Time flies, whether you're having fun or not.

Hard to believe it's been almost a year since I last posted to the site.  I have no excuse other than I've been busy.  I had both of my children with me this year for the whole salmon season and it worked out great for everyone.  The only downer was, they had to leave early to start school on time.  I did have one issue.   One night we were running for the anchorage and I was able to see a boat's running lights from about 3 miles away, but I couldn't see the boat on the Radar.  Everything wears out after awhile so, after the season, I started shopping for a new radar. A new radar was almost $6,000, but for a few more dollars I could get a black box radar and an integrated and wireless nav system. Way cool!  Then the bridge watch went out and the new nav system didn't like either one of my two GPSs.  Go figure.  Any way, I got most of the upgrades done before I winterized and went home. I had to have the "hardware" removed from my spine in October and supervise the overhaul of six nets.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

It's that time, almost

The seine is finished.  Actually it has been done since around Christmas time.  It went together very fast.  A new cork line, rolling bunt, border collar, all new chaffing strip, half of the main body web, and a new 25 mesh strip. I also oversaw the rebuild of another seine for a good friend of mine from Kodiak.  I've known Sonny Peterson and his family since I first came to Alaska.  It would be impossible to tell a fraction of the shared experiences we have had over the span of forty some years.  Suffice it to say, they have been very good. Salt of the Earth barely begins to tell the story.  Sonny has retired and his son Howard now runs the family operation. I don't have a picture of the Raven or I'd post it.
Last week I took my new life raft to Tridents facility in Tacoma for shipment North.  It should be in Kodiak waiting for me when I arrive in March. 
This week will be busy, I'll take the seine to our Seattle yard for shipment North. It will be going on the Hazel Lorraine which is skippered by a very good friend, Scott Gilliland.  He will be coming out of the shipyard, sometime in April, after major reconstruction.  They pulled all the engines out of the boat, cut it in half, lengthened and widened it. All new engines, controls, electronics, you name it, they're doing it.
Time to go crawl back into bed.  The wind has finally stopped howling here.  I can never sleep when the wind blows.  Scared to death of dragging anchor I guess.  Old dogs and their foibles.

A New Seine, Well, mostly.

I have always been a "Seine Junky".  I have always been fascinated by the multitude of variables in net design.  I have seen great fishermen kick butt with a mediocre net and I've seen mediocre fishermen fail with a brand new custom built seine. But I've always believed, you greatly improve your chances of a successful fishing season by "knowing" you have a well built net.  That means every stretch (10 fathoms) of the seine is accurately measured and assembled correctly.  Right to the inch. The fist pic is of the Bunt, or moneybag end of my net. The larger blue line is 5/8" Blue Steel Spectra. 47,000 lbs. of breaking strength. The smaller  blue line which is "stuck" through the larger is 1/4" spectra, and also very strong. The webbing is 1.7mm, double knotted spectra.  15 years ago, the construction of the Bunt end of the seine would have been very different. It would have been entirely made of nylon fibers, At least 5 times as heavy (75lbs. v. 15lbs.) but at a fraction of the strength.  The second pic is of the cork-line border collar.  Instead of using #84 or #96 round braid "parachute chord" nylon I'm using a new extruded polyolefin fiber which is water proof, stronger and far lighter than the nylon. It's the sky blue webbing right under the cork-line. It's 5 meshes deep instead of 3, and the total weight of the collar was less than 100 lbs. for a net that is 1500 feet long.

I thought I remembered longer offseasons

It just keeps going faster and faster.  The oldest is off to college. We've been to visit her and she is alive and busy building her new life.  The youngest is almost taller than I am and enjoying high school. Their mother took a position at Western Washington University and I have already started on next years salmon stuff. It's time to rebuild the salmon seine. This will probably be the last net  I build for myself. I know It's going well when everybody complains about the mess in the driveway.  Anyway, it's a little hard to believe but, I have been playing on boats since I was 15 and I'll be 60 next month.  It's gone by entirely too quickly. I think when my oldest is done with college I'll hang up my rain gear for good.

Take a Breath

Salmon is just about over with for this year. It was an odd year, to say the least. The salmon never really hit the beach and ran. It was very spotty and inconsistent, at the start. They would show up at Surgeon Head one day and then three days later at Cape Kuliuk. They would be gone for a couple of days and then show up at Rocky Point.  It took a while, but we finally got the fish "dialed in" and the ball rolling in the correct direction.
The skiff performed flawlessly.  Better than I had expected. One float switch failed, but it was a backup anyway. I'm still having an issue with my refrigeration (high condenser head pressure), but I'll make some changes in the condenser bypass piping size which should give me more adjust-ability.
Having my kids, as crew, was a big learning experience. It was a lot like herding cats. The pluses far outweighed any inconveniences. They were, without question, the best deck I've had in recent years. No drug or alcohol problems, they didn't care how many sets we made or how much we caught in each haul. They could work in weather and they could handle any power-block speed I threw at them. The coolest part is, they're only going to get better and I have them for the next three years!

Catch Up, Again

The Salmon season is over for another year and, as usual, I have neglected to post on a regular schedule.  I left my laptop at home this year, figuring I could post with my phone.  Haha, not! So, I'll try and reconstruct the season from memory.
Our first outing was strait to the "Mainland" and Bird Bluffs searching for Sockeye.  The fishing is pretty good and things are going, relatively, smoothly.  I have switched to a different processor, (Trident Seafoods), after about 15 or 20 years with APS.  I don't remember the dates for sure.  Anyway, on the second day I slip and hit the back of my head on the pipe rail. Nice concussion and I'm out for about ten days.  Great!
Our skiffman had rotator cuff surgery in  January and he's having a little difficulty also. Off to town to recuperate and regroup. Once I felt up to working again we headed out. Second day out and the skiffman's shoulder is going  haywire on him, so back into town we go. He was worried he had reinjured the rotator cuff, but the MRI showed a nice repair, still intact. After the third time he had a problem we decided it might be better if he sat out the season. After the last shoulder incident everything went just fine for the rest of the season. The best of stories.  No breakdowns and steady fishing.  Enough to put a smile on a guys face. I'll put a little more detail in later posts.

4G!

The impossible has happened.  AT&T has finally gotten the new cell tower and network up and running. It's nice to be able to access everything I've been paying for these last couple of years.
I got into Kodiak last night, with my son, to get ready for salmon. My other kid won't be here for five more days, so its likely I'll not be ready for the first opener. I still have to put the skiff in the water and put the seine on the back deck. There is always something to do.
I'm using my phone to post as I left my heavy laptop at home. Six lbs was just too much to haul around in my briefcase when I traveled and there's just no room on the boat to set it up and leave it. I'm hoping to get a tablet soon. Way more better for a boat this size.