Fish Tales

Alright friends and family, its about time I posted a new blog, huh? I called home today and my mom was going on and on about how people are dying to hear about my adventures. I apologize that its been so long. Its very frustrating trying to use the crew computer because its very very slow. But I'm here now and ready to share my stories! I have to warn you though, its kind of the same stuff day in and day out...

Lets start out with the weather. I can not tell you how much I'm missing the Michigan summer warmth and being able to be out on the beach. I keep hearing of people who can't cool down and are at the beach all the time...its killing me. Aparently this has been one of the coldest summer's they've had here in a really long time. Yesterday I can't imagine that it got above 45 degrees and it rained ALL day. Aside from the cold, the sun sets around 11pm and comes back up between 3 and 3:30am. Today I saw a little glimmer of hope when the sun came out this afernoon but it was quickly extinguished as the clouds rolled in. I actually wore my long underwear to work last night for the second time since I've been here.

The reason I was so cold and wore my long underwear to work was because...I got to go out fishing again yesterday! It was my third trip, and I was with my favorite guide, Captain Justin from Wisconsin. The fishing was extremely slow, but at least it was cold and rainy... Really, its amazing being out on the boat no matter what the weather is like. The lodge is so far away from any other signs of life, that when you get the chance to see something different, you jump on that chance. Justin did a charter for Nani's parents and sister Tracy, so I got to go along and try to catch fish for the lodge. We didn't catch any salmon but I did catch my first halibut (which, in my personal opinion, is much better eating). The kitchen makes fried halibut as one of the appetizers and its really yummy. We caught our halibut when we were trying to fish for salmon, so they were small, they call them "chickens." Mine were probably in the 20-30 pound range. Usually you catch halibut when you're bottom fishing at like 200-300 feet and its a pain to drag them up because they're so far down. When you catch them at those depths they usually weigh anywhere between 80-180 pounds. When you catch them on salmon tackle its nice because they're usually only 40-50 feet down and reeling them in doesn't make you feel like your arm is going to fall off. The best thing about my whole day was that in the last spot that we were trying to catch salmon, we had two humpback whales that decided that they wanted to be in the same spot! One of them was about 50 feet away. Being that close to a whale is something that you can only experience. It was amazing and something that most people would only get to see on the Discovery channel. Apparently yesterday there was a whale that came into our cove here, which doesn't happen very often. Justin was telling me that the day before I went out a whale came up literally right next to the boat and blew snot all over everyone...gross, but still pretty incredible.

Lets see, I'm trying to think of what else is going on. Nothing really all that exciting. This place, as in Sarkar Cove here, is a very special place. Sarkar Cove, is in Sea Otter Sound, and it leads to Sarkar River, Rapids, and Lake. You can try to find it on a Prince of Wales Map, it will be on the Northwest side of the Isalnd. Aside from the lodge, the land and the whole environment is very spiritually charged. We find a lot of native artifacts like beads, arrowheads, pots, etc. etc. Its the kind of stuff that you know has been around for a very long time and must have an amazing story to tell, if only it could talk. I have to remind myself constantly to put aside all of the stress of work and customer service, and just sit and appreciate the beauty of where I am. Its really quite amazing. I feel like everyday I learn something new about myself and life. Its definately a growing experience.

I've had three job offers from guests since I've been bartending. I have to wonder how serious they were being because I'm just sitting there feeding them drinks, but its still pretty exciting. I don't think that it really counts when they're drawing your contract up on a cocktail napkin. One of the jobs was in Seattle, one in Texas, and another in San Fransico. Aside from job offers, I'm really working up my bartender skills. I make a mean margarita and one hell of a key lime pie martini. Along with that, I have quite the repitoire of dirty jokes due to the influx of manly fisherman that are constantly rolling in. I love being behind the bar. Its very fast paced but its fun to be able to chat it up with everyone. The group that's here now brought all they're own alcohol and a whole bunch of Maker's Mark. Whenever any one orders one, I think of Jerry Gallagher.

So that's really about all that's been going on. Tomorrow the girls and I are heading to the Naukati mud bog races. Naukati is like Buckley to Traverse City. The mud bog races are one of the only things that this place has going for them, it will definately be a cultural experience. Tomorrow Speed Network will be there filming for one of their TV shows, so if anyone has Speed Network, watch out for the mud bog races. Two guys from Naukati came to the lodge the other day to ask if "the hotties from the lodge could come be the trophy girls for the races." My boss just rolled his eyes and said he had work to do. Don't worry, I will not be handing out any trophies in my bikini in the mud tomorrow. I'll will make sure to keep you all updated on this event though!

I'm missing Traverse City terribly right now. Its my first time being away from Cherry Festival, Fourth of July, Polka Fest!, birthdays, blue angels, golf.......I could go on forever. I keep telling myself that its a once in a lifetime opportunity for me here and all of that stuff will always happen. But I still miss everyone and I send you all my love. If some one could try and send me a little Michigan warmth it would be greatly greatly appreciated

Love you all!
Caitlin

Alright kids, its been quite sometime since I've written a new entry and I'm starting to hear about it, so here I am! So much has happened I need to try and sort everything out.

Lets see, the last big exciting thing that I got to do was go out on the boat with the guests for some deep sea fishing. The trip only had 3 guys on it so each day one of the employees got to go out on their boat with them. It was such an exciting experience. The boats all leave at 7am everyday, and watching all of the El Cap boats leave together, speeding off towards the mountains, is quite the rush. As we were going out, we saw a couple of fawns on the shore and an eagle that apparently sits on the same sign every morning to see everyone off. Each one of the spots that we went to was about 20-30 minutes away. We went to the Island that was the furthest north and west that you can go in Southeast Alaksa. I think that Island was called Coronation, but I may be wrong. We also fished at Little Beach and Port Allis. The fishing has been really slow (which of course has caused some tension amongst the captains) so I didn't really catch anything amazing. I caught about 12 fish and could only keep 3. The three that I kept were black rock fish and I caught them while we were salmon fishing. I also caught a couple of flounders and yellow eye that were too small to keep so we threw them to the eagles. We got the eagles to come right up to our boat! The other fish that I caught were called Turbins, which is a type of flounder with razor sharp teeth and just plain ugly looking. The thing that was frustrating about them was that we would catch them while we were bottom fishing at 300+ feet and have to reel them all the way back up, just to throw them back into the ocean. Overall it was just fun. The landscape around here is absolutely breathtaking. It was worth it just to go out and to be able to experience that. We saw whales right out in front of the boat and that just made my day.

The thing about deep sea fishing is that its extremely tiring. I don't think that it would necessarily be my idea of a vacation. And I now know why we have a massage artist at the lodge. I appreciate now what the captains have to go through everyday, I really dont' know how they do it.

There really hasn't been too many exciting events around here lately. Long story short...The bartender that was hired for the summer wasn't cutting it, so they offered me her job! I've been the bartender at the King Fisher lounge now for four days. I'm loving it. I'm finally getting all of the drinks down...I make a mean key lime pie martini...my bloody mary's need a little work. Plus its just fun being behind the bar talking with the guests and getting to know people. This past trip there were four guys here from Detriot, so it was fun to chat it up with them.

Really there hasn't been too much to update on. I'm still loving it here and every day I find great things to get into. Yesterday my friend Scotty and I build a fire pit and just sat out in the woods around the fire. Its just little things like that that go on all the time.

Its lunch and laundry time so I must run!

Love you all!
CW

Hello everyone! I'm starting this blog to keep you all updated on my Alaskan adventures. I'm getting really excited, my parents and I are heading out from Traverse City today and I'm flying out of Chicago tomorrow morning. I still have tons to do!!

For those of you who don't know, I'm spending the summer of 2008 on Prince of Whales Island in southeast Alaska. I'll be working at a little fishing resort, El Capitan Lodge, doing pretty much everything (housekeeping, serving, bartending, fish processing). They have a total of 20 employees each season, most of whom are returning after multiple summers. I'll be living in my own 10"x16" cabin (just like my old dorm room, except I don't have to share!), and we have 3 bathrooms to share between all of the employees. All of our meals are provided in the employee lounge, and are prepared by the head chef. I'm working 6 days a week, with one day off to explore the island! The closest town is Craig, AK, at a whopping 40 miles away. The island is also home to two or three native inuit villages and they have something called a skunk cabbage festival, which I will most definately be checking out. They also have weekly mud bog races which sounds like quite the island event.

My journey begins this afternoon! We're leaving for Chicago around 3pm today. I'm flying out of ORD tomorrow morning at 11:30am, stopping in Seattle, and arriving in Ketchikan at 5:15pm (9:15 TC time). From there I'm flying Pacific Airlines to the lodge, but I really don't know what the exact plans are...my boss seems pretty laid back about things. Apparently if they can't get me out to the lodge tomorrow night, she'll book me a hotel room and I'll fly out there Friday morning. Either way, I'm VERY excited and I can't wait to get out there. I'm not totally sure of what to expect; I'm ready to find out what its really like instead of just having a picture in my mind of how things are.

Hopefully I'll get to write another entry on Friday! Take care everyone!!