On the Boat

Sparky and Trond gave me a 15% raise this year! And while I'm grateful of course, I've noticed that somehow it still doesn't seem to pay the bills. So I have to have this other job so I can make the mortgage payments and put food on the table. This other job keeps me busy traveling around the state a lot. Alaska doesn't have many roads, so I end up flying in airplanes several times per week. But recently, I needed to visit several towns and villages along the Aleutian Island chain, and it was clear that for this trip, it was going to be a lot more efficient to catch a ride on the Alaska Marine Highway System's MV Tustumena. It was scheduled to be the final trip of the year out the chain for the Trusty Tusty before the fall storms make it impractical for the Tustumena to make the journey again until next summer.

Departing Kodiak in the early morning.

Old Harbor, on Kodiak Island

The plan was to complete the trip before the big fall storms rolled in. But it didn't quite work out that way, as we left Old Harbor and straight into the first big North Pacific storm of the season, with 80 knot winds and 22 foot seas. I was told several times, by several crew members, that the trip would have been cancelled had it not been the final trip of the year, with towns and villages in the Aleutians counting on the ferry making the trip. Lucky for me, I like big storms. So there was no place I'd rather have been. There were some very seasick people on the boat. I feel lucky to be someone who doesn't tend to get seasick. 

King Cove

In order to dodge the worst of the storm, we pulled into King Cove and tied up at the dock for 30 hours. According to the published schedule, I was to have 45 minutes in which to complete about 40 minutes of work. I was a little stressed about getting my work done in time to make it back on the ferry with such a short time in port. So I was pleased to hear the announcement that I would have 30 hours available for my 40-minute job. 

King Cove. I cruised around town with this yellow dog for a significant portion of our 30 hours in port.

False Pass. If you hike straight back into the middle of the frame and keep going, you're going to get into some very wild country!

False Pass. Do you want to go on a wild, remote backcountry adventure? Ask me about False Pass sometime and I'll recommend a spring backcountry ski trip across the volcanoes of Unimak Island from False Pass. I've never done it myself, but I've dreamed about it for years. Maybe if you do it, I'll join you. 

MV Tustumena in False Pass

Akutan at sunrise

The Russian Orthodox Church in Akutan.

These weren't the biggest waves of the trip, but they were pretty big anyway. They might not seem like much in this video. But remember, this is a very big boat. They would have looked different from the seat of a kayak.

Whenever the wind died down, there was always time and motivation for badminton.

The Trusty Tusty Crew: Terry, Jason and Christina

All in all, not a bad way to spend a day at the office.