In September, about 3 weeks after our son Sean returned home from his engineering duties on the F/V Brenna A, he made a causal comment that he was thinking about going crabbing in January, on the F/V Jennifer A.
I said, "Oh, no. I don't think so, not gonna happen."
There was a pause, and he replied, "no mom, I'm serious."
For a brief moment, I felt sick to my stomach, turned to look at him, and yep, I could tell he was serious.
Plus he had the fool proof argument. He simply stated, "mom, I'm 20 now, and I can do what I want."
Half of me was scared to death at the thought of him crabbing in the Bering Sea in January. But the other half of me was proud that he wanted to take on this challenge, and learn for himself what the actual crab life/side of the business, actually entailed. Thus begins another season of change in the life of a family whose makes their living in the Alaskan waters.
Sean left Seattle on November 15, headed to Homer Alaska, where he met up with the Captain of the Jennifer A, Kjell. (The Jennifer A was moored in Homer after the summer tendering season.) The next day, the rest of the crew, Jose, Shawn, and Dylan flew in to Homer. Plans were to leave the next day to Dutch Harbor. But as always, there is more to do in town then there are hours for, when trying to leave the dock. Plus the weather conditions were calling for freezing spray until Sunday night. This crabby mama was glad they decided to wait out the weather at the dock!
One of the hazards of staying in town is you always find something you need...i.e.spending money.
But first a little history about Dutch Harbor. It's a deep water port that is part of the city of Unalaska, Alaska. Unalaska is the 12 largest city in Alaska, with a population of 4,500 people. The thing about being moored at Dutch is that things are spread out everywhere. Not having a vehicle can be a problem, if there is a bunch of running around to do, trying to get the boat ready to fish. A rental car can cost $1000 a week. The last vehicle we had up in Dutch, ended up dying a Fred Flinstone car death...the floor rotted out, and using your feet to push it along was an improvement on the way it ran. We've been looking for a good "Dutch" vehicle for a while now.
Well, guess what Sean and the boys found in Homer while waiting for weather...a Dutch Harbor truck. So now, you might be asking how are they going to get the truck to Dutch Harbor...by boat of course! The pictures below show Sean and the crew loading the truck on to the Jennifer A. (If you click on the image a caption will pop up, explaining what's what)
Sean says things are all loaded up and ready to go, and the weather is looking good, so the will head out of Homer tomorrow morning, with the next stop, Dutch Harbor. It should take about three days to travel there. They will be running at about 8 knots, which is just a little over 8.5 miles an hour...they be cruisin'!
My goal is to blog my way through my nerves as Sean heads his way up to the Bering Sea and fish crab in the Alaska winter. I'll blog a bit about what is going on here in Seattle and Brenna, Pat and I try to keep the paper side of our business going, and a bit about life with ALS.
Check out the pictures below and I'll report back with the journey to Dutch Harbor....please, no freezing spray.
I said, "Oh, no. I don't think so, not gonna happen."
There was a pause, and he replied, "no mom, I'm serious."
For a brief moment, I felt sick to my stomach, turned to look at him, and yep, I could tell he was serious.
Plus he had the fool proof argument. He simply stated, "mom, I'm 20 now, and I can do what I want."
Half of me was scared to death at the thought of him crabbing in the Bering Sea in January. But the other half of me was proud that he wanted to take on this challenge, and learn for himself what the actual crab life/side of the business, actually entailed. Thus begins another season of change in the life of a family whose makes their living in the Alaskan waters.
Sean left Seattle on November 15, headed to Homer Alaska, where he met up with the Captain of the Jennifer A, Kjell. (The Jennifer A was moored in Homer after the summer tendering season.) The next day, the rest of the crew, Jose, Shawn, and Dylan flew in to Homer. Plans were to leave the next day to Dutch Harbor. But as always, there is more to do in town then there are hours for, when trying to leave the dock. Plus the weather conditions were calling for freezing spray until Sunday night. This crabby mama was glad they decided to wait out the weather at the dock!
One of the hazards of staying in town is you always find something you need...i.e.spending money.
But first a little history about Dutch Harbor. It's a deep water port that is part of the city of Unalaska, Alaska. Unalaska is the 12 largest city in Alaska, with a population of 4,500 people. The thing about being moored at Dutch is that things are spread out everywhere. Not having a vehicle can be a problem, if there is a bunch of running around to do, trying to get the boat ready to fish. A rental car can cost $1000 a week. The last vehicle we had up in Dutch, ended up dying a Fred Flinstone car death...the floor rotted out, and using your feet to push it along was an improvement on the way it ran. We've been looking for a good "Dutch" vehicle for a while now.
Well, guess what Sean and the boys found in Homer while waiting for weather...a Dutch Harbor truck. So now, you might be asking how are they going to get the truck to Dutch Harbor...by boat of course! The pictures below show Sean and the crew loading the truck on to the Jennifer A. (If you click on the image a caption will pop up, explaining what's what)
Sean says things are all loaded up and ready to go, and the weather is looking good, so the will head out of Homer tomorrow morning, with the next stop, Dutch Harbor. It should take about three days to travel there. They will be running at about 8 knots, which is just a little over 8.5 miles an hour...they be cruisin'!
My goal is to blog my way through my nerves as Sean heads his way up to the Bering Sea and fish crab in the Alaska winter. I'll blog a bit about what is going on here in Seattle and Brenna, Pat and I try to keep the paper side of our business going, and a bit about life with ALS.
Check out the pictures below and I'll report back with the journey to Dutch Harbor....please, no freezing spray.
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