Lahars at the Drift River Tank Farm, Mt. Redoubt, Alaska. Photo from AVO.
Showing posts with label alaska. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alaska. Show all posts
3/27/2009
10/07/2008
Sockeye Salmon Pattern for Knitters
Sure, I publish. I publish knitting patterns!
This pattern "Sockeye Salmon" is available on Ravelry.com
Link will remain in the sidebar - in case you're not sure but you want to buy it for somebody!
If you're not a Ravelry user but would like to purchase the pattern, leave a comment or email me and I will contact you.
100% of proceeds go to the Cordova District Fishermen United Scholarship Fund which supports continuing education for fishermen and their families.
I present you the Sockeye Salmon, prototype #1
If you're not a Ravelry user but would like to purchase the pattern, leave a comment or email me and I will contact you.
100% of proceeds go to the Cordova District Fishermen United Scholarship Fund which supports continuing education for fishermen and their families.
I present you the Sockeye Salmon, prototype #1
running up Turnagain Arm, Alaska :
He's got character.
He now has two more prototypes to spawn with (here posed in mid-flop
among my chili plants)
The final pattern incorporates the head from the front right salmon with the body
and fins from the left front salmon below.
6/09/2008
Alaganik Slough
Alaganik Slough is only a short drive outside Cordova. We drove out one evening just before sunset with our friend Craig to check it out. Fishing just outside the Copper River Delta along the sand bars, you can only see that a vast flat area stretches inland with mountains on all sides. I was really looking forward to seeing the delta from inside.
There are lots of moose on the delta this time of year, and they are big ones!
The willows were flowering and attracting all kinds of pollinators,
...such as these surprisingly huge but herbivorous mosquitoes...
The Canada geese are here in full force:
The hooligan (aka euchalon, aka smelt) are running and got caught all over the banks of the slough at low tide. I don't know much about hooligans but these must be spawned out I suppose... they are known as candlefish because they are so oily that they can be dried and lit like a candle for stinky winter illumination. We watched some eagles taking them out of the river but they looked pretty bored. Obviously they are waiting for the big payday when the salmon run kicks into high gear.
The delta is unbelievably rich in color.
There are lots of moose on the delta this time of year, and they are big ones!
The willows were flowering and attracting all kinds of pollinators,
...such as these surprisingly huge but herbivorous mosquitoes...
The Canada geese are here in full force:
The hooligan (aka euchalon, aka smelt) are running and got caught all over the banks of the slough at low tide. I don't know much about hooligans but these must be spawned out I suppose... they are known as candlefish because they are so oily that they can be dried and lit like a candle for stinky winter illumination. We watched some eagles taking them out of the river but they looked pretty bored. Obviously they are waiting for the big payday when the salmon run kicks into high gear.
The delta is unbelievably rich in color.
5/25/2008
Gittin the Fish - How it works
First you get the net onto the boat. The net is 150 fathoms x 5 fathoms. On top there is a float line and on the bottom there is a lead line. We stacked it on the dock on a tarp and pulled it off with the net reel.
It goes over the bow roller and through the fairleads, which slide back and forth to help wind the net evenly on the reel.
Next you go to the cannery (our relationship is with Copper River Seafoods thus far in the season) or the tender boat and get some chipped ice into the fish hold. The ice lasts quite a while actually. We have a big snow shovel on board for moving the ice around. Note stylish double-funnel day marker.
Then you wait. And you check the Fish & Game website to see whether ADF&G is going to announce an "opener" - usually 12 hours long this early in the season - when you can fish.
Fast forward to putting the net in the water. You tie a big orange buoy to one end and throw it over the bow roller. The bow roller has a hub like a 4wd hub on a pickup. You lock the hub, turn on the bow roller to spin seaward and idle backward for a few minutes while 900' of net rolls off the bow. That's why its "drift net" fishing.
Then you "soak the net" for a while - maybe 15 minutes at first just to check whether you are in the fish. When you're pretty sure you're in the fish, you might leave it an hour or more. You can even drop your end of the net on a second buoy and putter around to the first end to check for fishies.
When you're ready to pull the net, you just turn on the net reel and wind it in. This is a red net so the mesh size is about 5 inches, just the size to catch a sockeye (red) salmon around the gills. They can see the net in clear water but they get frustrated and try to swim through it anyway. When a fish comes over the bow roller you stop the real and paw through the net to "pick" the fish out. Sometimes they get pretty wrapped up and tangled.
You ease the fish out of the net. Those blackish lines on its back are from the net. You see those on fish at the market and you know it was caught in a gillnet as opposed to some other method. Some are dead in the net but most come onto the boat alive and the squirm around and slime you while you work. Raingear is key. You can see my black raincoat is covered with silver scales. Then you reach under the gillplate and pop the artery in there to bleed the fish. This helps preserve the meat.
Sometimes you get lucky and another species, like this king (chinook) salmon will get tangled in the net. Obviously he can't get his head through it but sometimes just his teeth or nose will get caught. Often times one person can stand next to the net roller with a big dipnet watching for kings to make sure they don't fall out when the net comes out of the water. This one was just barely caught but he got pulled over the bow roller and flew into the boat! He's about 19 lbs, a little smaller than average. We sold him for $6.70/lb. You can buy him for about $25/lb.
Here they are on ice in the brailer bag. The bag will get picked up by the crane on the tender boat and weighed and we will get a little ticket that says how much fish we delivered and what kind. Straight to a market near you.
It goes over the bow roller and through the fairleads, which slide back and forth to help wind the net evenly on the reel.
Next you go to the cannery (our relationship is with Copper River Seafoods thus far in the season) or the tender boat and get some chipped ice into the fish hold. The ice lasts quite a while actually. We have a big snow shovel on board for moving the ice around. Note stylish double-funnel day marker.
Then you wait. And you check the Fish & Game website to see whether ADF&G is going to announce an "opener" - usually 12 hours long this early in the season - when you can fish.Fast forward to putting the net in the water. You tie a big orange buoy to one end and throw it over the bow roller. The bow roller has a hub like a 4wd hub on a pickup. You lock the hub, turn on the bow roller to spin seaward and idle backward for a few minutes while 900' of net rolls off the bow. That's why its "drift net" fishing.
Then you "soak the net" for a while - maybe 15 minutes at first just to check whether you are in the fish. When you're pretty sure you're in the fish, you might leave it an hour or more. You can even drop your end of the net on a second buoy and putter around to the first end to check for fishies.When you're ready to pull the net, you just turn on the net reel and wind it in. This is a red net so the mesh size is about 5 inches, just the size to catch a sockeye (red) salmon around the gills. They can see the net in clear water but they get frustrated and try to swim through it anyway. When a fish comes over the bow roller you stop the real and paw through the net to "pick" the fish out. Sometimes they get pretty wrapped up and tangled.
You ease the fish out of the net. Those blackish lines on its back are from the net. You see those on fish at the market and you know it was caught in a gillnet as opposed to some other method. Some are dead in the net but most come onto the boat alive and the squirm around and slime you while you work. Raingear is key. You can see my black raincoat is covered with silver scales. Then you reach under the gillplate and pop the artery in there to bleed the fish. This helps preserve the meat.
Sometimes you get lucky and another species, like this king (chinook) salmon will get tangled in the net. Obviously he can't get his head through it but sometimes just his teeth or nose will get caught. Often times one person can stand next to the net roller with a big dipnet watching for kings to make sure they don't fall out when the net comes out of the water. This one was just barely caught but he got pulled over the bow roller and flew into the boat! He's about 19 lbs, a little smaller than average. We sold him for $6.70/lb. You can buy him for about $25/lb.
Here they are on ice in the brailer bag. The bag will get picked up by the crane on the tender boat and weighed and we will get a little ticket that says how much fish we delivered and what kind. Straight to a market near you.
5/24/2008
Cordova by day... and later in the day.
Sila and I watched a huge sea otter lolling on the dock during the stormy days we arrived in Cordova. A few hours later, the sun came out and the sea otter gave birth. We called the baby Meep because he squeeked like a toy every time his mama turned him over and over to wash and fluff him.
During the storms, Alaska Department of Fish & Game called the first "opener" for Thursday May 15 on the Copper River Flats. Due to the foul conditions, we waited it out. We were glad of that - abet a little sheepish - because the average catch per boat was ~12 fish and we had calculated we needed 13 to pay our round-trip fuel to the Flats. Over the sunny weekend following, professional net menders like Lisa here were really busy on the docks - everyone anticipating the BIG ONE opener on Monday the 19th. Oh yah, and every next opener is gonna be the BIG ONE.
Here's Cordova Harbor as we first saw it when we pulled into town. It's really a tiny harbor compared to some, but it is home to most of the south-central Alaska gillnetting fleet - usually in the 30' range - so they pack a lot of boats in that small real estate. The town is cozily wrapped around the harbor and has an old-towny feel from its turn-of-the-century spruce sided buildings with big carved wooden signs. Like many wet towns in Southeast Alaska, most of Cordova's storefronts have deep awnings and you can walk around town without getting too wet.
Here's a view from K-float where we docked, looking up to town. And that's pretty much it! You can almost make out the little ski hill above town. They have a chair lift! It was recycled from Sun Valley, Idaho.
Bustling "business district" of First Street, Cordova: picture of cuteness.
And with this view of busy Second Street we conclude our tour of the Business District. Do note that every home and business in Cordova has an absolutely a$$-Kicking view.
Here are a couple of cute houses between the harbor and the cannery row . . . Cordova is an Obama Town.
The old Canneries line the waterfront north of the small boat harbor. Whether active or "historical", they all share the extremely tall, precariously old and rotty looking piling complex from which ice is lowered to boats in big plastic totes or by shooting out of a large hose. More on that later. The docks are well above high tide and maybe even above local tsunami potential. The corregated exteriors hide thoroughly modern processing, smoking and freezing facilities as well as kids from all over the world who come to the Alaska canneries to work for the summer.
Not all of those piers are seeing action these days... I think that is somebody's vegetable garden half way down this grass-covered dock but I was too scared of the rotty wood to find out.
The USCG Cutter and buoy tender Sycamore was on hand for the opening of the season, launching random safety checks on the fleet. These fishermen are generally pretty conscientious, and NOBODY wants to miss a day of fishing on account of being short a fire extinguisher or other violation. Hilarity prevailed however, because the marine suppliers in town were universally out of at least the following items:
The auto parts store, fortunately, had a really large supply of black funnels which were readily formed into a day marker with black electrical tape - maybe not typical but probably legal? An internet search turned up the detailed text of the REPORT ALL INJURIES placard and carefully Sharpied substitutes appeared on bulkheads across the harbor. As for the breathalizers - everyone is waiting for reinforcements from Anchorage.
When the sun started setting on the harbor that clear beautiful evening, the snowy mountains around Cordova lit up with alpenglow. The harbor was like a mirror. Here are a few favorites.
Next post: the fishies.
During the storms, Alaska Department of Fish & Game called the first "opener" for Thursday May 15 on the Copper River Flats. Due to the foul conditions, we waited it out. We were glad of that - abet a little sheepish - because the average catch per boat was ~12 fish and we had calculated we needed 13 to pay our round-trip fuel to the Flats. Over the sunny weekend following, professional net menders like Lisa here were really busy on the docks - everyone anticipating the BIG ONE opener on Monday the 19th. Oh yah, and every next opener is gonna be the BIG ONE.
Here's Cordova Harbor as we first saw it when we pulled into town. It's really a tiny harbor compared to some, but it is home to most of the south-central Alaska gillnetting fleet - usually in the 30' range - so they pack a lot of boats in that small real estate. The town is cozily wrapped around the harbor and has an old-towny feel from its turn-of-the-century spruce sided buildings with big carved wooden signs. Like many wet towns in Southeast Alaska, most of Cordova's storefronts have deep awnings and you can walk around town without getting too wet.
Here's a view from K-float where we docked, looking up to town. And that's pretty much it! You can almost make out the little ski hill above town. They have a chair lift! It was recycled from Sun Valley, Idaho.
Bustling "business district" of First Street, Cordova: picture of cuteness.
And with this view of busy Second Street we conclude our tour of the Business District. Do note that every home and business in Cordova has an absolutely a$$-Kicking view.
Here are a couple of cute houses between the harbor and the cannery row . . . Cordova is an Obama Town.
The old Canneries line the waterfront north of the small boat harbor. Whether active or "historical", they all share the extremely tall, precariously old and rotty looking piling complex from which ice is lowered to boats in big plastic totes or by shooting out of a large hose. More on that later. The docks are well above high tide and maybe even above local tsunami potential. The corregated exteriors hide thoroughly modern processing, smoking and freezing facilities as well as kids from all over the world who come to the Alaska canneries to work for the summer.
Not all of those piers are seeing action these days... I think that is somebody's vegetable garden half way down this grass-covered dock but I was too scared of the rotty wood to find out.
The USCG Cutter and buoy tender Sycamore was on hand for the opening of the season, launching random safety checks on the fleet. These fishermen are generally pretty conscientious, and NOBODY wants to miss a day of fishing on account of being short a fire extinguisher or other violation. Hilarity prevailed however, because the marine suppliers in town were universally out of at least the following items:
- day markers (a black marker in the shape of two cones point to point); required to be shown when fishing during daylight hours.
- hand-held breathalizers (one for every person onboard required to be produced by captain in case of accidents while underway) ; and
- the REPORT ALL INJURIES placard that must be displayed in every boat.
The auto parts store, fortunately, had a really large supply of black funnels which were readily formed into a day marker with black electrical tape - maybe not typical but probably legal? An internet search turned up the detailed text of the REPORT ALL INJURIES placard and carefully Sharpied substitutes appeared on bulkheads across the harbor. As for the breathalizers - everyone is waiting for reinforcements from Anchorage.When the sun started setting on the harbor that clear beautiful evening, the snowy mountains around Cordova lit up with alpenglow. The harbor was like a mirror. Here are a few favorites.
Next post: the fishies.
5/18/2008
in search of Columbia Glacier
Prince William Sound truly is one of the wonders of this world. Can't say we were blessed with good weather during our crossing - but it is gorgeous and sunny as I write from Baja Taco in Cordova, looking out over the blue harbor and snowy mountains - and hundreds of bowpickers.
En route from Whittier to Cordova, we stopped in Columbia Bay behind Glacier Island to try to get a look at Columbia Glacier. There were a lot of icebergs behind Glacier Island and we had to idle up the bay and drive from the bow to watch for ice. There were a lot of happy otters though.
At the mouth of Columbia Bay, there ice fields got so thick that we couldn't get into the bay. We took a side route into Heather Bay and Sila dropped me off in the mud on Moraine Spit. I clambered between the tide-stranded icebergs and mud and tried to get a clear view to the glacier.
The receding tide had left all kinds of strange icey forms on the spit, in shades of blue and white.
With matching seagulls.
Fresh water falling on the sea and flowing off the melting bergs was frozen into a thin sheet of shore ice - which fell also on the falling tide and broke over the rocks on the shore:
In case you ever doubted that ice is hexagonal, look deeply into your screen for gorgeous evidence of volume diffusion creep in glaciers:
We never did get a look at the mighty Columbia. It has receded miles from where it is shown on the 1960's marine charts.
En route from Whittier to Cordova, we stopped in Columbia Bay behind Glacier Island to try to get a look at Columbia Glacier. There were a lot of icebergs behind Glacier Island and we had to idle up the bay and drive from the bow to watch for ice. There were a lot of happy otters though.
At the mouth of Columbia Bay, there ice fields got so thick that we couldn't get into the bay. We took a side route into Heather Bay and Sila dropped me off in the mud on Moraine Spit. I clambered between the tide-stranded icebergs and mud and tried to get a clear view to the glacier.
The receding tide had left all kinds of strange icey forms on the spit, in shades of blue and white.
With matching seagulls.
Fresh water falling on the sea and flowing off the melting bergs was frozen into a thin sheet of shore ice - which fell also on the falling tide and broke over the rocks on the shore:
In case you ever doubted that ice is hexagonal, look deeply into your screen for gorgeous evidence of volume diffusion creep in glaciers:
We never did get a look at the mighty Columbia. It has receded miles from where it is shown on the 1960's marine charts.
5/14/2008
Shrimping at Ester Island
We left the pot in about 400' of water overnight:
When we pulled it up all the cat food was gone from the tins.
But we got our breakfast:
When we pulled it up all the cat food was gone from the tins.
But we got our breakfast:
5/09/2008
Scenes from Homer
Spending a couple of beautiful days in Homer Alaska before the fishing season opens -
It's a late spring here and still a few feet of snow at our place up on the ridge. It's been a whirlwind of trying to get ready and still spend time with family and friends.
View from the spit road on a clear day
Caption this photo:
Beach combing in Seldovia
Boat ride with the nieces
Microfaults in marble in the 191Ma Seldovia Metamorphic Complex -a tiny glaucophane-bearing sliver along the Border Ranges Fault at Seldovia Bay.
It's a late spring here and still a few feet of snow at our place up on the ridge. It's been a whirlwind of trying to get ready and still spend time with family and friends.
View from the spit road on a clear day
Caption this photo:
Beach combing in Seldovia
Boat ride with the nieces
Microfaults in marble in the 191Ma Seldovia Metamorphic Complex -a tiny glaucophane-bearing sliver along the Border Ranges Fault at Seldovia Bay.
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