Gearing Up

For fishing.

The Stephen Daniel picking up his seine net from winter storage.

Other fishing news is there is the Dipnetters get 72-hour Copper River opening.

Fish are on the horizon.

Kayaks in the Sky

Ice Hunter

Fish are like women

Whale Hunting

We had a great cruise.

The video on yesterdays post was from the Valdes Penninsula in Argentina of a bow head whale.

I forgot to mention that.

Snow Pile Wreckers

Valdez has had beautiful weather since Sunday. Summer is here so the city knocks down all the snow piles to help them melt faster. Here is a loader spreading the yucky black snow around under clear blue skies. GOOD BYE SNOW!!

Hope the weather stays nice for tomorrow as we are going out on the Columbia Glacier Cruise courtesy of Captain Stan Stephens. He does this free every year for Valdez Senior citizens, the disabled and their caregivers. Last year we had a blast and I am looking forward to it again. I'll be taking pictures and videos.

Here are some from last years cruise:

Blue Ice , Ice Fishing , Whale Hunting , Sea Lions Roaring , Whale Action

Views from Hogback

While I went swimming tonight my buddy Dale took off on his 4 wheeler up Hogback, a popular snow machine trail, with my camera to take pictures.


This was last view of Valdez going up.

Valdez Glacier.

Sunset over Valdez Bay coming back down.

You can borrow my camera anytime, kid. Great photos!

Tanker Traffic

Took this picture from the Bettye Cato "Bridge to Nowhere" over Mineral Creek Canyon this afternoon. In the distance is a super tanker being escorted out of Prince William Sound.

This is my third week straight of swimming M/W/F nights and it just keeps getting funner and funner. Tonight I was swimming two laps in under five minutes. I'm still using the flippers and I'm up to 2 boogie boards now. I swim backwards with them one way and forward the other. Much better as my neck was killing me trying to keep my head out of the water. I can't stand going underwater. I had 3 years of swimming lessons as a child and never got out of beginners. But I am enjoying swim nights and my body shows no more signs of sacrolitis. Besides that my jeans are fitting better!

the LPW Mermaid

Docked on A float is the steel hulled tug the L P W. No longer a working boat, in her day, she was a shrimper, a long liner and a fuel hauler. During the Exxon Valdez oil spill clean up she was a garbage boat. Now she is pleasure craft used for deer hunting in the Sound and the occasional sea cruise.

Dan Kramer, a Wasilla artist, painted the mermaid on the door.

The L P W, along with the mermaid, is For Sale.

Over the Seas

This is the pretty new Valdez harbor lift in action. Pictured is the M/V Faithfully descending safely into the harbor on a bright Monday morning.

Rumor has it the Govenor is coming to Valdez and the Dividend amount to be announced on Wed. at 2pm.

My guess is she's going to take a little cruise on Prince William Sound while she's at it.

Froggy Morning

Stellar day on PWS with the sun shining through the early morning frog.

Still some diehards hanging out fishing on the dock getting skunked. Enjoying every minute.

Chronic MUD

My camera went for a ride on a 4wheeler. Got these pictures back after the quad got stuck in some chronic MUD! The big, mud, paw print in the middle is that of a bear. Most likely the mama blackie and her cub seen on the mountain side.

Today was cold, to me, and rainy to everyone. Turned on the heater in my truck today for the first time and in my house tonight for a bit. Just to take the chill off. So much for the last day of July.

I missed this in my Derby update yesterday after reading in the Anchorage Daily News this morning that a 340-pounder takes Valdez derby lead. The #328 pound halibut drops to 2nd place then. Big fish in Prince William Sound.

A 3 Hour Tour

Come along for the ride! Me and my cronies were outside on the stern of the Glacier Spirit the whole cruise. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and everyone had a memorable voyage. The Captain, Stan Stephens himself, knows Prince William Sound. I brought my GPS and clocked the boat going almost 17 and half knots. Thats 20 miles per hour which is fast for a boat. He zipped us around to all the great spots to see the abundant wildlife. It was my first Stan Stephens glacier cruise. I always send visiting friends and family. While they are gone I make a great dinner for when they get back. Now I know what I've been missing so if you ever have the chance to go you should.

Whale Action

I'm having fun uploading my videos to YouTube from our sea cruise Friday. I hope you enjoy them.

Sea Lions Roaring

I wish I had a better zoom lens on my camera. It really isn't a video camera but I can take short video clips. This video was at the sea lion rookery. There must have been hundreds of sealions of all shapes and sizes. Some were really huge. And they were a noisy bunch.

This is Bouy Nine where there are always a couple of sealions sunbathing and greeting the tour boats.

Whale Hunting

All Aboard

Spotted these kids cruising around town. They all needed to be sporting sunglasses today. I asked the gal who was pushing them if they were all hers and she said "no way!" They all attend pretty school together. (Thats what my daughter called pre-school.)

Its been showingly brilliant weather for 4 days straight in Prince William Sound. This Friday all the seniors are going for a Stan Stephans cruise out to Columbia Glacier. And caregivers get to go. Rain or shine!

Fresh PWS Shrimp

The shrimp boat came in yesterday so we were dancing last night. These were "smalls" but sweet & tasty. A 5 pound gallon ziplock baggie for $32.50 dock price. Fresh headed uncooked searun PWS shrimp. Mr. FishTaxi cooked some up with his secret recipe for steamed shrimp. (Old Bay Seasoning ) We ate our fill and the cats got some treats. Then we vacuumed sealed and froze the leftover raw shrimp for later days. More fresh shrimp to come!