Alaska!?

View from the deck

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Nobody panic; the boat is still in Morro Bay (yes Morro, not Monterey Bay – I’m delinquent in my posts) and she’s still pointed South. Harry and I FLEW up to Petersburg, Alaska June 8-14. While Harry’s “About” section is still blank as of this writing, most of you know he fished commercially out of Petersburg for ~20 years (half-years, summer seasons). I’d been bugging him since we met to take me up there as I’ve never been, so the invitation to his Captain’s youngest daughter’s wedding was the perfect excuse.

I won’t judge if you have to look up Petersburg on a map; I had to before the trip even though we’ve been married 3.5 years. “Southeast Alaska” is interesting geographically – a string of islands that border the Canadian coastline – much closer to Canada than Alaska’s mainland, and at the top end of the Inside Passage. (While Harry occasionally fished on boats that went out in open water (i.e. Deadliest Catch), for the most part he was in these protected waters.) Some fast facts from Wikipedia on Petersburg: Population ~3000. Precipitation (any form) 183 days a year and 96 sunny days a year. Average temps range from 36.7 to 49.3. Fishing in Petersburg goes back over 1,000 years and is the largest economic driver today with top boats producing well over a million dollars per year from a healthy and sustainable fishery.

We managed to keep our visit a secret from the bride’s mom and dad (Harry’s old Captain) so rolling in that first day was a hoot. The reception was beautiful albeit cold (leave it to Alaskans to have an outdoor wedding!) and featured ~500lbs of fresh crab and shrimp (yum!).

Beyond the wedding, we still had a lot of visiting to do. We couldn’t go into town without running into Harry’s buddies and stopping to chat. It was awesome to finally put faces and give hugs to names from his many stories. An uncanny aside: Petersburg is known as “Little Norway”. My mother’s family is mostly Norwegian but settled in the Midwest. Just about every home we stepped into in Petersburg felt like walking into my family’s homes in terms of style and decoration, and I had my fill of Norwegian goodies that I haven’t had since I was a kid. It was a fun little time warp for me.

A bit of sightseeing and adventuring was had as well. Harry took me up to a lake that’s a short hike off the road where a small skiff sits with oars for anyone to use. I caught my first fresh-water fish (cutthroat trout) and we saw a black bear on the way! And best of all was when our hosts Casey and Holli (the Captain’s oldest daughter) took us up the Stakine River to their cabin for a night. Hello glacier, hot & cold spring hot tub, playing in sand dunes, waterfalls, and jaw-dropping beauty. What a treat! Another interesting event was the night I pulled ~40 porcupine quills from a poor dog’s snout while Harry, Dennis (Captain), and Mike (her owner) held her down. It turns out I’m pretty good at it, but sheesh that had to hurt!

Lots of thanks are in order: Holli, Casey & girls, Meg & Troy, Dennis & Heather, Jerry & Stacy, Bud & Audrey, Ryan & Tessa. Shout-outs to all of the wonderful folks we saw: Dan & Cheryl, Lad, Mark & Karen, Eddie, Glo, Rocky & Sue, Rocky L & Marva, Rodney & Irene Joe. And finally, thanks to Harry’s mom Diane (sent us up with wine for everyone, dinners for our layovers in Seattle, and airport dropoff/pickup) and Chris & fam (took care of Tuxie while we were away).

P.S. my phone got crushed on day 2, so pictures are few 🙁