Back on land and Eastward ho

Alas, the drift gillnet season has come to an end for me this year. Some boats may still fish after the holiday, but the market price is terrible. Luckily for me, I wrapped up on a wonderful boat with a great captain (who rescued birds and blow-dried them so they could safely fly away) and crew (who I played Scrabble with ad naseum). To celebrate, I made swordfish cheesecake (sans fish extract of any type):

FYI, this isn't the final version...a major edit was required prior to me bringing it out. I didn't feel like a successful "observer" when I realized I had put 2 dorsal fins on a fish that only has one. There's an astute biologist for ya. Anyhow, I corrected it in time and saved face with the guys. Oh and I also must qualify, this cheesecake came out of the box and no baking was required...I don't do Betty Crocker on the high seas : )

The last week on the boat was amazing. The weather was great, and it was such a blessing to admire the historically full (http://living.oneindia.in/insync/2008/brightest-full-moon-2008-121208.html) moon out on the quiet and serene waters. I didn't know it at the time but I couldn't help but think I was witnessing something spectacular and awesome and beautiful. I just thought I hadn't been taking the time to notice before.

Along with the beautiful silver light, the full moon brings all sorts of interesting beasties up and out in the ocean. During our last haul, I saw worms and some other sort of "thingy" swarming in the water that was clear and leaf-shaped with a big pink dot at one end. By the time I had a bucket together to try and capture some, the sun had started to rise : ( This brought me back to my research days at the Salton Sea, when I would drive out on full moon nights to capture swarming nerieid worms to take back to the lab at school. Good times.

Yah, I DO think they're kinda cute

Thanksgiving came and went and I had a lovely time connecting with my extended family in Claremont, CA. Almost everyone flew out from Texas which was pretty neat. Hopefully the family doesn't mind being blogged on:

I especially had a good time connecting with my grandparents. And look how cute we all are:

Travel plans to Thailand are still on. I leave January 6th after a whirlwind tour of the parent's homes in AZ and TX (this is a surprise for my grandma so anyone reading...hush hush!). Juan, who I met in Kenya last year has already arrived and says the political situation is totally calmed down. I'll reunite with him and Laura at the IHF center in Chiang Rai, Thailand:

http://www.ihfonline.org/locations/thailand.php

It sounds like I'll have fairly regular internet access, so I'll try to keep the blog updated as much as I can. Love to all!

"Swordfish like Obama"

I'm back observing...this time it's in sunny Southern California, which is a real perk. The down side is that this fishery is a lot smaller and confidentiality is an issue so I had to sign a waiver stating I wouldn't bring a personal camera on-board with me. I may be able to finagle (?) this a little later on, but so far I don't have recent pictures. Hopefully my illustrious narratives will suffice : )

I have been on 2 boats so far, each of which were quite nice. I'm working on drift gillnetters targeting swordfish. Each evening, they put a huge vertical mesh net in the water thats over a mile long. Early in the morning, the net is retrieved and the fish are pulled on board. In addition to swordfish, we catch blue, mako, and thresher sharks, ocean sunfish, albacore, and occasionally (and definately not intentionally) marine mammals. My last trip consisted of 9 fishing days and there was one dolphin in the net. My duties required me to dissect it and collect certain specimens for the scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service Science Center in La Jolla-goodies like the adrenal glands, gonads, the stomach, a biopsy/blubber sample, and the entire head. It wasn't as difficult as I feared it might be; we had good weather that day which really helped of course. Although it is rather strange to root around in the guts of an animal that's still warm (you don't get this experience with fish)...

Speaking of being elbow-deep in blood and guts, I've decided that I'm ready to tackle the idea of learning to hunt and fish (this is coming from a gal that a year ago was vegan). The deckhand of the last boat and I fished for squid at night which was a lot of fun and gave me a real sense of sufficency in a weird way. I wonder if this is what outdoorsman get so worked up about. It felt good to know I could accquire my own food, and take responsibility for purposefully ending another creature's life. Now the calamari steaks are in the freezer, and I'm just waiting for my roomie Laurie to whip up a fabulous dish with it!

As I just alluded to, I have yet again moved out of my ex-boyfriend/business partner/co-dependant lifemate/best buddy Johnnie's house in Huntington Beach. I'm living with my good friend Laurie at her home in Long Beach, along with a gal named Nuala (a standard poodle). I love Long Beach, which is far more cosmopolitan and sophisticated than Orange County, and Laurie has a wonderful beautiful home that is full of love and peace. So far, SO good!

My next big plans are for a trip to the Thailand IHF center in January. I've already got the ticket, but haven't firmed up the itenerary. I'll definately keep you all posted.

Much love, and hopefully more soon!

"Home" safe & sound

I'm wrapping up my requisite "acclimation" week on the couch in my pj's as I adjust to my terribly hard Southern California lifestyle. I arrived home Monday evening, and have watched more television since then that I have in the entire year.

I have a lot to ponder as I resume my normal routines. At Costco yesterday I wandered by the fresh (?) seafood display...halibut at $7.99/lb! Unreal! Cheaper than right off the boat! Who are these people??? The scallops looked sad and slimy and discolored. I couldn't help but wonder where they came from and how long they traveled to get to our tables.

Today I finally succumbed to a semi-normal level of self-grooming and got my first manicure and pedicure in 3 months. Heavenly. It's nice to be rough and ready and tough and all, but what girl doesn't like pretty hands and feet? Besides, I've got a busy couple weeks of pool parties and beach time.

Me, hard at work

My last week on the boat was excellent, although unfortunately for the guys, a big storm came up and the fishing got pretty bad. We anchored up in a bay, where I took this adorable picture of them all working on the dredge:

We stayed there overnight because the weather forcast predicted winds of 70 mph. Not so nice. It was pretty nasty, but more than anything just sorta boring. We did a lot of sleeping, and I eventually got a game of Scrabble out of Malcolm and Jeff (I lost miserably). It was a full moon, and I remembered the last harvest moon that Tom pointed out on the boat exactly a month before. As we pulled out of the bay 24 hours later, there was some brief discussion over the radio as to whether we should trade some scallops for salmon with a small seiner boat a few hundred yards away. I thought that was pretty cool; trading on the high seas just like the old days.

I ended up seeing the neatest thing on my last haul. What is it? Well I don't really know. Some sort of nudibranch which are the coolest little guys. I was just thrilled.

Jeff sorts the world's crappiest haul

I put a few more pictures up on the website, and also some short videos. They're pretty basic, just me saying the same thing over and over ("It's my last day on the Kilkenny. *sigh*") and showing you my little reading nook in the fos'c'le as well as my knee, boot, book, etc. I admit, I'm not the most exciting filmmaker.

I've been accepted as an observer for the California/Oregon drift gillnet fishery targeting swordfish. The training starts on the 22nd, and I'll be based out of Long Beach. There's more shoreside work required of me, but I will be on boats out of local ports ranging from San Diego to Northern Cal. I think it will be cool to live close to home where I can hopefully pick up some contract work so that I can start saving up for Thailand! God willing, I want to try and spend Christmas there with the kids and have a reunion with my good friends Juan and Laura that I met in Kenya. We'll see...

Gonna be famous!

Malcolm took this picture of Jim holding an absolutely humongous scallop:

I thought it was a great shot, so I sent it off to National Fishermen (http://www.nationalfisherman.com/index.asp) and asked them if they would use it for their monthly "Crew Shot" feature. I also asked if they'd be interested in a short article about Alaskan scallopers and they said yes! Anyone out there who would be willing to help me edit a preliminary draft is my hero-email me!!!! I'm freakin out man!

Running out of titles but still loving life on the Kilkenny

I'm staying on the boat this time instead of schlepping all my stuff back and forth to the hostel...I'm really missing the highspeed right about now...Check out the usual link for even more fantastic pictures, it takes TOO DAMN LONG to upload them here but scroll down and check out the ones I was able to put in. They're pretty cute.

Contrary to my entry below (I didn't want to change content to protect my journalistic integrity ha), it looks like I get one more trip on the Kilkenny. Fishing this last trip was good enough to do it all over again; hopefully we'll get the same lovely weather but the forecast looks more like typical Gulf of Alaska winds and seas. Oh well. I'm just glad I get some more time in with this crew, all of whom I'm really growing to like. And just really enjoying my time reading, curled up on the bow of the boat in the sunshine. I finished the Kite Runner this week, BLECH not what I expected but still an ok read I guess (I'm right at the beginning here which is wht I look happy).

Random notes I made:
-I don't really like to eat scallops, which is ironic cuz they look exactly like my favorite food of all time, giagantic marshmallows.
-There was the most aesthetically pleasing balance of cotton-candy colors during the sunset the other night. The blue and pink/purple crests on the waves matched in perfect proportion the colors in the sky. Of course, I SHOULD have taken a picture to show you what I'm talking about...
-Caught the CUTEST durn snailfish in a tow. Should have taken a picture.
-I went to a really cool little film festival in Homer right before I left last trip. A short (or series of them, rather) definately worth checking out:
http://thepatternstrilogy.com/


8/6/08
As we near the end of what may be our final trip, I feel like I haven't documented all the extraordinary experiences I've had here on the Kilkenny. Nearly every tow has brought up an new and wonderful creature for me to ooh and ahh over...

"OOOH"

"AHHH"

Today we got a very large octopus on deck...I poked at him for a bit before tossing him back in the sea. It was cool to hear his suckers attach and reattach to the deck as he squirmed his way around.
The sheer magnitude of our catch overwhelms me when I stop to think about it...the amount of biomass out there in the ocean continually reminds me of what a big big world this is, and that I am only a small part. It helps me to alleviate fear I have about issues of LACK, that there won't be ENOUGH...enough gas, enough food, enough time...God's world is huge and there is plenty for all. The ocean is a constant reminder of abundance.
Today started off rather gloomy, and I didn't want much to do with observing at all. It was super hard for me to drag myself away from the bench in the galley where I had glued my feet to the stove (our only source of heat). After being on deck for a few minutes however, the SUN came out and life was good again. I really took for granted all the nice weather on our first few trips. All day yesterday was dreary and cold with a slight drizzle. Today was a definate improvement, but still damp as we were encased in fog all day. It was an interesting sensation, to have the sun shining on my face but besurrounded in mist...very ethereal. There was hardly any visibility because of the fog, so it felt like we were on a ghost ship, with nothing but the searoiling around us, the only thing in the universe. So romantic!
I'm reading an EXCELLENT book about fishing in Alaska, highly recommended for anyone who wants a taste of what it's like. It's a novel, but the fictionalchapters are interspersed with factual essays about various aspects of Alaskan history and fishing information. It's really well written. It's called "Highliners" and it's by William B. McCloskey, Jr:
http://www.amazon.com/Highliners-Classic-Commercial-Fishermen-Alaska/dp/1585740284/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218421033&sr=1-1
I hear there's a sequel which I'm very excited to find. I also read a book on the boat called "Trawler" by a Scottish dude named Redmond O'Hanlon which was a funny if not somewhat exaggerated (and very British) read about life on a commmercial fishing vessel: http://www.amazon.com/Trawler-Redmond-OHanlon/dp/1400042755
This wholeworld is just so fascinating. I also got a book at the Homer bookstore about women who commercially fish in Alaska. Unbelievable! I am just so curiousand awestruck by people who live this lifestyle. It truly has to be the most difficult, exciting, dangerous, thrilling, satisfying, dirty, uncomfortable,amazing way to make a living. I am absolutely in love with life and feel so so blessed to be experiencing this with my eyes open.
My typical day is to wake up about 7 or 8 (I get to set my own schedule with this sampling protocol-NICE) and eat some oatmeal while I finish up mypaperwork from the day before. The crew bounds out of bed around 4 or 5 to start working-on empty stomachs. They are so tough. Not I. I sample my first haul around 9, and then come in and have a hot breakfast with everyone at 10. I have to sample a total of 5 hauls per day, and the boat does on average about 10; one every 1.5 hours or so. Now that I have the routine down, it seems extremely easy and I often have a lot of time in between sets toread or stare at the sea. I love all the solitude and time I have to just think and talk to myself; I've yet to had a day where I've been truly lonely.The district we're fishing in now has a sandy bottom, so there's no mud to deal with which is a really nice improvement and makes for a lot less clean-uptime. As far as the actual sampling, it's really basic. I wait until the crew has sorted through the pile of scallops that the dredge has brought up,and then collect the leftover scallops. Here's some shots Malcolm took of me hard at work:These are then sorted into broken and unbroken baskets, weighed, counted, and measured. I also collect any crab bycatch and measure, sex, and age them as well. Once per day I do a haul composition where I weigh everything that comes up on deck. I talked to Fish & Game about counting starfish though since there can be up to 600 lbs/haul and I was breaking my ass trying to weigh them all. Yikes. This haul compis a lot of work, but also really neat, almost every one has been different. The diversity of animals here is just staggering. And hardly any dead fish,yay! I take a lunch break around 3, and try to get a jump on paperwork. We eat dinner around 9, and I clean up the dishes and the galley before my showerless cleanup routine (which involves baby wipes and cornstarch in my hair). I usually go to bed at 10 or 11. I'm so spoiled; the crew doesn't make it in until at least midnight, a lot of times later. They try and get 4 hours of sleep at night, and then go down for 2 hour naps during the day. These guys really are heads and tails above the rest, really truly genuinely nice men. All of them are married and totally respectful and cool and interesting.There are only 3 deckhands, the captain, and myself this trip, so it's a nice tight little team. I'm off to finish up my book and hit the hay.

Vacation!

After a fairly successful week scalloping, the guys have decided that they wanted to spend some time with their families. So I've got 3 days in Homer with absolutely no agenda!

I put a few more pictures up on the same link above. Note this especially cute one Captain Malcolm took of me and my Chionecterian friend:

There are a bunch of pics of our deckhand Ryan who left to go back to Maine last night. I decided to be the designated picture-taker (I AM my mother's daughter...) and document his summer experience for him.

So this was the record for no bathing...9 days! It wasn't THAT bad since we moved out of the district with all the mud but by the end of the trip I was starting to get a bit itchy. Literally. And my craving for attention and affection was this time directed at the crabs...yes I know they don't LOOK cuddly or cute but they sort of have the same reaction a dog does when you blow in it's nose so that's kind of fun.
On this trip I saw whales nearly every day, but of course I thought that would be a boring picture so I didn't take any. One morning, Nick (a member of the crew) told me to come out on deck and see the Pacific Dolphins frolicking around the boat. It was a HUGE pod, must have been 30-50 of them in the water. Those of you who know me well know that I generally snub my nose at elitist animals such as marine mammals but even grumpy old me was moved by the sheer number of these guys. They were just laughing and playing all over the place, it reminded me of looking at a schoolyard at recess.

I still love the boat and the crew more than ever and am a bit sad that this will be our last trip most likely. After that, I might try and do a short contract on Kodiak island before heading back down to sunny southern CA, where I think I've got another observing job in the swordfish gill-seine fishery that starts at the end of September. Hopefully since that's closer to home I can pick up some more contract work and start saving money like mad. I am bound and determined to make it to Thailand (SOMEHOW, by jove!) to meet up with my friends Laura and Juan and see another IHF center. Part of me just wants to buy lottery tickets but I know there's a plan for me somewhere if it's meant to be.

Scallop queen (and so modest!)

I've got some down-time in Kodiak so here's some pics I was able to post:

http://picasaweb.google.com/passionflower24/Kilkenny

Fishing has been great. The first week we started out in an area closer to Homer called the Shelikof strait. That Sunday, we came back and sold scallops directly to the public off the boat. It was so cool; very grass-roots and authentic and neat to witness a resource being harvested, processed, and then sold direct to the consumer. There's something very fulfilling about seeing the process.
The Shelikof area closed due to crab bycatch (based on numbers I and other observers were collecting) so we had to move further out this last week, closer to Kodiak. Selling scallops here hasn't been quite as successful, but it was really nice to get a break and a shower and visit with other observers at the bunkhouse. We're headed out tonight to fish and will be back in Homer next weekend.
Au revior!

Homer-bound

Well, tomorrow is the day I head off to Homer, AK. I'll spend a couple nights at a local hostel http://www.homerhostel.com/ before boarding my boat on Sunday and heading off to the Shelikof strait to dredge for scallops. Wahoo!

Yesterday I spent all day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center, which was really really cool:

http://www.alaskanative.net/

I first showed up and caught some of the young people demonstrating traditional native games. They were non-team strength based exercises. Here, they're trying to kick a target with one foot while holding their other foot. It was pretty amazing.

Me by a Tlingit totem pole

A scaled-down Tlingit lodge house

As usual, I had a grand old time at the museum. I could spend another day there as I didn't get a chance to see everything.

I made it! Again! But no cute pic of me with a certificate this time....

After a long and harrowing week of being tossed around by my employer I'm right back where I started. On the Kilkenny, out of Homer, starting fishing on the 6th. Whew!
The test went well, so now I just have to prove my skills as a Shellfish Observer to Alaska Department of Fish & Game so that I can get fully certified. They require a couple trips before granting full certification (which also comes with a nifty patch) which means that technically I'm still a trainee. I'm hoping I'll get enough experience over the summer to earn this so that I don't have to do the training course again.
I'm trying to decide how best to spend my remaining time in Anchorage over the coming week. It's cooled down, but still beautiful hiking weather. The problem is just getting around...rental cars in tourist season are hard to come by and really pricey. July 4th is supposed to be really fun in Homer, so hopefully I can find accomodations down there for a few days before my trip.
Life is good, I'm having a great time networking with other observers and friends I've made in Anchorage.
This job is so cool. Here's what "training" consists of:

Hiking in Girdwood, AK

Saturday, a few fellow observers and I headed out for the town of Girdwood, which is about 30 miles south of Anchorage to do some hiking. Girdwood is known for being an interesting mix between ski snobbery and funky old hippies...this is where the world-class ski resort Alyeska is located. Look, there's actually pictures of me! As you can see, it's gorgeous. I didn't take pictures of all the greenery, but it was like being in Jurassic park. In fact, we gathered the tender shoots of ferns (called "fiddleheads") with grandiose plans to fry them up for dinner. Instead, we opted for pizza and beer at the local pub : )

Fellow hikers and observers Laura, Andy, and Natura

Me and Laura get in the hand-tram

Away we go!

Back we come!

Today was the first day of training and while the material was interesting as usual, I'm a bit nervous about what I've gotten myself into this time. I saw actual pictures of the boat I'll be on. IT'S MINIATURE. The bunks are around the table! There's only one room that quadruples as a stateroom, galley, kitchen, and washroom (no toilet, just sink)! No faucets, just HAND PUMPS. Aaah! I've emailed another observer to ask her more about her experience on the Kilkenny because she really had positive things to say. I hope I can have as good of an attitude as last time.

I also went and saw a very moving documentary this evening called "At the Death House Door". http://www.ifc.com/atthedeathhousedoor. I found out about it at the Quaker meeting on Sunday-it was hosted by the group Alaskans Against the Death Penalty. I'd recommend it to anyone but it's definately not a "feel-gooder".

Back in the land of the midnight sun

After a short 6 week respite in sunny Southern California, I'm back up in Anchorage to train for another stint as an observer. Leaving home was harder this time, but now that I'm here I'm getting pretty excited. There's a great group of prior observers in the apartment and I'm having a lot of fun catching up on everyone's war stories. It's also cool to see the Anchorage that was hiding under the thick layer of snow and ice that I remember from February. The weather is beautiful, and I went on a hike at 10 pm yesterday which was fabulous! So far my sleeping hasn't been affected by the light, but it's certainly harder to make myself go to bed with so much fun stuff to do and broad daylight to enjoy it in.

Most of you know that this time I'll be working in the scallop fishery, which is managed by Alaska Department of Fish and Game. I start training on Monday here in Anchorage, and will probably leave for Homer, AK around the 30th so I can catch the start of the season on July 1st. That's if I pass my certification class of course : ). I'll be working on a smallish wooden boat called the Kilkenny, and it sounds like I'll have at least one day a week on land. From what I hear scallop observing is a lot harder than groundfish for a few different reasons. The scallops are collected by dredging the bottom, and a lot of teeny tiny invertebrates come up with the catch. It's my job to sort and ID these little guys, which can be pretty time consuming. But I'm very excited since all of my prior research and schooling has been with marine invertebrates. I personally think they are much cuter than fish or whales, both of which get way too much credit.
The other reason it's supposed to be harder is the physical aspect of the job. The sampling protocol is a bit more vigorous, and baskets are heavier. I'm looking forward to being superbuff by the time my contract is up.

I plan on doing A LOT more hiking, so I'll make sure to take pictures of the amazing views. No other big plans as of yet...I'm thinking of heading up to Fairbanks next weekend to float the Chena river. Yah it gets hot enough to get in the water!

The Endeavor is en route to Dutch Harbor to start fishing for Greenland Turbot. I talked to my buddy Marq on Wednesday and man am I gonna miss those guys. I know I'll keep meeting wonderful people wherever I go, but I still have such a hard time saying goodbye and moving on. And thinking that a new observer will come along and steal their hearts and they'll forget all about me...OHHH snap, the truth comes out!

And VERY exciting news from Kenya today. The children competed in a music festival and won in 2 categories, "sacred" and "folk". This is an amazing achievement. They have now qualified to move on to the next level of competition to be held in Kericho. If this speaks to anyone's heart, Carol and IHF is trying to raise money to get them new costumes and also get a recording of them up on the web. I'll keep you posted, it's so worth it, these kids can sing! I'm getting goosebumps remembering their voices.

Love to all,
Angela

Sleepy in Seattle

I'm writing at the Saltwater bunkhouse in Seattle. I've got the apartment to myself which is nice...all the other observers in town are out painting the town red so to speak. We're in the University District of town, which is nice because there's a lot of cool stuff within walking or bus distance. I still haven't branched out to the outlying areas like I wanted to, but I did see Pike Place market and a bit of downtown. Otherwise, I've sorta stuck to the neighborhood on my runs and adventures.
The parks and greenery here are beautiful. Everything is in bloom, and there are tulips and gorgeous flowers everywhere. I spent some time at a place called the Arboretum a few days ago and had a lovely walk through 200 acres of trees, shrubs, and flowers. Last night and today I attended a seminar on creativity put on by the Guild for Jungian Psychology at the Quaker meeting house, which was very cool. I'm planning on returning to Meeting tomorrow there as well (I went to last week's service too).
I started my debriefing yesterday and it went MUCH better than my little head predicted. I have an understanding debriefer who's familiar with my particular boat and it's challenges. She's also working extra hard to get me out of here quickly which is really cool. Maybe government employees don't QUITE deserve their rep...hopefully I'll finish up by Tuesday so I can get home and meet up with my mom for our Unitarian Universalist Women's retreat this weekend in the Angeles National Forest.
My plans for another contract are to return to Anchorage in June to train for the scallop fishery. There's a spot on a really cool boat that fishes out of Homer, AK, and it sounds like a neat experience. Scallops are managed at a state level, so I would be dealing with Alaska Department of Fish and Game instead of the National Marine Fisheries Service. This in and of itself is appealing!

Beaurocratic woes and link to pics

4/11/08 Right now we’re en route to new fishing grounds Southeast of an area called Yakatat. Fishing has been really good in the Gulf, and we’re just a couple days away from starting our steam back to Seattle. I’m really happy I get to go with the boat and crew down to the shipyard. We might take the Inside Passage which is supposed to be really scenic and interesting. A stop on Kodiak island came and went; I think we were only there for 4 hours or so. Barely enough time for me to go by the bunkhouse, say hi to some old friends from my training class, and then go to the National Marine Fisheries Service field station for a mid-cruise debriefing. I was sorta bummed I didn’t get anymore time to explore or go on a run, but if I decide to come back there’s a pretty high probablility I’ll spend some time there if I do another contract. We picked up a new captain in Kodiak. We also changed out some crew in Dutch Harbor, so the vibe on this trip is a little different. Still great, but I guess some of the novelty is gone. Today the weather is kinda rough so that’s affecting my mood too…I just want to get some aerobic exercise so bad! I ran around the bow of the boat a week ago and up steps and tried to jumprope but it really wasn’t that great.

4/12/2008 Today we pulled up our sister ship’s gear accidentally. They attached a pair of nunchucks theto the line. It was frickin hilarious...I thought they actually got dragged up from the bottom but apparently this is a common prank on longliners. It illicited stories of past items planted by the crew who set the gear so that the rollerman finds nice surprises when he's hauling it. Ha ha.

4/14/08 Steaming back to Seattle. I can’t believe that I did my last haul. I’m ready for land but already nostalgic for boat life already. Whatta journey.

4/19/08 Damn I knew this job was too good to be true. Things finally got unpleasant yesterday when I reported to the National Marine Fisheries Services for the first time. G-men! Hallways! Miscellaneous forms to file! Our government is crazy complicated and now I'm a pawn in the whole thing. Apparently things are backed up 2 WEEKS...I am debating how insubordinant I want to be since I already have a plane ticket home for next Saturday AND I JUST FOUND OUT I'M NOT GETTING PAID TO WAIT AROUND. Inconcievable!
My little head could barely handle the culture shock...imagine, early in the morning I'm on my boat, steaming into Puget Sound ahead of a lone killer whale. Me and Captain Jim are shooting the shit in the wheelhouse as the sun comes over the Seattle skyline. There are only 10 other people in my little self-contained universe. A few hours later, I'm desperately trying to navigate the maze of the NOAA complex, running from cubicle to cubicle in a massive government compound. When I finally find someone, I got all flummoxed and discombobulated trying to explain things about my data, like I had to learn to communicate in governmentese or something. It was uber-frustrating.
Today was a little better...I did some much-needed self care (a run, a meeting and a massage) so I feel slightly more positive. I'm still not really feeling Seattle though. Yeah, it's true, the weather is really sucky.
Pictures are up, follow this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/passionflower24/ClipperEndeavor

Land again!

March 18th, 2008 10:30 pm
Somewhere in the Bering Sea…

I’m writing this at the galley table on my vessel, the Clipper Endeavor.


I am having a fabulous time.

I never want to leave this boat.

Just kidding, it’s not ALL peaches and rose petals, but I really feel grateful and lucked out with an awesome crew and captain. I heard a bunch of horror stories when I got my assignment about prior observers’ experiences on this boat so I was really expecting the worst. But I came in with a positive attitude and tried to be as respectful as possible and gosh darnit it pays off to play Pollyanna sometimes!

The work was really hard and overwhelming at first. This paragraph from the Occupational Health Assessment that I had to have signed by a physician sums up the overall experience quite well:

“Observers gather biological data onboard commercial fishing vessels which operate in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Routine medical care is non-existent; emergency medical care is only available in extreme situations and may be days away. Observers spend many hours at a time in cold or wet weather in heavy seas. Meals are unscheduled. Good vision and hearing are a must for the safety of an observer. They may work long, odd hours seven days a week, and rarely sleep uninterrupted for 8 hours. Sampling requires lifting heavy baskets of fish (80 to 100 pounds) several times a day, usually from awkward positions. Motion sickness can be a real problem as it can cause dehydration and require medications. Life onboard a fishing vessel involves exposure to constant shipboard noise (engines, machinery, and gears) and vibrations and can be quite lonely and stressful.”

Check, check, check and definitely check on the “awkward positions” caveat. Thankfully I slapped on the seasickness patch about an hour before we left Dutch Harbor on the 5th. I’m really glad we did because it was a rough 3 day steam out to the fishing grounds, and I spent most of it in bed anyways. I dry-heaved once but other than that, did remarkably well and now I’m super comfortable and used to my sea legs.

Fishing has been slow, but this fishery is notorious for that so it’s nothing out of the ordinary. It’s sort of cool for me to see all the bycatch; we’re fishing quite deep (on average ½ mile down) so there’s some pretty weird fish coming up. I also got my first glimpse of killer whales about a week ago, which is bittersweet because they totally decimate our catch. Fishermen hate them. For the most part, my day consists of getting up, putting on dayglo rain gear that smell like fish guts, and tallying the animals on the line for set periods. Then I collect certain subsets of particular species and weigh them. Sometimes I get to measure them and cut their heads open too, which is freaky because sablefish keep moving after you chop their heads off. Then I’m in there rooting around in their brain cavity for these little bones called otoliths and I’m touching nerves and their eyes are jerking around and their fins are moving. Eek. I’m pretty desensitized to the death and destruction by now, and am happy to report that I’m completely over my dead fish phobia. Although I don’t think I’d be happy to find a saran-wrapped giant grenadier in my sleeping bag (which our cook Mark claims would be the TRUE test to see if I’m really over it).

It’s not unbearably cold or miserable, but I do get frozen when I have to sit and count and not move around. I guess I missed the icing over of the boat by a few weeks; the temperature is really quite bearable especially when I’m moving around and hucking big fish overboard. Be careful what you ask for from the universe- my only request for a boat was for some sort of exercise machine…I think I mentioned a Stairmaster specifically. Well, I got the only boat out there that you have to climb up stairs to dump stuff over the side. And so I do that 85 gazillion times a day. : )

03/24/08

I feel like such a weenie making this sound hard…what I do is a piece of cake compared to the crew…oh man I have never seen men work so hard. It’s simply amazing. And they tell me this is nothing; that during the Pacific Cod season it’s 5 times as many fish and they’re moving 3 times faster on ½ as much sleep. I really can’t believe the human body is capable of the stuff that these guys do physically. Well, and mentally too. They’re all such great guys, so sweet and helpful and cheerful. Sure, the fact that I’m the only living, breathing female in sight for hundreds of miles helps but they’re truly good people and I feel extremely blessed and well taken care of.

Yesterday was Easter. It was a really good day fishing, the best yet by far. However there was a report of 4 deaths on a ship that had gone down the night before. I still don’t know the details but the Alaska Ranger was a trawler processor for the Fishing Company of Alaska, and everyone made it off except the Captain, the Engineer, the 1st Mate, and a crewmember. It was a pretty sobering to think about and really shook me up for a bit.

Today was gorgeous and I had several “whoa” moments on deck. The sun was setting and pouring through the clouds like on a Jesus poster and there was an island in the background and the sea was perfectly calm and the seabirds were squawking and it was just really peaceful and beautiful. We finished up fishing in the Aleutian Islands so now we’re onto the Gulf of Alaska. I’m really happy that I get to stay on this boat for another trip.

3/29/08 I’m at a stopover in Dutch Harbor for the night before we go on the Gulf of Alaska trip tomorrow, so I can post…life is good, will report more in a month : )

Alaska from the air

We got the most awesome opportunity to go up in a single engine Cessna last Sunday. A girl I live with knows a pilot who works for an arial photography company, and he was cool enough to take 3 of us girls up in his plane. We flew to Talkeetna for pizza, and then came back:

Chugach Mountains outside of Anchorage

Katie and Danielle

Our pilot Nick

View from Danielle's window

Denali (Mt. McKinley)

Welcome to beautiful Talkeetna, AK!

The main drag in Talkeetna

My bird's eye view of the cockpit

Downtown anchorage from above

Anchorage & the bay

Nick did a couple of nosedives so we could feel 0 g's...all the crap and crud floated out of the crevices in the plane and floated around. It was pretty wild. He also gave us a chance to fly the plane. It was amazing.

I got my assignment today. Next Wednesday I'll head out to Dutch Harbor, AK to board the Clipper Endeavor. It's 124 feet and has about 10 crew members. We'll be longlining for sablefish (also known as black cod) out in the far west Bering Sea. It will be a pretty long cruise; up to 50 days but every 2 weeks we'll head back into port to offload.

Hey I'm on Facebook now, which is much easier to use as far as posting pictures, so if anyone else is look me up!

Peace out,
A

I rock

Well, it's official, I made it. I am now qualified to count, sort, sex, identify, and dissect dead fish. I even got nifty little card and a certificate:

We are deep in the midst of Fur Rondy here in Anchorage. The city brought in a ton of snow and dumped it down the middle of our street for the dog teams. It was pretty neat. I didn't see the big race start, but when I was walkinghome today, I caught these guys racing around a track in a nearby park:

I also thought this was funny; check out baby strollers Alaskan style:

Today was a clear, beautiful day. I tried to capture the mountains but it really isn't the same:

I had a chance to head up to Palmer with a new friend today. It was an amazing and gorgeous drive. I'd love to get a rental car and do some travelling before I ship out, which will be sometime next week hopefully. I also want to get a day or two of snowboarding in.

I got an email from Pauline, and it sounds like things are relatively calm and she's doing well. Her and her husband have taken in an orphaned 10 year old boy whose parents were killed in the clashes. She's so awesome.