Bear Pics

*pictures by Leon

Bear Encounter by Garett

Yesterday when me and mom were down on the beach, Paul came out of the cabin of the Lazy Bay and says "Your neighbor said that there is a bear coming your way."  Mom looked to the end of the beach and saw the bear crossing the creek toward us.  Me, mom, and Emmett ran home.  Later the bear got to camp.  

In the middle of the night he broke the screen door in the Main Cabin and ate all of the chili that we had set out from dinner.  He also tried a few potatoes but didn't like them that much.

*pictures will follow

Fun facts...

1.  Our electricity comes from a generator and solar panels.  The solar is fairly new.  We only turn the power on in the evening.  Generally between 5 and 10 pm.

2.  We do have a washing machine.  It uses the water from the creek so there is no HOT setting.  There is a dryer but it isn't very good so we hang our clothes out on the line.

3.  I mentioned before that we bathe every 3-4 days.  We wear the same clothes for that time period too.  Changing underwear and socks is purely personal - ha!

4.  I also mentioned that we deliver our fish in slush ice.  We have two ice machines down the beach in our boat house.  They make ice chips from the water in the creek nearby.  The ice is stored in totes so that it stays ready.  These machines are also run by generator.

5.  There are bathrooms in the main cabin and in our cabin.  The crew (for the most part) uses the outhouse.  That's right - outhouse!

6.  We heat the cabins with either a wood stove or a propane or oil stove.  The stoves we use to cook with, as well as our refrigerators and hot water heaters, are also run on propane.

7.  Fresh produce is really hard to get out here.  It also costs and arm and a leg.  Judy has a nice green house that she grows, tomatoes, peas, peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini in.  She also grows lettuce, string beans, broccoli, and potatoes.  We are both trying radishes this year and she's doing brussel sprouts.  Nothing is ready to eat though usually until August and later.

8.  We pick fish 3 times a day.  The guys leave at 7 in the morning for the first one.  They have breakfast when they get back in - no matter what that time may be.  The 2nd pick is at 2 and the last one is after dinner at 7.  We deliver our fish after every pick.

9.  When fishing, breakfast is one of the following:  pancakes and bacon, french toast and sausage, eggs and hash, or hot cereal with toast.  So far Adam is the front runner with the most pancakes eaten!

10.  We do have internet (after 5 when the power is on) but NOT when it rains.  For some reason, we cannot get a signal in the rain.

That's it for now!

Sea Life

The guys found an octopus in one of our nets yesterday.  Today they found a giant sea cucumber.  It is amazing really how many strange and new sea creatures 0ur boys have been able to see and experience out here.  The octopus I think is one of the most unique.  They are really strange creatures.  For those Seattlites that are reading this....no harm came to either the octopus or the sea cucumber.  Both were released in their natural habitats - after we snapped a few pictures of course :)

* photo by Garett

Banya Day!

Yay! Yay! It's Banya Day!  

For those of you who don't know what that is or why it is so exciting, it means a BATH!  

The top picture is of our banya.  This is where we scrub ourselves clean every 3-4 days.  The picture on the right is inside the banya.  There are two rooms.  One for dressing/undressing, and one for getting clean.  We heat water on a wood stove as you can see in the picture.  There is also a tub of cold water.  You mix the two levels of heated water in smaller buckets and ..... you have it!  Warm water to bath with.  The water comes from a creek that runs nearby into the ocean.  So yes, it is bath day and we are all feeling fine!

Cast of Characters #5

THE CREW... *pictures by Garett

I think it would be wise to say that these guys are the 2nd most important people out here.  You're only as good as your crew right?  This year we have 3 really great guys.  Adam (on the bottom) has been here all summer.  He is from Ohio.  I think he kind of likes it here - haha

The guy above in the orange life vest is Adam's brother, Austin.  He arrived a little over a week ago, joining us right when the fishing really started.  It was also when the kelp arrived, the storm, damaged, and loose nets.  He's really been thrown right into it.  Justin is the fellow up top in the white shirt.  I believe he has an octopus in the bucket that he is holding up.  (a post about that will come soon)  Justin is a returnee.  He fished for us 2 summers ago and has come back for some more!  He got here about a day after Austin.  We love having experienced crew come back.   Makes it much easier for Bryan.  

I am looking at these pictures and see a common characteristic - facial hair!  Besides seeing how many pancakes they can eat at one sitting, guys often grow out their beards.  Just for the fun of it!  

Thanks to all you family members who helped/supported your sons (and hubby) to come here.  We really appreciate it and I hope that they are getting something out of it in return.

Cast of Characters #4

This is Nana and Papa.  They are the most important people at camp.  Without them there would be no camp!  Leon is Bryan's dad and Judy is his mom.  My sister and I spent every summer with our grandparents so I love that my kids get to do the same.  Plus who else is going to give the boys grape pop and cookies when I tell them no more sweets!  haha

*pictures taken by Garett

Friday

Today was supposed to be "pull-up" day.  That is when we are told by Fish and Game that our nets need to be out of the water, for a certain period of time, by 9pm.  We got a 72 hour extension which is nice.  We are hoping that it will just keep getting extended for awhile.  We only have part of our gear in the water currently but that has been just fine.  There has been a tremendous amount of kelp (we call it dirt) in the water.  This is not good when you are trying to catch fish with your "invisible" net!  So the fishermen have been working hard trying to keep the nets clean and praying for some fish at the same time.  It is always good to be fishing though.  Can't make money if your nets are on shore.

I mentioned before that the Barbers left.  We now have 2 new crewmen - Austin and Justin.  Austin is Adam's brother and Justin fished for us 2 years ago.  Everyone is learning the ropes and getting along fine.  We are really fortunate with the help that we have this year.  We also have company - Bob.  He is our neighbor in Seattle.  This is his third year here visiting us.  He is always a pleasure to have and he likes it here too so it all works out - ha!  The interesting thing about Bob is that he used to fish out here - just down the beach from us - when he was a teenager.  Small world isn't it?  It is fun to listen to the memories he has about the area and I know he enjoys being a part of it again.  This is definitely a special place.

The picture is of Justin, Adam and Bob delivering to our tender the Sierra Seas.  Justin is on the left.  Adam is sort of in the middle - the one facing the camera.  Bob is closest to the tender in the lighter color coat.  We deliver our fish to our tender 3 times a day.  We pick the fish 3 times a day and the salmon are put into slush ice in insulated totes as we get them.  The totes are lined with bags that are then lifted by the crane on the tender.  This is attached to a scale so that we know how many pounds we've caught.  Each species of fish has a different price per pound, so we separate them as we catch them in the skiff.  Once the fish are weighed and recorded, the are dumped into the hold of the boat that has refrigerated sea water in it.  The tender delivers the fish to our cannery every evening.  He is back out here in the morning with any groceries we may have ordered, our mail, and ready to take our new fish.

Cast of Characters #3

These are our doggies.  Rudy is on the left.  He belongs to the cousins.  Rudy was actually born out here at camp 8 years ago!  Lucy is above on the right.  She is our little girl.  She is about 1 1/2 years old.  Both dogs have been having the time of their lives out here!  Civilization is going to be a hard thing to get used to when they go home!  It is doggie heaven at Spiridon Camp!

Cast of Characters #2

These are the boys' cousins and aunt.  Terri is Bryan's older sister.  She is in the picture below.  My boys love Aunt Terri because she is FUN!  To the right is Sammie.  She's the middle child.  Sammie likes this picture because it is better than the one that Garett took of her :)

Steven is the oldest child and the only other grandson in the family.  He is Terri's fishing partner.  Chrissy is the youngest.  As you can see, she is always smiling!  Terri and the kids spend the first half of the summer with us.  Things are much quieter when they leave :(

Cast of Characters #1

This is the Francisco Family.

Top left is Garett.  He's the older brother.  Top right is Emmett.  He's the younger brother.

Daddy (Bryan) is on the bottom left and Mommy (Lara) on the right.

**All photos are taken by Garett

Mother Nature

A couple of days ago the fishing crew found some baby ducks out on the water with no mom.  They were heading right to one of our nets so they scooped them out of the water and ended up bringing them back home.  The hope was that we could call Fish and Game to figure out what to do with the babies.  Thinking of course that we'd probably be flying them into town.  

In the meantime, the kids got busy making "habitats" for the ducklings.  Yes, that is the exact word they used.  There was one tote for "land", and another for "water".  All in all the ducks seemed pretty happy, well except for their constant wanting to jump out of the totes.  With two dogs running around it wasn't a good idea to let them loose in the grass.  Our phone (of course) wasn't working so the ducklings had to stay the night.  The kids made them a nice soft nest out of rags to sleep in.

In the morning, our phone still didn't work and one of the ducks had taken a turn for the worse - he didn't make it.  Nana gave the kids a good talk about Mother Nature and that nature has to take it's course and that it was time for us to put them back where they belong.  This of course led to Emmett immediately barging into the house saying, "Mom?  Where does Mother Nature live?"   (photo by Garett)

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Actually it is just mostly planes and boats, but you'll get the idea.

I often hear from friends about how much they'd like to come visit. Or, that they'll be in Alaska so maybe they could stop and see us, etc... It is not so easy and not so affordable to do this though. First you need to get to Anchorage. Most people do that by jet, but you can go by cruise ship or drive the AlCan. From there, you take a plane to Kodiak. This fare is un-

reasonable at best. More often than not it is around $200 EACH WAY. The flight is 45 minutes, go figure. You can take an Alaskan Ferry also but you need to get yourself to Homer first. So once you get to the Kodiak airport (pictured at left-yes this is the whole

 thing) you walk across the parking lot to Island Air (picture below). From there you catch a small "bush" plane that may seat 4, 6, or 8 plus cargo. The ticket prices here are $99 each way. If you have more than 50lbs total of baggage then you pay for that too. A picture of the plane Bryan and I took is also shown below. There were 8 of us on the plane this last trip. Another one took most of our baggage. Depending upon what the weather is like,  you fly either over the mountains or around the outside of the island to Larsen Bay - an Alaskan Native village on the other side of the island. This is home to the cannery that we work for currently, Icicle

 Seafoods.

Once you get to the village of Larsen Bay, you take a 1/2 hour skiff ride to our camp.  Rain or shine!  Then...you are at camp.  One of the most beautiful places on Earth!  So if you are up for an adventure and have some spare change - come for a visit some time :)

The last picture I took from the plane.  You can see the landing strip at the top.  The long pier and the buildings with the red roofs is the cannery.

The Fourth of July

Our weather has been wonderful! Very unusual this early in the summer actually. We had a very nice, sunny and dry 4th. Enough wind to keep the bugs away which is always a bonus. Each summer there is a "Set-Netters" picnic that one of us hosts. It is a great opportunity for all of the fishermen in the bay to get together. For some of us it is the only time we see each other. We hear each other on the radio daily, but don't always get to meet face to face. The party this year was on the 4th and was hosted by our "neighbors" on Harvester Island. They are right across the water from us. It was a great time and really nice to see everyone. Afterwards we had our own party: fire on the beach, roasted hot dogs (just realized we forgot the marshmallows!), and lit off fireworks. The kids had a lot of fun. I think Papa has just about the same amount of fun actually. Garett is a total maniac about fireworks and he just goes nutty! Thank goodness this comes around only once a year right?