Back from Bermuda and the 21st Century!

The title quote from The Sword In the Stone actually describes the exact opposite of my last 3 weeks. It was a continuation from the terrible weather of last year which was cold with an average westerly wind of 30-40mph. We did have more days which involved the sun coming through the clouds this year though. It was sunny one day which is one day more than last year. Time-wise it is a weird mix of modern and mongoloid technology and culture. The whole place runs on diesel; diesel engines, diesel stoves, diesel generators. Millions of gallons of diesel every year.

Ashley reported to you that our boat was broken. We had some engine troubles which had the potential of shutting us down for the rest of the year. Luckily we found a mechanic and the parts we needed to fix the problem. It wasn't a really tough issue it is just that resources up there are extremely limited and getting someone to devote 2 days to tearing an engine apart, fixing the problem, and putting it together alone is tough enough. Add to the mix that all the parts we needed (which weren't many thankfully) had to be flown in it is a miracle that we were able to get back out on the water. Luckily everything came together, we spent two hurried days trying desperately to get back to fishing. We missed about 12 hours of fishing time (two "openings") and worked hard, sometimes carrying 50+ pound parts up and down a ladder on a pier (thankfully not dropping anything into the water, mud, or people below us). Fortunately we got everything fixed and were able to fish again; unfortunately we had one more 4 hour opening to fish before the fish just stopped coming. After that we waited a week for fish to come that didn't and then went home. That's how that goes.

Here is a picture I thought some of you would enjoy. I was not present when it was taken. We arrived in Alaska to find that our food had been rummaged through and the individuals who take care of it for use (as it has to be shipped up by barge in a plastic tote and then sits for a month before we get there) had photo evidence of the thief. Naturally we thought better of pressing charges.

Apparently bears love Pringles and Orange Gatorade because that was the extent of our losses. She tried to eat our plastic cutlery as well but it obviously was not very appealing to her.

Once you pop you can't stop.
E