We love the surprises we’ve had as we’ve traveled around Alaska.

After we’ve had guests aboard we take our sheets and towels to a laundry mat instead of doing them in the small machines aboard. We returned from the laundry mat in Auk Bay about 8:30pm one evening to discover that three huge fishing boats had tied up to our boat. This would never happen in Seattle, where you would not even step one foot aboard another person’s boat without asking permission, no less tie up to it! We were so surprised! Each crew-member from each boat had to walk back and forth across our cockpit and hop over the side of our boat to get on and off their boats. But this is Alaska and this is fishing country and these guys had been out fishing 24 hours a day for three days. So we embraced the culture, made some new friends, learned a heck of a lot more about Purse Seiners, heard some great stories and were served an absolutely delicious French toast and bacon breakfast the next morning! THIS is Alaska.

Surprise! We have neighbors!

We’re served a delicious breakfast from the galley of The Crimson Beauty

Commercial fishermen in Alaska can only fish on specific days in specific areas, and they don’t know when that will be until a day or two before the “opening”. What a different way to live! When we arrived in Petersburg heading south, we were one of only four boats on the dock as there had been an “opening” for the Purse Seiners. The night before we left the fishing slot closed so the boats started returning. They came into the marina throughout the night and when we awoke the next morning the docks were plum full and we were dwarfed by all these beautiful working boats. We were now one of only three pleasure boats amongst a sea of huge Purse Seiners. We looked VERY out-of-place and most definitely in the minority. As we sat and sipped our coffee and watched them checking their nets and working all around us we were delighted that they were as hospitable and friendly as they could be. That’s the Alaskan way.

In the minority

A friend of ours in Seattle suggested we call a friend of his when we were in Petersburg as he thought we’d all get along well. That was an understatement. Doug and Martina live on Mitcof Island, right across Wrangell Narrows, about a half mile from the marina where we were docked in Petersburg. Doug was a dentist in Seattle. The sign with a tooth painted on it in Pike Place Market in the 80’s that said “DENTIST”, was Doug’s. We took our dinghy over to their property which is 10+ absolutely beautiful acres. There’s an old log cabin that they’ve turned into a beautiful home; a net shed (a local term for a shed where fisherman store their nets); guest cabin; a huge vegetable garden; and a sauna “house”. They use well water for everything except drinking, generate solar power and are pretty darn self-sufficient. Doug, like David, can fix anything. He’s even restored a 100-year-old working tug, The Katahdin that he brings to Seattle annually. The evening was glorious. There were two other delightful and very interesting couples from Austria and Germany (Martina is German) who had just completed a 165 mile kayak trip down the incredible Stikine River. We learned more about the wilderness, local politics, the educational system in Austria and fishing. Half of the conversation was in German. Near the end of dinner Doug recited poetry by Robert Service and the evening ended with Doug playing Chopin and Bach on his grand piano. As we motored back to the harbor in the dinghy in the dark we marveled at what a unique and wonderful evening we had just experienced. Alaska…the land of wonderful surprises.

Arriving Mitcof Island by dinghy, which was then pulled out to Doug’s buoy while we played ashore.

“Backyard” view from Doug & Martina’s house

Looking towards Petersburg from Doug & Martina’s beach…wow!

Inside the log “cabin”

As we were returning to our boat in Wrangell Harbor one evening, a young boy on a small fishing boat called out “Hey! Do you want some fish? Do you want some fish?” William and his Dad had been out fishing and had caught more halibut than their family could eat and they wanted to know if we wanted any. We said “Sure, how much is it?” “Nothing.” “Nothing?” “Nothing! We have more than we can use and we just like to share”. We certainly weren’t expecting that. That’s Alaska and we love it.

William & his Dad – gifting us their halibut