What a week

Trial by fire. Kevin and I survived the first big push of fish, 12.5K lbs netted, landed and delivered. Sunday was a textbook beautiful day in SE Alaska, motoring out to the grounds it didn't seem like very fishy weather. After our first 45minute soak I learned it wasn't all about the weather, ninety fish came up over the roller, just enough wind to hold us off the gear while picking. My largest set of the previous week was for 32 fish. This was a whole different story. After that trickled down to forty fish and thirty fish sets, decided to go try a nearby nest of islands out in the middle, and got back into them. Largest set so far 169 fish, I guess 200-400+ can happen during peak chum run. Hope i'm out in the middle with plenty of room to drift and pick if that happens.

Learned a few things about wind and currents this week, floating over the net once while picking, grabbing the net pusher and sinking the corks down under the boat was a little nerve racking but worked well. Also drifted down on someone else's net way to close for comfort once while picking. The net acts as a huge sea anchor while it's all out of the water, when hooked onto it the boat acts as a sail and starts pulling the whole set, when everyone is floating along at the same pace it's not a problem. When I started picking the net it was like slowly removing my sea anchor from the equation. I'm still unsure if there were opposing currents or if I just started drifting quick in the wind, but by the time I drummed the last 10 fathoms of net on we were within 25ft of someone else's cork line, It was intense, no sea anchor = pick fast.

The second night I was able to sleep for two hours while Kevin watched a sleeper set drift out in the middle, the boat is attached to the net and his job is to make sure our flashing light at the other end of the net keeps it's distance and that we're hanging off the net right. Woke up to 140 fish in there, that was a great start to the day.

Third day the large area we were fishing in closed and the 'postage stamp' opened meaning lots of boats in a much smaller space. Got the web in the wheel, called over the Jacob to see if he could give me a tow, turns out his crew just went over board and the motor blew, I wasn't the only one having issues. Back on the Max Power we were able to free the net from the hang up by cutting a good bit out and started drumming on a 130 fish set, still unsure if we were dead in the water or not. Got our tender to tie along side and discovered that the prop was still turning well in forward and reverse. Idled into an anchorage and dropped the hook for the first time. Got in the water and cleared to prop shaft and rudder. Stayed on anchor for the night only to return to the line up at about 4:30 for a 125 fish set that sent us drifting into an area we'd rather not have been...

The Welder guy came down to the boat yesterday to move the level wind out away from the drum to prevent the last couple rows of corks from hitting the heavy hydraulic driven arm, bumping it off and sending it crashing onto the deck (which it broke a hole through in one of its crashes). Repaired the damage on the end of the net from where we had to cut it out from under the boat, and put a glass patch over the hole in the back deck...

I think i'm growing accustomed to the pace of fishing and frequency of projects and demands required to keep the show on the road. Maybe elephants can be eaten after all...

Finally some photos!

Just a few shots from the run and first days of fishing, more to come. This is quite a wild ride, reminds me of a quote from a former captain Greg Vietenhans "fishing is controlled chaos." At a glance it seems so simple, but there are a few hidden complexities to this lifestyle. I'm hoping the peak of the hill is close at hand or already behind me. Thinking about diving into the whale hole project tomorrow, we'll see what happens. Hatch project came out awesome and I'm confident that I'll be holding water where it needs to be, though only time will tell. Other projects on the horizon: gaining confidence to drop and sleep on anchor, fixing the net bar (while i'm setting the net, it rises up, and several times now my leads will loop down behind the net bar putting me in a very uncomfortable situation.) All and all the idealistic side of fishing is still shinning through the temporary chaos...thanks to everyone for staying in touch,

Adam

First $$$$	Set off the stern (back) of boat
First Deleviry

Day X (Sunday) Gone Fishing

Just talked to Skipper Adam on the good ship Max Power. His net is wet!! So far today he has brought in 60 to 70 fish. Mostly chums and a couple sockeye and a humpy or two. All is working well with the boat and the day has gone well other than putting up with some sea lions having lunch at Skipper Adam’s Seafood House (his net).  The weather has been good but he has spent most of the day in his rain gear.  He said this period would be open till Tuesday so ad $5.00 per fish he will be doing some serious fishing. Oh yes the pictures are not of Adam or his dinars. Just some stock photos
Monday: Sold my first load of fish. A little over 800lbs (paid for the fuel to get here) I just talked to Adam and he had first bout with reality. A humpback whale just cruised thru his net. He was just getting ready to try another set and see if the net works. If not the good news is the period is closing down tomorrow so while he can’t fish he will have time to mend his net and chase down a few leaks in the fish hold. REALITY! He is doing great and in good humor.

The Voyage North

Thursday May 10th 2010: Departed Bellingham along with the Brown Sugar (Bobby) and the Armada (Jacob)

Met up with the Buryl E (Guy Hoppin) Pictured above. Cleared Canadian customs in Bedwell harbor,BC. Ran until around 7pm over night in Buccaneer Bay, NE of Namino ,BC.At this rate we should arrive in Juneau in about 10 days. tommy

		________________ The_Fleet uncle_tommy_the_editor_& dad_Billy reporter_at_large_&_map_guy

 


View Adam 2010 in a larger map by Billy & tommy

Day II: 0700 Off and running towards Campbell river. Boat and crew(Adam) are 100%. Ran about 120 mi in about 12hrs.  (120mi / 12hrs= 10mph / 1.151 = 8.7knots) The weather was sunny, low to mid 60s. Called it a day around 9pm and dropped the pick (anchor) in ??? bay south of Port Nevill,BC. tommy

Day III: Talked to the skipper around 0700. He reported they were underway @ 0500(5am) partly cloudy and smooth seas. Possible weather problems ahead. Queen Charlotte Sound which is the first stretch of open ocean. Got to keep an eye on that! Stopped for fuel in Port McNeill,BC. Took on 353 liters. Wait! Another math problem:)
1 US gallon = 3.78541178 liters so 353Li / 3.78 = 93 US gallons
Distance Covered ~ 275Mi / 93G = ~3m/g
Wow that sounds like poor gas mileage but it ain’t a Preis So I guess that’s pretty darn good:)
Last Contact with Capt Adam was about 3pm. At that time it sounded like they were starting to cross Queen Charlotte sound. The weather was still holding. It should take around 4hrs for the open water crossing. At the time I talked to him our cell connection was very poor. He mentioned he was not getting any bars. So far the communication has been great and a lot of fun. Hopefully we will regain communication when they get back in protected waters back in the inside passage. One never knows when we will be able to communicate again . Sure hope it’s before he gets to Ketchikan,Ak . Let’s all keep our fingers crossed. If we do not communicate for a couple of days it certainly won’t be for the lack of trying. tommy

Day IV: (sunday) It’s 7am here in Seattle (mission control) and the fleet is still on the dark side of the moon.
1130am. Great news the flee has come out from the dark side of the moon. Adam just called and was coming up on Bella Bella,BC. They spent the night in Safety cove. Arrived there last night around 9:30 and after a good nights sleep the were underway around 6am. The weather is still holding. Once again life is good here at mission control. As I was thinking I might not make contact for possibly a couple of days. So far the journey has been great. Along with spectacular scenery they have spotted killer whales out of Bellingham and a number of groups of dolphins.
It’s now around 845 and the fleet is still on the dark side of the moon.    tommy

Day V: (Monday) 0545 No word from the fleet. According to my calculations they should be passing Prince Rupert around 2pm. From there hopefully I will get a progress report. Once again my math failed me. Billy heard from Adam around 4pm and they were shooting for  Prince Rupert. Called the Max Power and spoke with the skipper. He reported that they had spent the night in Swanson Bay (sort of close to where I estimated. The set the pick(anchored up) around 8:30pm and set out again this morning around 5:30am. The weather was still holding. Adam reported spotting a number of whales. He was thinking they would possibly be hanging in the Prince Rupert area. Possibly for the night and day tomorrow as there are predictions of strong winds crossing the Dixon Entrance. (more open ocean) Hopefully we will be able to get a little catch up time as there should be cell coverage in that area. Hey maybe if they end up hanging around Prince Rupert. Adam may possibly be able to get some WIFI and shoot us some pictures.
Special Weather Alert
Entrance to Cape Decision- 400 PM akdt Mon Jun 14 2010
...Small Craft Advisory due to seas tonight...
.Tonight...NW wind 20 kt. Seas 8 ft. W swell. .Tue...NW wind 20 kt. Seas 7 ft. .Tue night...W wind 20 kt. Seas 8 ft. SW swell. .Wed...W wind 15 kt. Seas 10 ft. W swell. .Wed night...NW wind 15 kt. Seas 10 ft. W swell. .Thu...NW wind 15 kt. Seas 9 ft. W swell. .Fri...NW wind 20 kt. Seas 7 ft. .Sat...SW wind 15 kt. Seas 6 ft.

Day VI: Decision made the weather is looking ok so it off across Dixon Entrance Adam called at1025 and said they were pulling out. Hopefully the weather holds to get across the entrance. Hey they are in great hands (Guy and Ann on the BurylE )
7pm: Made contact with the Max Power. They had a smooth uneventfully crossing of Dixon Entrance :)  Capt. Adam was giving a 9pm ETA in Ketchikan. They are planning on over night there and fuel up in the morning. We plan for a phone contact then. Hopefully our cell signal will be much better and we can fill in some details, facts and figures. All in all the day went great especially with all the worry about weather forecasts that did not materialize. “The Skipper must be living right) Also from this end family included it’s a weight of our minds that today was a success!

Day VII: (Thursday) On to Juneau!!!  Talked with Adam around 1130am (Poor connection) He said they were about 9 or 10 hrs out of Juneau. I put a approximate marker on the map. (the green pushpin)  I did not get where they spent last night. Hoping I would get a better connection a little later. It’s now 4pm and I tried to call , But got his voice mail. Hopefully  we will make contact later this evening and possibly then I can fill in some of the blanks.
7:30pm PDT = 6:30pm ADT  Talked to Adam he figured he was about 40min out of Juneau. He IS ready to call it a voyage!!! Tomorrow will be spent getting the boat ready to fish and start bringing in the MEGA BUCKS!!!

Day VIII: Hanging in Juneau Alaska!

Day IX: Hanging in Auk Bay near Junear. Getting the Max Power ready to go catch fish. Having a little problem getting all that net to fit on the drum. Hopefully pulling it in wet a few times will pack down the windings so the damn thing all fits.

Day X: Gone Fishing!!!!

Max Power!!

Getting my boat “Max Power” Ready to knock them dead in South Eastern Alaska

BEWARE Fish You can Run but not Hide

These are some pictures of getting the boat ready