Day 7 Sitka

Day 7    Tuesday      June 26, 2001        

Sitka, Alaska  (7:00 AM – 5:00 PM)

Sitka was our favorite port.  There was a lot of history in Sitka; there was a lot of Russian history in Sitka.  The town was picturesque, it was very clean and it was not crowded.  We didn’t get the “touristy” feeling when we hit town.  In all the other ports there were many “touristy” shops and they all appeared to sell the same things.  We were the only ship in Sitka this day; I suppose we were just lucky.  Also, there were no docks, well docks big enough for a 915 ft ship. So we had to use tenders (the life boats) to get back and forth to the ship.

This was a big day for me.  This was the day I’d go salmon fishing.  It was a beautiful day, the temperature in the high 50s, a few white puffy clouds and a lot of blue sky.  I put in for a 5:30 AM wake up call (hey, but I’m on vacation!).  Because we had to use tenders to get to shore, only those with early morning excursions could go on the first few tenders.  There were 36 people signed up for salmon fishing.  This made it easy as it was four guests per fishing boat.

I ended up on a boat with two guys from Alabama who knew each other and a Scotsman, named Alister who lived in Hong Kong.  Our captain was Steve and the deck hand was his son, Cody.  As we made our way out to where Steve thought the fish were, about eight miles out, Cody came around with the one-day fishing license and one day king salmon stamps.  Ten bucks for the license and ten bucks for the stamp. 

There were four poles on the boat.  It seemed fairly obvious, four guys, four poles, not exactly.  Steve (our skipper) came around with a deck of cards and said, “pick one”.  As I picked a card, I asked why.  Steve said, “to see who gets first fish”.  I drew a nine and that put me in second place.  Alister drew the highest and therefore he would get the first fish.  The way it worked was all four poles were in the water and as soon as one got a hit, they stopped the boat and reeled in the other three poles.

It was not long before we got the first hit.  Alister grabbed the pole, the boat stopped, the other lines came out of the water and the fight began.  It took Alister about 20 minutes or so to land his king salmon.  It was 25 lbs. 

Now it was my turn.  The wait seemed much longer than it actually was, but finally we got the second hit.  I was ready.  The fight started.  This fish was big, by far the biggest fish I’d ever tangled with.  I reeled him in for a while then let him run, reeled in, let him run.  After about 10-12 minutes, my left forearm was really getting tired.  The fish was still out about 50 ft or so (there was a gauge on the rod).  About another 10 minutes went by before I got the fish up to the side of the boat.  Steve netted him (it was a him).  It was a 30 lb king salmon.

This was a great experience.

The other guys caught their fish and we still had time so our skipper gave us a choice.  We could continue to fish, but any king salmon we caught, we’d have to throw back  (there was a one king salmon per day limit) or we could go whale watching.  We all agreed on whale watching.  On our way out the skipper told us of stories of other groups who decided to fish (catch & release) after their limit was caught.  One guy landed a 50 lb king salmon, but they had it throw it back.  It was a heartbreak.  While looking for whales we saw Puffins, Muirs and other birds.  They were plentiful.  We saw quite a few whales, albeit at a distance.  It was a fun, enjoyable outing. 

On the way back, the cleaning of the fish began.  There were two females and two males.  While cleaning one of the females, we noticed large sacks filled with eggs, thousands of them.  Steve told us a story of some other guests who really didn’t want the rest of the fish.  They just took the eggs into the galley, put on a little soy sauce, and ate them.  For us, we said ‘no thanks’ and all the parts and pieces went back to the ocean. 

Back at the dock a decision had to be made regarding the fish.  The choices were to take it back on the ship (the chef would prepare it for your table), have is smoked or have it cut into 1-2 lb pieces and flash frozen (-40 degrees).  If you had it smoked or frozen, they could ship it back home for you, as long as you lived in the U.S.  I suppose it was customs issue otherwise.  

As we got into the tender to get back to the ship, all eyes were on Alister.  He lived in Hong Kong and could not have his salmon shipped back.  His salmon was 25 lbs., wrapped in a clear plastic bag and he was carrying it back to the Rhapsody.   We were invited to stop by his table for a taste of his fish.  

I finally caught up with Mary back on the ship.  She filled me in on her morning excursion in Sitka over lunch in the Windjammer Café. 

After lunch we headed back into town for sightseeing and shopping.  It just seemed that the quality of the merchandise was better and there were fewer souvenir tee shirt shops.  While shopping we ran into Peter and Cathy and they were the first to hear “the big fish” story. 

Next we walked over to the Bishops House.  It is a log structure built in 1843 and it is the oldest building in Sitka.  I was looking at their garden and noticed a very unique tee pee shaped trellis.  The curator noticed me and came over.  She was giving me samples from the garden.  It was very nice.  I think I will use the tee pee shape trellis design in my garden. 

On the tender back to the Rhapsody, we ran into Brian and Sharon.  They were the second ones to hear “the big fish” story.  J 

It was casual night in the Edelwiess Dining Room that evening.  Our dinner companions, Lud and Polly, were celebrating their 47^th wedding anniversary that evening.  Cake and champagne for all.  It was very nice. 

At the lounge that evening there were two things on the agenda.  The first was the game Quest and the second was 50’s – 60’s night (the same band as that played the country western night and the Almost Village People).  The Quest game was interesting.  Albeit, probably considered typical cruise fare.  It was rated PG-13. 

On the way out of the lounge, we ran into Peter and Cathy.  Since none of us had signed up for any excursions the next day in Ketchikan, we decided to meet at breakfast and explore the town together.

Day 8 - Ketchikan