) in the upper loft. I don't even want to talk about the large comfortable bed that Bev and Milt got...  Not two minutes later, there's Bev poking me -- "roll over, you're snoring!"

Friday: We were supposed to be up at 4am to set the first line.  I rolled out of bed at about 7am and said "Hey! what happened to 4 o'clock?!"

Wrong thing to say...

"Hell, most of us didn't get to sleep till 4 with you snoring!"  ...oops...  ;-)

Hey, I was tired!  I don't usually snore like that (no comments, Kathy!)  Monica said "at least it's better then when Big Jim was here with both of them snoring!"

Well, we had breakfast (danish), Milt took Tasha ashore for welcome relief, and we are now heading off to set our first line.   Once that is set, we will bait hooks for the second set.  The plan is that we will set the 2nd line, then retrieve the first.  Gut and clean the fish, bed, retrieve the 2nd set in the morning!  What an adventure!  Before this week is up, I'm sure to be a master baiter and a seasoned fisherman!

I'm up on the flying bridge as we motor out to our set point.  Not much to see, as the bay is fogged in.  I have noticed that there are many sea otters here.  They are adorable!  I also noticed hundreds of colorful jellyfish and even an eagle!

Tara finally woke up...  ...the first words out of her mouth?  "I didn't know a healthy man could make those kinds of noises when he slept!" (I'm never going to live this down!)  We spent a moment relaxing till we reached the point of our first long line.

Well, our first line set (long-line).   We used 4 (of 5) full skiffs of baited hooks.  First we attached a buoy to a flag staff, attached a leader line (buoy line) to it and overboard with it.  As the 1500 foot (250 fathoms) buoy line played out of the large plastic trash can, we attached 5 pound cannonball weights at 300 foot intervals.  As we got to the end of the buoy line, we attached a 15 pound anchor to the end of the line.  This end was also spliced onto the set-line on the main halibut spool (a spool, or fishing reel, 6 feet wide and 5 feet in diameter, with miles (literally) of weighted line).

(See figure, below, for details of what a set long-line looks like.)

Now we can rest for a bit before we bait another 1500 or so hooks.  The kids are playing Yatzee, Tasha is hungry and it's about lunch time. We have anchored about 100 feet from shore and killed the motor.  You can hear the birds calling and the water rushing down the mountains from the melting snow and glaciers (I recall the song phrase: "rushing like an avalanche coming down the mountain").

So peaceful and serene.

The water here is a pale baby blue from all the glacial silt, but I see no jelly fish.  We're anchored at Blue Fjord (pronounced: Fee - yord).    It's simply beautiful!

Just finished baiting a mess of hooks, took about an hour and a half.  What a stinky thing to do!  We're going to head out soon, to set the second line.  We may eat first.  Milt expects it to take 4 to 5 hours to bring in the first set.

We've set off to put in set #2.  The seas are getting rough.  There is a weather advisory out as well as a small craft warning.  The Harlequin is a...

Dolphins! Gotta go see the dolphins!

That was neat! the boat was being escorted by a few dolphins, what a sight!   - anyway, where was I?...  Oh! yes, the Harlequin is a small craft and subject to the warning...

Set #2 is in, gawd, I'm already getting sick of all this bait, and these guys (Bev, Milt, Monica & Tara) do this all the time! Better 'men' than I.  Now, on to set #1 to pull it up.

We've reached the first set and are approaching the flag staff.  The Harlequin will run up alongside the flag staff while we pull it, and the buoy aboard.  This thing is heavy too!  Once aboard, we detach both from the buoy line and put them away.  We then begin to winch up the buoy line, letting it drop into a large trash can, to be ready for another set.  We also have to pull 3 cannon ball weights from this line as we go.  When we reach the end of the buoy line, we have to detach the 15 pound anchor and the set-line.

The set-line is spliced onto the line remaining on the spool. While we traded off some, the initial players were: Tara on the spool clutch, Bev pulling hooks from the line, Joe and Monica detaching fish and putting hooks back onto the rack.  I took the Red Snappers and Halibut and put them in the appropriate totes awaiting cleaning.  Milt cleaned and threw them into the fish hold.  I also helped in the hold, placing fish evenly on either side of the boat, white side up.

The figure below lays out what the rear of the boat looks like, and what the positions are...

So, we begin pulling the set-line.  First, let me describe the situation here.  It's raining, the wind is blowing (COLD!), seas are choppy with 2-3 foot waves and swells approaching 4-5 feet.  I'm all decked out in rubber, from hood to boot, with rubber gloves and extension sleeves (keeps the fish slime off my clothes).  Bev made a very pretty pair of extention sleeves for herself.  They didn't survive the first set...   Under this I have a coat and 2 shirts.  Can barely move (you should see me crawling around the fish hold).

Anyway, after about 5 minutes, we start to see the first hook (no fish), then the second and so on.  Hey, we pulled up a 25" knot at one point!  with a small halibut to boot!  - now it begins -

More empty hooks than not, but we are getting fish.  A lot of red snappers, some black cod (have to throw these back, as they are out of season), and baby sleeper sharks.  The sharks are killed as they have been overrunning the Sound killing all of the fish.  They are not native to these waters.    Bev tells me that they have pulled up 6-8 footers before!

The snappers, when the come up from such deep water, are a sight and a half!  Their eyes are all swelled up and stick out of their heads about two inches and they have an air sack that swells up and protrudes from their mouth like a swollen tongue.  Ugly!

Milt is amazing at cleaning fish!  Of course, years of experience and sharp knives are a big advantage.  The seagulls are ecstatic with all of this, pulling and fighting over the entrails that are thrown overboard. 

Now the fish are coming up quick.  Mostly snappers still.  At one point I hear Bev call for the gaffe hook (must be a big fish!).  They pulled in a 60 pound halibut!  So, we're in full swing now.  Occasionally, I hop into the fish hold to sort the fish and flip them white side up.  It's so small in there, and with my hat on, I can't see the ceiling.  I keep bumping my head!  At one point, I was in a side section (the center is filled with shaved ice) and I'm trying to climb onto the ice to get out.  I keep

slipping on the ice and falling back onto the fish.  I can't get out!  Also, being so bundled up doesn't help!   Almost claustrophobic in there!

Well, after a couple of hours I start to get sea sick.  It got so bad at one point that I had to stop working and try to get it under control.  Hell, I haven't vomited since I was 13 years old, I'm not going to start now!  I had to get away from the fish, and I had to cool off as I began to sweat under all this rubber.  So I striped off the rain coat and opened my jacket.   Then I climbed up to the flying bridge and turned my back to the activities below.   With the rocking of the boat I didn't feel much better, but some.

After a bit, I heard Bev ask Milt if they should finish this set another time, when the seas calm down.  Milt agreed and they cut the setline and attached a buoy to it.  I'm on the bridge thinking "Thank  you, thank you..."  I was also feeling a little guilty wondering if I was the cause of cutting it short.

Now, everyone is working to finish cleaning the fish as well as the deck and themselves.  Bev begins to motor to Blue Fjord real slow.  She has to go slow while the crew is working on the slippery deck, least we loose someone overboard.  I go below and make my offer: "Look, I'll give you 10 bucks...   ...JUST FIND SOME FLAT WATER!"  Below, is a sketch of Blue Fjord, to help you visualize our setting.

At this speed, we really follow the swells and I'm not feeling any better...   Finally, the fish are done and the deck is clean and Bev gits the 'OK' to throttle up.  As soon as we hit cruise speed, my stomach settles down.  Not completely, but I do feel a lot better.  It's about 10:30 pm and as we settle into Blue Fjord and anchor up, I decide to bed down.  Still a little queasy, I hear everyone asking for snacks (candy)...   ...I just roll over and groan quietly...

I fell asleep quickly and woke after a long, much needed sleep.  I felt much better after that.  Bev & Milt were up and were pulling anchor to check the open water.  Leaving the kids asleep, I joined the working crew.  We motored out of the fjord only to discover whitecaps and stiff winds.  Back to the fjord to wait it all out.

It's now 1:00 pm, the kids and Bev are playing May-I (a progressive rummy card game), and Milt is sleeping below deck.  The rain is falling, the wind is blowing and the salmon are jumping.  Damn, but I'm loving this!

SATURDAY: Well, after a most boring Friday, we awoke at 5am (went to bed at 9pm) to a dead calm with just a tiny sprinkle.  Bev, Milt and I relaxed to a cup of coffee before heading out.  After a bit, we got the kids up and told them to get crackin', as we were ready to go.  Up anchor, swing the bow around and hit the throttle! We're off!  I take these opportunities to go topside for a cigarette.  Let the cool air hit my face and see what sights I can view through the fog.

As we come out of the cove, into the fat of Blue Fjord, we begin to hit some noticeable swells.  The further we go, the larger the swells.  I could see 4 foot swells smashing the bow, some times throwing water as high as the flying bridge.  I'm hoping my stomach will hold out this morning.

We've only pulled 1/2 of set #1 so far.  We still have one and a half sets to go.  There are a lot of little ducks in the water (they're cute!).  As we approach them, they dive under the surface to avoid our craft.  My knee hurts.   It feels stiff.  I think all of this bouncing around is affecting it.  I hope it holds out too.  Suddenly, the Harlequin swings sharply to port!  For just an instant, I imagined that Milt is having fun chasing the ducks...  Then Joey sticks his head out of the cabin to tell me I can stop preparing for the pull as Milt has decided the seas are too rough, and we're heading back.  I'll tell you, as pretty as this place is, I am getting sick of Blue Fjord!

So, we're anchored up again, watching the rain spit and spurt, hoping that the on-coming tide will ebb the energy from the sea.

Milt has been watching the far side of the fjord with his binoculars, gauging the size of the swells by the waves breaking on the far shore.  He has decided it's time to check the open waters again.  Anchor's away!  Let's see if this is the time to work!

Nope!  The seas are much calmer, but not calm enough! The kids are still napping (heck, thy slept right through the short trip out to open waters at full throttle!).  Bev is up, but Milt is taking advantage of this quiet time for some shut eye too.  Maybe I should, as well.

The morning dragged on to noon time.  Milt brought Tasha to shore for a relief break hoping to head out after lunch for another try.  As Milt came back he rowed the dinghy around the bow and began to bang on the hull, hollerin' "Hey! Let me in!" -- The kids slept right through it all!  Hell, Bev, Milt and I could fall off the boat screaming "HELP", and after 14 hours of sleep, these kids would sleep right through it all!

Well, lunch is over (FOOD got these guys out of bed!).  Bev is afraid that one more day here and we'll be reduced to peanutbutter and jelly!  No bread, just peanutbutter and jelly...

Anchor up, one more try!  Time is getting tight, creating several problems.   One, the longer the fish stay on the hooks, the greater is the chance that they will be eaten by sharks; and, two, we've already missed our docking time and had to report our delay.

We made it!  The seas were low and the wind light.   I didn't even get sick this time!  We went to the remaining flag staff of the first set and brought it in.  After 2 hours and many fish, we were at the buoy we attached to the other end.  We got about 20 more halibut.  Far less then they had hoped for, but more fish than I've ever seen!)  With the last fish in and cleaned, we striped off our rubber gear and clean up. 

Hell, I've been in the rubbers so long, I feel like an erection! 

Bev cooked up some caribou hotdogs and we inhaled them as we motored off to the second set.  We no sooner finished swallowing and we're there.   Back out and into our rain gear, pull the flag and hoist the line.  Man, it's hard to believe we baited that many hooks!  We pulled up a couple of huge sharks (9-10 footers) and one huge skate (similar to a sting-ray) that was 5 feet across the wings. We also landed our largest halibut, 70 pounds.  Not to mention 2 sea gulls from the first set.

They got themselves hooked as they dove for the bait.   This is an ongoing problem for fishermen, and there is a lot of research into how to protect the gulls from this suicidal act.  Anyway, the gulls weren't 'keepers', so we threw them back...

We also had 2 halibut that were hooked twice, in the lip AND the tail; and one that had 2 hooks in the mouth.  I was running the halibut reel.   You really have to pay attention with that thing!  I lost my train of thought and almost got Monica's hand hooked and dragged into the pulley.  I think she is quite irritated with me about that...

After I tired, I rested a bit, then took over removing hooks as Joe worked the reel.  From this vantage point, you get all the muck and jellyfish remains from the rope dripping on your head as it goes through the pulley.  Milt was the lead fish cleaner, with Monica as second-mate.  She does a phenomenal job lifting, cleaning and dropping them into the hold! Tara too!

It took 4 1/2 hours to pull set #2.  Hook after hook after hook.  You didn't realize how tired you were till it was all done!  We are beat!  We all helped clean the deck down, but the Harlequin will get a through scrub, bow to stern, in Whittier dock.  The only other excitement was Joey getting stuck by a red snapper (their fins are full of thorns). and I got nailed in the knee with 2 thorns which hurt like hell!

We hosed ourselves off, striped down to our damp clothes and went inside.  As everyone files into the cabin, Milt turns to me and says: "I've had to pee for an hour!"

OH! to be a fisherman!

First thing I wanted to do was wash my face! ICK! Then pee.   I also changed my clothes for the 1st time since Wednesday ('tis now Saturday).   It took a bit of work, but we got the kids to bed.  In the morning, I will take Tara back to Anchorage for a basketball game while Bev and the others off-load the fish and scrub the boat.

With the kids asleep we motor to Whittier.  Bev beat me at Yatzee.  We brewed a pot of coffee and are enjoying the quiet time as we head home.

My hat stinks.

This was quite the operation.  I hope Bev and Milt realize just how much this adventure means to me.  I am sorry that I will miss the off-loading and cleaning.  They are all a part of the experience.  Good night and good fishing, as it is now midnight and I think I'll turn in.

Well, I didn't turn in.  No way I was gonna sleep with the engine running, bow splashing and Milt navigating a 'Titanic Sinking' fog.  Hell, Bev was standing at the windows looking out for land masses at one point!  I went out for a cigarette and to feel the cool air.  The fog patterns against the mountains was stark and ghostly.  An eerie mix of silken gray wisps against a backdrop of jagged, snowcapped black mountains.  Truly beautiful!

SUNDAY: Typical night - bed at 1am, up at 5:30!  We have 45 minutes to catch the train to Portage.  Can't wait to see Kathy and Jen.   There are parts of this fishing trip they would have loved (not many), and parts they would have loathed (most), but I will remember it forever (with the help of this journal).  I wish I could have stayed to help offload our catch.  A lot of work, I'm sure, but all a part of the experience.

[If you've enjoyed this part of my journal (Part 1 of 4), please go onto Part 2!)

Copyright, ©2000, James M. Flis