Fourth of July on a Boat Out at Sea

July 4th

It has been hard for me to find what to write about aboard this boat. There is so much going on, I have a lot of stories, and the crew has been a joy (well lets call it interesting) to get to know. Due to the confidentiality agreement we sign with our contracts, there is little that I can write about that revolves around the fishing practices of the boat. Because of this, most things I want to write about or has happened that has dictated my mood, time in town, time not fishing at sea, and time spent fishing, is all related to the fishing practices. I am a lucky biologist. I got aboard a boat and fishery that is really relaxed yet unpredictable. Every day is different, but fishing has been rather casual. There is a lot of time spent reading books, listening and sharing music, and watching movies. We've had barbecues, some great Vietnamese fish soup, plenty of time in town, and done are fare share of fishing. This looks to be my last trip aboard this vessel. Weather is going to be the determining factor on what kind of time table I get put on, not fishing. The fish are there, we just have to be able to turn our gear and get to them. But the weather has to be on our side for this small crab boat to be able to do that.

The difference between longlineing pot gear and the crab pot gear you see on the Deadliest Catch is in the way the pots are strung together in one long string. If you've ever seen the Deadliest Catch then you see the hand on the rail throwing the hook at the bags for every pot. With longline gear, the hook is only thrown one time. Then the line on the bags is placed in the block and the line is rolled up onto the boat. Each pot is hooked onto the line about 20 fathoms (120 feet) apart from one another. The line is the key to bringing up the gear, if that line breaks, then there is only one more chance to pull up the rest of the gear by going to the opposite end, and start over. If the line breaks again from that side, the gear is lost. With large swells, a rolling boat, and a stiff wind, the task of keeping the line in one piece is much more difficult. With traditional crab pot gear, you don't have this problem because each piece of gear is separate from one another. If that buoy line breaks, then one pot is lost, not 20-40. Weather than acts as a much larger restriction within the longline pot fishery then traditional pot fishing. The advantages to the longline gear is in the rate in which a boat can turn the gear, and the elimination of time wasted looking for buoys and throwing the hook. So with the prediction of winds blowing 35-50 knots over the next week, changing directions from one day to the next, and the unpredictability of what we're going to be able to do, I'm not sure what the fishing is going to be like for the immediate future of this cruise.

It is July 4th though today and don't dare to think that being out to sea is going to stop a boat full of men from finding some way to celebrate the great American summer holiday. There may be no fireworks, its rainy, foggy, cold, and the boat's a rocking too much to have any sort of BBQ, but we've got some ribs for dinner that come out just nice in the oven. A couple of Seal Bombs (not designed to blowup seals, but only to scare them off the gear) take the place of snakes and sparklers as the "good stuff". In all honesty, everyone is just happy to be fishing and making money right now to care too much about the holiday. Of course my mind wonders back down south here and there, thinking of friends and family and the fact I could be celebrating with them, but I'll be home soon enough. Missing the 4th of July becomes less of a deal.

I know last year while I was out to sea for 45 days, a boat in the Bering Sea had to abandon ship, some of the crew was lost and most of you who heard the news were scared that the boat might have been mine. When things like that happen, everyone on a boat becomes somber and silently begin to cogitate. The radio woke everyone up again this morning about 1300 today. A crew member (I'm going to leave out all specifics) aboard a longline boat this morning fell of the side or back of the boat in their pajamas. There is nothing specific that I can say about this except that everyone aboard this boat has seen more than their fare share of this before. With a crew this veteran, there is no shortage of stories of lost friends, either witnessed or toasted in the name of later in town, who have fallen over the rail, or been killed while fishing. It's become a somber 4th of July as its very evident that the crews minds have shifted quickly to the past. Each possessing a mournful glaze on their eyes, and the mood is very unpredictable. But almost as quickly as it came upon them, its gone. Less than 30 minutes later, there seems to be no effects of the news on anyone. We're fishing, I guess it's expected. It happens. I guess it's something these men have had to come to grips with many times over many years.

Happy 4th of July everyone, I'll be back soon. Trust in that.

Casey

Kickin' The Blues That Can't Be Satisfied

The days have been starting to become monotonous aboard the boat. Each day seemingly a rip off of Bill Murray's Groundhog's Day. The same ominous grey back drop, which seems to have been stolen from a scene in a Hitchcock movie, looms around all view points and extending over horizon. Everyday is wet, grey and rocky. The weather seems to spit water at me from all directions like the war scene in Forest Gump. The wind has been a steady 10-15 knots. Just windy enough to make you thoughtful of every step and action taken to ensure no spilling of the morning-noon-3 o’clock cup of coffee. The boat rocks continuously with no end with an irrational rhythm. Rocking with just enough tilt and randomness forcing you to be mindful of every step and movement. Trust me, its as annoying as it sounds. My rack has the resemblance of the cut the beautiful assistant in half magician's cart. I have to roll myself into it every time I want to find somewhere away from the galley to run to. Getting out is a different animal. Usually ends with me conceding my pride and I send myself rolling, tumbling, and acrobatically springing to my feet from the 2 foot drop. I need more practice. Food is running low, and portions have been cut back a little. Not enough food ordered and stocked the last time we left town is considered the reason to blame. The books I have left to read just don’t seem interesting enough to keep my attention. And the nature in which I have to rest my head and contort my body if I am to watch a movie in my rack after the day’s work is done, has left the right side of my neck in a loop-swoop-and-pull kind of a knot.

Not so surprising I’ve started to ask myself if maybe I’ve spent enough time in the Bering Sea. Come August, I will have been at this job for a full year. I will have totaled upwards of 180 days of it at sea. Have I gotten everything that I set out to get from this job. Not having a familiar pillow and comforter that one can rely upon to be there when the day gets to stressful and worrisome, is starting to upset me. I keep reminding myself of the freedom this job allows when I’m done, but is that freedom still worth this to me. Is it worth 180 days of my life lived in this Groundhog’s Day of mine?

I woke up this morning sore and in pain. My shoulder hurting and my back yelling at me. The coffee burnt. The eggs dry. Out of bread for toast, and Ibuprofen stock low. “Haul 257” The captain comes down to tell me as I’m donning my Orange Unitard work suit that I noticed yesterday, has a growing hole in the crotch. I bundle up, throw the rest of the stale coffee down my throat quickly and without tasting it, grab my clip board and muster a couple of consecutive steps towards my position on deck. The first pot comes aboard. I press my finger onto the clicker duck taped to my clip board. Pot 1 of 52 down. Next Pot. Click. Pot Three. Click. Pot Fou... SPOUT.





Everyone’s head turns and there are two Killer Whales about 100 yards aft of starboard. They land the pot, and get on my feet from my spool of line I call a bench, too take a look.


SPOUT.





Again, this time closer, and I catch the very end of it. Now I’m racing back into my room to get the camera. I’ve heard other tales from observers of Killer Whales following the boat feeding from the by catch tossed over board, and I see a chance for some pictures.


I come back out to see all 5 guys out on deck staring out in the direction of the whales as I hustle aft to the rail on the stern of the boat (sorry no life jacket mom, but don’t worry, I shuffled my feet across the deck, I didn’t exactly run.... well I didn’t sprint...).

“Have they left?”
“No they’re... right there!”









This job has it days, weeks, maybe months, that are rough to endure. Mentally and physically challenging in ways different from jobs and day to day life on land in the city. Of course that can be left unsaid, but can’t really be understood until you yourself have been through this specific set of challenges. Throw on top of this fire the fact that I myself come aboard as an outsider. As the Government. Then sprinkle on the fact the boat pays my salary but I don’t work for the boat. There are obstacles beyond the obvious ones that come with life out at sea. It’s easy to forget the benefits and the experiences I am afforded to take home with me when I leave this job. The pictures, the hikes, new cities, new people, new foods, stories, and above all, the freedom to travel after a contract completed. For now that is good enough to keep him focused on what I am here to do, and what I am asking the job to do for me. For now it can fulfill that. The next move, the next step is around the corner though. Don’t for one second think I haven’t been plotting it. As soon as it’s set in stone, I’ll let you all know. For now, I’m just going to enjoy the occasional Killer Whale Spy Hopping in the distance (Yes I really took this picture).








- Casey Franklin

12 days later...

May 22

It’s now day three of my new assignment. A new boat, a new crew, a new type of fishery. I am a guest this time aboard a smaller pot boat fishing for Sablefish (Black Cod). Pot caught Sablefish is saved for the end of the season fishing by most pot boats. These boats are usually crab boats finished with their Oplio and Baridi Crab quotas. They switch out the pot launcher, drop off the crab pots and pick up the much smaller, circular Sablefish pots. By the size of the pot, a full one looks like it could only yield 30 to a total max of 40 fish.

This fishery allocates only very small quotas compared to the others I’ve been ridding along with. The fleet is small and the crew experienced. This boat fits that mold. The crew has been fishing for the last 5 months switching from one crab season to the next. This is the last fishing of the year. A month or so picking at their Sablefish and Halibut quota, and then its home for the next couple of months for most of them. The crew size is small, 4 deck hands, an engineer/captain (only for one trip), and the captain.

This crew and the job is really laid back, the mood very easy. Every crew member hails from a different part of the world; Vietnam, Samoa (not American Samoa, Western Samoa), different parts of Alaska, Washington, New York. The boat is packed with soda, snack foods, lunch meat, water, music and movies. Free reign has been given to me multiple times a day to make myself at home and take what I want. As always, this isn’t as hard of a way to earn a dollar as it seemed like it would be when I signed up for this.



May 25
Today is one of those days where I wake up and remember where I am. Where the mundaneness of the everyday grind has faded away long enough to allow my mind put sentences and ideas together about my position in the world. “I’m in Alaska?” Is usually stated out loud as if this statement can’t be true. I’ve been at sea for around 120 days since the day I started this job back in August. When the fog lifts, the sun shines, the nearest bit of uninhabited land shows it’s self in the distance, cogs within my brain each rotating counter directions lock up; which queues my lungs to breath deep, my head to rise, my eyes to gaze, my nose to smell, and my mouth to utter those words, “I’m in Alaska?” Today is one of those days.

May 31
Two days from a steam into land. A day in port to get supplies that have almost run out. A day to catch up with the news. A day to stretch my cramped legs. A day, after 11 days at sea, and another 10+ waiting on the other end. I have been waiting for a day for the past 8 days. One man is running home once his feet hit the dry land. A 5 month sentence on the boat over and a 2 month reprieve with his wife, 5 kids, and motor-home on the horizon.

As for me and my sentence, I have 30 days down and 60 to go. I may change that. I want to be back here by August 1 for the beginning of longline season. This boat will have a need for me for another 3 trips at the minimum. That’ll get me to right around July 1st. My boss may be persuaded to allow me to go back to Seattle at that point so that I can debrief, brief and get back to Dutch for the next trip by beginning of August. This would give me probably 2 weeks in July to have to play, get a sunburn, and see friends and family. A 90 contract from that date would land me in Seattle right around Halloween. The one true schedule this job holds to is that there is no schedule. I can plan as much as I want to, but the likely hood of everything falling together is unusual. But that is the plan as of now.

Happy Anniversary Ben and Keri Saad. I think of the two of you often. For those who don’t know, Ben is serving is second deployment in Afghanistan in the Army. It was always Ben’s plan to be exactly where he is since he was in high school, serving his country as a helicopter pilot. Its easy to be proud of that man.



June 1

This morning we were getting the last of the fish into the live tank before heading back into town to off load and do town things, when the Coast Guard announced they were coming to board. Kodiak, Alaska is home to the largest Coast Guard base in the world. They board the fishing vessels periodically to make sure protocol is being fallowed and the vessel is up to code on the safety regulations. Last October I was aboard the Pathfinder F/V when we were boarded by the Coast Guard as well. I was surprised to see a familiar face among the Coasties, Brandon Sanford, a kid who I graduated high school with. Of course I was wondering if he was going to be among the crew that jumped on board this time.

Brandon sticks his head in the galley and starts spinning around, this time without that authoritative mustache he had been growing last Fall. It’s very amazing that two kids from the North Side of Spokane would run into one another two times within a years time in the middle of the Bering Sea. I have had so many “small world” moments in Alaska with the people I’ve met, but this one is the craziest. It’s good to see that this job of his has treated him well and has provided him a career he’s taken too.

I showed Brandon and a couple of the new Coasties around the boat, which takes all of 3 minutes. Then conversation turned towards our mutual friends living on land. Who’s are getting married, are married, who’s doing what, the natural small talk. Hard to believe that conversation would be taking place in the Bering Sea for the second time. After the inspection, and completion of the small talk, Brandon now an officer, takes his crew back to their skiff to ride back to the gigantic “mother ship”. I’m glad I got to see him again. Though we weren’t close by any stretch of the word, in high school, it was really good to see him again.

Now it’s time to finish the days fishing and steam back into Dutch Harbor for a one day, two night vacation. In this fishery, I don’t have any responsibility during the offload, there is a biologist at the plant we offload to that monitors, takes specimen samples, and all the rest of the dirty work. That leaves me to my vises; meaning a couch, the internet, and Sports Center.

June 3,

Looks like I'll be around land longer then thought. I'll be here for two days before we roll back out to sea.

- Casey

Kodiak, Gulf of Alaska, Whale Watching, oh and work ...

I'm just arrived in Anchorage from a 12 day at sea trip aboard a longliner fishing for Sablefish. The boat picked me up in Kodiak where we fished in the beautifully calm Gulf of Alaska. Once their alotted quote was met, the boat steamed towards Bellingham to offload their catch, but on the way they kicked me off in remote Yakutak, AK. Look it up on Google maps. You'll still find yourself saying, "Where is this....?" "Is this Canada?" I'll write later about the day I spent in Yakutak and the amazing ride into port along a pennusula covered with mountains and glaciers. I'll combine it with my flight from Yakutak to Cordava to Anchorage. Beautiful clear flight with some over head shots of receding glaciers among the vast mountain range of north, Southeast Alaska.

Here are writings from sea. As well as a few pictures. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think and if you have any other questions about the Gulf of Alaska. Tomorrow I fly to Dutch Harbor to get my next assignment.


5/3/09
Kodiak




I arrived to beautiful Kodiak and the 60 degree weather that made every local I met sweat through their first shirt. The flight in was much more then I expected it to be. I got to fly from Anchorage to Kodiak without a cloud between my and the Ocean. It was a quick one hour flight packed with the local high school track team coming back from a regional competition. Yes their track team flies Alaska airlines to go to a “regional” track meet.



The island is vast and open, save the abundance of timber covering the island. A traveling hunters destination, it was easy to picture the large Kodiak Bear, Deer, and the rest of the game that rich men travel extreme distances for a week long guided hike with a rifle. There were multiple such men on this flight as well. I over heard them as they all discussed how many times they had made this pilgrimage before, what they brought home, what the new cats should expect to see, etcetera.

As for myself, I arrive on this island alone and carrying 150 lbs of gear and sampling equipment. Unlike Dutch Harbor, my company does not have a bunk house or a person designated to take us to and fro the island and get us to our boat. To my delight, my boss answered my phone call with news of delay from the boat.... 60 degree weather, myself with a hotel on the company, hiking trails starting from steps outside of downtown.... I get paid for this?

I know it sounds weird the first place that I would walk to, once I get my gear to my hotel and get settled and changed, would be to the dock. You may think that I’m going to get enough of the ocean in the up coming months to fill my cup. Its a clear 60 degree spring day in a brand new Alaskan city. I could never get tired staring into the ocean and walking the docks on days like those. I tired a hike to the top of the hill looking over downtown Kodiak and City Harbor, but I wasn’t sure where I was allowed to walk and where I wasn’t. I wasn’t going to be stepping on any toes my first day there, and the lady at the hotel desk was no help with where I should take my hiking boots. So the harbor it was. Never second best in my heart.

The next day I started my 3rd voyage out to sea aboard my vessel. They picked me up at the dock at 1500 Alaska standard time, and we embarked a couple of hours later. First impression of the crew and captain were great. This vessel is another longlineing vessel fishing for Sablefish (Black Cod). I thought at first this could be another 20-30 day trip like I had on my last longliner during B season last October, but the Captain quickly told me hell no, they’d be dropping me off in Southeast Alaska in no more than 8 days. I head swiveled around and I said gave him the biggest, “you better not be kidding me son” look I’ve ever thrown and someone. Southeast Alaska in the spring? I started admittedly hoping that I get stuck there for no less than 3 days. I have been plotting a way to lose a month of my life in Southeast AK either this summer or next. A 3 day head start in Spring will come as a welcomed gift from my employer.

I get paid for this....



5/08/09

Alaskan Icing

“... You mean, Like the Deadliest Catch?”
“ No, Deadlier .....”

I must admit, that show was a factor in me deciding to take this job. It had to be. That show is the only actual representation for what I was getting myself into. Before taking this job in July, Discovery channel just so happened to serendipitously playing a marathon. OK maybe not so serendipitously, since they are always playing a marathon of the Deadliest Catch these days. Why is that? Anyways, I had to make sure that I was going to be OK with the inherent risks that come with this occupation. Of course the first boat I get assigned to, a crab pot boat fishing for Pacific Cod. I’m staring my apprehension directly in the face...

This being my 3rd contract and wondering how much longer I’m going to continue this job, My mind starts to think back to what got me out here and what I’ve learned and who I am now because of this experience. Having to face that kind of inherent fear face on with no way to back out was a good way to quench the thrill seeking portion of my brain, but will not ultimately be the lasting experience I take away from this job.

Every boat I’ve boarded faces the same danger of those who are portrayed as cowboys who are wanted dead or alive on the Discovery Channel show. Crab is just sexier than Cod or Pollock. I believe that’s what separates those boats from the ones I’ve been on. You see the pay off immediately and obviously in crab in pots. The other boats, its a slower process, and the catch isn’t exactly as clean as the crabbers. Either way, every fishermen out there should receive the same kind of admiration those cats get. The thrill seeking aspect of this job starts when you leave the dock is filled within a couple hours of floating around. You quickly realize its not like the Discovery Channel. A thrill seeking expedition that this adventure might have started as has transformed into so much more.

As I’ve written about before, I’m a visitor. Every boat I get on to, I’m a guest and I have to remember that. Every boat has made me feel welcomed, and I’ve felt nothing but welcomed, but I’m still a guest. I have a job to do that is contrary to the process the boat was designed for. I have to try and design a scientific design around the movement of a floating processing plant. I can’t slow things down and ask for even precise numbers that would be easy to predict and use. This job doesn’t function that way. Never is one haul the same to the last. Quick thinking within parameters of a scientific design are essential. Confidence in yourself and problem solving skills are tools more essential then any measuring equipment I lug aboard these vessels. The confidence I wield is more then just my ability to adjust the design to still fit within parameters yielding readable and comparable results. Its a confidence that the fishermen, mainly the captain, need to hear in my voice, see in my gait, and it can’t ever waver. This confidence lets everyone else know exactly where I stand the moment I walk on the boat. Eliminating any chance relationships created on board will in any way be able effect anything that makes it on to my paper. This confidence allows me to remain unbiased, thus my words and numbers reported are unbiased. Finding this confidence within me is the greatest discover this job has provided. The fact that I also get have this once in a lifetime adventure on top of it, is icing. Oh, we get cake out here too. Packed with icing.


- Casey

5/09/09

Somebody said they saw me
Swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud
Killing the blues


Quick question. When you look out your window at work, if you’re there right now do it quickly, what do you see .....

Do you see this.....







BAM!!!! Sperm Whale coming at ya’ hot.



What? You don’t have one of those outside your window? Oh, I do...

I saw these fellers floating around for a good 20 minutes 300-500 yards over the starboard side feeling us out, and then all of the sudden, they were down. Flukes in the air and diving. It’s common for Sperm Whales to follow longliner boats fishing for Sablefish. They know that fish will be near by and they compete heavily with the boat. Not a welcomed sight for the captain. And to be honest, this one sighting and the next one I had, are all I really needed. I’d much rather a happy boat and crew then my own excitement of whale watching while getting paid.

The possible sighting of the spout of a sperm whale in the back of my mind, has added some excitement to my favorite past time of sipping coffee on the dock staring out into the ocean, smelling the salt water. This has been a great way to start my third trip. I have figured out how to bridge the gap of my relation with the crew members and my duties on board. This crew is relaxed and excellent to work around. This fishery allows me to be outside most of the time, counting fish on a line. Outside with the weather is where I’d rather be on the boat in the first place. With this wonderfully agreeable weather we have experienced the entire trip, I’m getting my fill of day gazing into the ocean. Did I mention I get paid for this?


5/11/09

Be wary the bird that flies directly over head
It may just poop on you....

This may seem like a quip to those who haven’t planted themselves in one spot on the deck of a floating fish factory for hours at a time. But these words hold wisdom gained through, lets call it ... maturity. During daylight hours, our vessel is stalked by over 200 birds feeding on the discards from the factory. Watching the birds fly from port side to starboard speculating which side offers the better deal, I’m caught in between and completely unarmed. An umbrella is an item I will not board a longline fishing vessel again without. I am covered in rubber rain gear in anticipation to battle 30 mph winds, water breaking over the bow of the boat on my back, the rain, and the frigid cold. The rain gear is no help however to stop the humiliation of the uric acid bombs assailing upon me from 15 feet above. There is one man who seems to get full enjoyment from seeing the bombardment that occurs during feces prime time. He sits lofted and looming over the roller man watching his catch come over the roller onto the boat. Because I need the same view to tally the fish coming aboard, I stand directly opposite of the captain’s chair among the elements on the deck above the roller station. While the captain is eating cookies drinking coffee, listening to country music (for some reason all captains love their country music. Its a weird anomaly that I’ve discovered), I stand exposed to four elements of the sea; wind, rain, cold and bird poo. He shoots me a crumb covered smile coupled with the tip of his coffee mug, just as the bright orange bird waste beckon I’m wearing, receives its latest deposit.

All in the name of Science ....



-Casey Franklin

Back to the AK 3

There has been a long time passing since I've been in Alaska. For a long time, I was wondering if I would get work before June. I missed a small window to get work in mid March due to a shoulder injury that I had to get checked out before going back to sea. Diagnosis, arthritis....

I'm ready to go back to AK. More than going back to AK, I'm ready to work again. I had more than double the time off then I expected to have from this last contract. This new contract is going to give me some opportunities and experiences that I haven't had from the previous two trips into Dutch Harbor. This contract is going to start in Kodiak. Kodiak is located south of the Aleutian Islands, and this new fishery will fish south of the Bering Sea in the Gulf of Alaska. I can not publish the name of the boat due to confidentiality restrictions, but I can say this boat is fishing for Sablefish (Black Cod) and they are a long line fishing boat. There is a chance they could fish using pot gear (the gear seen on the crab boats), but I'm pretty sure they'll be longlineing for this first trip at least. On my first contract, I got on a longline fishing vessel. That trip lasted 45 days straight out at sea. This trip has the potential to have the same duration, but it is more likely to be around 21 to 30 days. This will be a smaller vessel, and I believe the black cod season is shorter than cod longlineing.

Summer fishing!!! There are two very exciting advatages to working in the summer in the Gulf of Alaska verses the Bering Sea. #1, the weather. The weather is going to be much, much calmer then what I experienced out in the Bering Sea last pollock A season in February. I heard testamony from both fishermen and biologists who experienced last season's storms believed it to be close the worse they'd seen. There week long periods where boats were stuck to the dock due to the weather surrounding the port and in the fishing grounds. Summer fishing coupled with being in the Gulf of Alaska will be stark contrast. I doubt I'll see the 30-40 foot swells I saw last season. No more 50 knot winds. Also days that'll last longer than 6 hours. My job is almost too easy.... #2, Marine Mammals. I'll write that again so that it sinks in and you fully understand what it is I wrote. Marine Mammals. Aka whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, of all different kinds. This is the season for them. This is going to be my biggest chance to see them as well. I don't want to jix myself, but there is a close to 100 percent chance that I'll encounter not just one type, but multiple types of marine mammals on this contract. My next post will have pictures of what I've seen. I wont be allowed to show any shots of the boat or the catch, but the marine mammals I will. I'll take some video as well and post a link to the youtube channel that I'm going to start. I have some other video of my time with fur seals on St. Paul (Blog from the first contract in September of 2008) along with video and photos of a group of seals I came upon on a hike up Bunker hill with Everet and Tyler.

Smooth seas, marine mammals, and a new city to experience in Kodiak Island, I'm excited for this contract to start. Of course I'm more excited for it to end, so that I can be home with money in my pocket and the opportunity to spend some leisure time in the sun with friends, but I think this season in the Northern Pacific Ocean is going to agree very well with me. I will keep an account of my adventures just like the other seasons while on board and then post them once I get to land. Don't worry about me. I'm going to be spending the start to the summer of '09 on basically a ride along of a commercial fishing boat in Gulf of Alaska. Sailing waters most people shell out gobs of money to see during a cruise to Alaska. Who knew wildlife biology actually meant biology in the wild and among the wildlife .... I can't believe I get paid to do this sometimes.

Goodbye Society, I'll catch ya' later.


Casey Franklin

Getting up dated

I came back early from my last contract in order to go to the Brandon Pyle and Jennifer Craine wedding March 7th. Something I would not have missed for anything (for example, a paycheck). I am heading back up to the AK for my third contract soon. I will need to spend on day in Seattle at the NOAA offices for a briefing before flying back to Dutch Harbor and on to a boat. I have no idea what kind of boat I will be put on this time, but it will be different then any other boat I have been on thus far.

I don't know if any of you heard about the Valcano that blew in AK for the past week. Mt. Redoubt erupted on March 23 5 times leaving a lot of ash across the state, and shutting down flights into and out of Anchorage. All is fine now, and there should be no problem with flights from now into Anchorage then to Dutch Harbor during the next couple weeks when I am likely to be flying back.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7959261.stm





I'm excited about getting back to work and getting back out to sea. This time of year has an increased chance of running into marine mammals. I am excited at the chance to see my first whale in the wild. I will share pictures of that happy moment with you when it arises.

I know it's been over a month since I've updated, but this blog is more about the job I'm doing rather than the boring life I tend to lead outside of this job. Trust me when I say that outside of this job, there isn't much that you would feel like reading about.

I still really enjoy this job and the adventure it provides. Every time heading out to sea is different, and every boat I get put onto is different. The people I've met has turned out to be the best part of this job (besides getting paid).

I haven't cut my hair or my beard since January and I plan on allow my face and head to resemble a chia pet for the next three months as well. I will update the blog once I get to AK as much as I can with what is going on, what the job is like, how the seas are, and real accounts of day to day life aboard a fishing boat in the middle of the Bering Sea during the Spring. Thank you for all that have followed this, and I hope that it hasn't been too far in between posts that I have lost some of you. Any questions about the job please ask, and I'll try to answer them the best I can. There are somethings I have to leave out for confidentiality purposes. If I can answer, I will.


- Casey

Out of the AK

There has been some time that has passed since my last entry. I didn't have any time in town in between trips to upload anything. After the offloads, the plant sent us out as soon as we could get out there. A season does bring rougher seas then B season did in the fall. The peaks to the swells were much sharper then I had seen before. The difference of being in a much smaller boat is easily noticeable as well. Only being out at sea for only a couple of days at a time verses a month to a month and a half, sea legs are never really gained. You are also always combating sea sickness. Out at sea for 4-5 days, in port for 1-2 then back out to sea, your equilibrium can never get into the rhythm it needs to. I never felt nauseated really though. The sea sickness just left me with pounding head aches and feeling as if my ears needed to be popped but couldn't.

The Captain and crew of this cruise ended up being perfect for me. They were all had kids in the Jr. high age group and had been fishing with one another for quite a long time. It was great watching them work together never really having to tell each other what they were doing or what they were expecting the others to be doing. Everything on the boat had a routine also beyond the fishing. Once I found my place in that routine, things went very smoothly. It's harder than you might first think to find that routine among these people that have literally made this boat home for the past 10 winters and falls. Its as if you were forced to have some young, just out of college, know it all come live in a guest room on your property. You have to provide for him as if he was your child, yet you can't "demand" that he really do anything. Also, his work, his job, is to report all that you do in the day to your boss. Trying to find a way to make that situation work is the toughest part of my job. The dichotomy of a professional and personal relationship with the captain and crew has to be strongly established within the first few hours when you first meet. If I can't, then the next month is spent trying to. Everything seemed workout great with this crew, and I think all the credit goes to the professional and respectful way in which they work and handle themselves. Of course they expect the same manner of work ethic and respect in return from anyone working and living on the boat. Once that was established, I had a great time working with and living with this crew.

I am now back in Seattle after this short, one month stint into the Bering Sea. I had to come home early for a wedding I could not miss for the world on March 7th. After which I am going to try and head back to AK as soon as I can so that I can start making money again here shortly. An other trip will probably within a new fishery. Which comes with a new boat, captain and crew. Starting all over again learning, working, living out at sea. Trust me, there is nothing like waking up to a breakfast of coffee, eggs, bacon, and the smell of the ocean. I don't know how much longer I will doing this job, but that sensation I just described will always tug at me to keep doing it.

- Casey

Also, Danny Pecka. I don't have a witty blog of completely factual information of his ridiculously awesome life to throw at the world. But he is a damn good friend. I love you buddy. Keep on . . . Keepin' on. . . Keep Truckin' . . .
He has a great blog that he has been doing for about a year now of his job as he travels over the North West in his car. He has some strange takes on what he sees that will have you asking yourself, " . . . What?" as you snort laugh with his humor. Check it out.

http://dannypecka.blogspot.com/

I'm not just putting this on here because he wrote a completely factual blog about me, his stuff is super hilarious, and I know you'll all get a kick out of it.

Rough Weather Days

We've embarked from port. There was word of rough weather north around the fishing grounds, but reports came back that it wasn't too bad. So we headed out. This boat is 125 feet long. The other two boats I was aboard during B Season (September - November) were 160 and 180 feet long. I witnessed 55 knot winds coupled with 40 foot swells, yet last night's weather tossed this little catcher vessel much more violently than anything I felt during B season. Laying in my rack, I could feel the hull of the boat quiver with impact. It would resonate from the hull to the rest of the boat like a tuning fork struck on a counter top. Awoken by violent vibrations and then levitated in my rack after climbing the next swell, which ends with another thundering crash. This isn't continuous and never ending, it's here and there. It comes blind because there is no view of the seas in the galley and in the rack. There is no bracing for it. It's just assumed that its around the corner. One Hand for the Boat. A mantra put to memory and forced into your intuition after only swing that yields to you slipping and hitting something on the boat causing you to look Green.

So for the first time, we're hiding today from the weather that is to hit our area tonight. Once it passes, we'll get back to catching fish. Honestly, I'm just grateful to be out at sea and not sitting on the dock. Whether We're fishing well or not, the disposition of the fishermen noticeably gung-ho. The sooner we start fishing, the sooner we're done. The sooner they go home to see their wives and kids.

2/10

We are done fishing now, and I'm back at port. The longest part of my job is monitoring the offload of the catch at the cannery. This offload should run close to 18 hours. It's not a completely straight 18 hours. I do have some breaks built in, but it is very monotonous and I come close to falling asleep while standing up sometimes. I may have a couple of days after the offload in town to catch up on some emails and news that happened over the past week while I was gone. I have some other work I have to do while I'm in town though that always seems to take up more time than necessary. I'm hoping for a clear morning, and a friend to be in town, and try to concur some of these hills that surround the docks, and bays. This island is so beautiful when the sun is out.

It looks as if I may only head out for one more fishing trip before my cruise has to come to an end. I need to be back in Spokane in time for the glorious celebration that will be the Pyle wedding. Afterward, I will try and head right back up here to Alaska for another, longer contract. I could even be sent into the Pacific off the coast of Oregon and Washington fishing for Hake. We'll see. New water, new fishery, new ports . . .

Thank you for all the comments from those people that have started following the blog who happened upon it randomly. I am humbled that you find anything I have to say interesting or the least bit captivating. I greatly appreciate your emails and comments. It's very surprising every time to me to read a note left from someone I have never met who has become interested with what it is I do. If you have any questions about the blog, my job, or anything else, feel free to send me an email, or comment. I will get back to you when I get to port.

- Casey

Held up in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor

Jan 24, 2009

Due to the nature of this fishery I'm now in, it is unlikely to venture more than 12-16 hours from port and the cannery. There is no processing on board this time. The fish are actually stored in a "live tank" directly under the deck of the boat. When fishing is good, the boat could be filled up in 3 days of good tows. If fishing is not so good, and the fish are hiding, it will probably take closer to 5 or 6 days. There will be a lot more time spent inland at port this time around than last. There is rumor from the captain that we could held up in port for close to 5 days on the first offload. All that time I'll be getting paid the same as if I was at sea, but I'll be inland and probably spending money here and there. As nice as it will be to keep in touch much easier this time around, I was looking forward to the kind of isolation this job can provide.

This boat fishes using a large net thrown out the back of the boat. It tows the net for 4 to 12 hours at a time depending on the density of the fish. A typical tow with yield close to 90 metric tons. I personally only deal with around 300 to 500 kgs of each tow. I work in a small area on deck away from the large net with my sampling tools. My responsibilities are to give an average weight of the target fish, and all the by catch as well. By catch is all the fish caught that is not the target fish. My job is to identify all the fish within my sample, give average weights and then take specimen samples from specific fish in order to help the fishery get a better picture of age, sex, weight, length, population, and area of population for the fish being caught in the fishery.

I hope that last paragraph gives you a better idea to exactly what it is that I do while I'm out at sea. Mostly I eat, sleep, watch movies, and read. There is a lot of down time, and I am left with a lot of time to think. Life is simple and straight forward. There are no social obligations. My day isn't planned around what is on TV that day. The biggest concern I have is to make sure to make a new pot of coffee if you drank the last drop. A mistake only made once. A side note, this boat has liquid creamer. A treat I did not enjoy on the last two boats. Liquid creamer was reserved for the Captain and mates use only. A stash I dipped into a couple of times when I was ballsy enough to ask, and they were generous enough to oblige.

As you could imagine, the stressless life style of this job is extremely inviting. For me, it was a feeling acquired rather than innate. I've know a handful of people whom I trained with, who could not stand the weeks to months of silence from family, friends, and society. Those who have taken to this job, look forward to it. This week at sea, 3-5 days on land, then a week at sea followed by 3-5 days on land is rather annoying. Now having been at sea for 43 straight days, 21 or 30 doesn't seem so bad. It actually seems inviting. The one upside to being in and out of port so often, I can keep this blog more up to date. Something I know my parents will enjoy. This fishery is uneventful to say the least. So for this contract I think I will focus more on the island of Dutch Harbor and the history of the surrounding the different parts of the island. I will spending a lot of time on it, and I suspect I will run into a couple of characters here and there that will bring an interesting story. If you have an specific questions that I could answer, please ask.


- Casey

Don't call it a come back . . .

Sorry about the time passed since the last entry. As soon as I hit land, I had a lot of catching up with life to do.

November 8th was the last day of the fishing season. I got off the boat after 43 days on board. Said my goodbyes to a great crew and an awesome experience aboard a boat that I was apprehensive of when I first boarded. The trip could not have gone better.

I spent the night of the 8th and the 9th in Dutch Harbor. I ran into four friends from training and we ate, drank, and shared or stories of our first foray with our new career. Each one of us had similar experiences, but in different parts of the Ocean. We all had some unique experiences and pictures to show one another, and in Jason's case, incite some jealousy from the others with his pictures of Whales (Humpbacks and Killers) riding right next to the boat for over an hour.

We all entered into this job looking for something adventurous. All of us leaving or looking for, something different, yet the same. 6 of us from training in Anchorage met up again in Seattle after 2 1/2 months of the adventure and unknown that we had signed up for at the end of the Summer of 2008. Every single one of us happy to be back on land with some money loitering in our previous bleak bank statements. Each one us glad of the decisions we made to take a chance, head to Alaska to count fish for three straight months.

I enjoyed showing off Seattle to my new friends who had never been to the Northwest before. I spent three weeks in Seattle doing my debriefing. During this process, I have to go over every single number that I had entered into the database to make sure there were no typos, miscalculations, or worse, miss identified fish. This was a slow and tedious process, one that I was not prepared to have to endure. But the process allowed for me to get paid while being in Seattle, in the U-district, free of charge, with some great friends of mine for 3 weeks.

After all of the paperwork was combed through, it was off to Spokane to visit the city and friends I had left at the end of July. I weathered all that mother nature threw at Spokane. I was in Spokane for about 5 weeks. I supposed to be back up in Alaska on the 29th of December to start my new contract, but due to all havoc that 6 inches of snow can bring to SeaTac airport, flights to Anchorage were canceled. On top of that, there was/is a strike in the Pot Cod fishery. My company was setting me up to board most of the fishing vessels that fish for Cod using Pots (just like the crab boats). Once the strike hit, they didn't need me anymore, so the start of my new contract got pushed back to January 12th.

I had a week of training in Seattle. 50-60 biologists learning about the new regulations and going over different ways to take our samples and do our jobs to better help the fishery service. Pollock season starts January 20th. So everyone of us headed out to Dutch after training to get aboard Pollock trawl boats. This is where the boat fishes for Pollock using a giant net out the back. The boat brings any where between 20-80 metric tons of fish aboard in one pull. Pollock is the fish that is used in most food that is labeled "fish". Fish sticks, filet-o-fish, fish and chips, even fake krab and filler for chicken mcnuggets use Pollock. The pollock fishing fleet is the largest of the fishing fleets in Alaska. The fish is so abundant, they are more like a weed then they are a fish. Close to 48 % of the fish taken from the Bering Sea, by weight, in a year is Pollock.They are sexually mature at a very early age, and they produce a lot of fertilized eggs per breeding season. The row of the Pollock is where all the money is made. The row is sold to Japan by the Kilo and seems to be in great demand.

I am a board a catcher vessel delivers the catch to a plant to process. No processing aboard the ship. So the crew is considerably smaller then the last two boats I was on. It's just me, the Captain, and three deck hands populating this 120-200 foot vessel. So due to the nature of being a catcher vessel, the boat will only be out to sea for short trips then back into dock to offload. The trips will only last 3-5 days. A tad shorter then then the 21 and 43 day trips I endured last season.

This is the start of the next season, and the beginning to a new year. A completely new challenge working in a completely different fishery. I've seen the Bering Sea before, so I'm coming at her with a little experience under my belt. Although she'll be biting much harder this season. It's winter. "A" season. Better fishing, against stronger weather. Throw in some ice build up on the boat, ice formations in the sea, and 20 - 40 foot swells, and things get fun. We'll see if its as bad as it's been made out to be.



- Casey