Chillin

Yesterday we hauled the boat to put it in the water. 4:00 a.m. wake up to avoid hauling in traffic, followed by an hour and a half trip to Whittier, Alaska; the little harbor town tucked into the mountains and also known as the gateway to Prince William Sound. 

I have to be completely honest, I hate Whittier.

They overcharge for everything, it’s almost always pouring rain, the police will pull you over for an hour for not having a front license plate mostly because they don’t have much else to do. 

But you can’t beat the convenience.

In using Whittier as our launch point, we cut our trip to the fishing grounds to less than a three hour trip.

But of course it was rainy, and windy, and all of our chores had to be done outside. But we got it done and parked to boat in the harbor.

Fast forward to today, this moment even. I’m sitting in my bunk staring outside at the sun gleaming off of the snow capped peaks of the chugach range. The ocean is flat calm mirroring the shoreline and landscape around me. Birds are chirping and seals are chasing smolt in the surrounding waters. I just got back from paddling around in a raft and eating a double cheeseburger.

These are the days that remind me that this is the most amazing work environment in the world. Prince William Sound.

We can’t fish until Thursday so after we put the boat in the water we went home to say goodbye to our family. This morning we returned to Whittier with our food and gear for the trip, all thoughts on heading out to start the season.

The boat ride out was perfet. The breeze behind us pushed us along at a quick pace and the sights were endless. Sea otters playing in the rafts of popweed plucked from the rocks by the waves, and glaciers running down mountain sides to meet the ocean.

In less than 36 hours the hard work will begin. The long hours and patience testing work filled with physical exhaustion is soon to come. But for now, we’re gonna enjoy our time in a place that we can call our second home.