Sailing with Dummies (Alaska to Seattle Edition)

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

by Mike

The weather was perfect when I got to the Prince William Sound area yesterday. It was sunny and clear and I could see mountains, glaciers, islands, icebergs, boats, and other airplanes. I flew around the area awhile, sightseeing before I landed in Valdez. Fullerton and Bob showed up at the marina a few hours later.

This morning the clouds were forming. A low passing south of the area is bringing a few days of rain and high winds. Bob took off this morning in the plane, before the bad weather set in. Fullerton and I took off this morning in the boat, in search of shelter and fish.

Since we are “marking time” in Prince William Sound for a couple days to avoid the rougher weather outside the sound (winds up to 40 knots and 13-foot waves) we decided to go fishing. It rained most of the afternoon and evening. Visibility was limited and being outside was wet.

Fishing Report:

We caught lots of cod, rockfish and other oddballs by jigging on the bottom. We cleaned the good ones and used their remains for bait and chum. We had halibut rigs on the bottom most of the time, but caught no halibut.

Daily Cuisine:

After a local breakfast (including reindeer sausage, which was horrible) we were relegated to “boat food.” Lunch was a pretty darned good salad, if I do say so myself. For supper we had grilled rockfish, bell peppers, and onions along with baked potatoes. “Boat food” is tough.