Alaska Photo Bomb

With limited internet access since we left Hawaii, we’ve been collecting a few photos to share. They are below in roughly chronological order.

Summer ends early in Alaska and school is not far away, but we’ll post a couple times again before we head home. Enjoy the pics (the formatting might be easier to see on a computer than on a phone) and be in touch!

Offerings to Neptune as we leave Kauai. Jason on conch shell.
Kauai still on the horizon astern.
At sea.
First fish–a wahoo! Don’t let that get away, cowboy.
The little red boat is DEBONAIR. The blue triangles are very big ships. Big, like a quarter-mile long. While some parts of this ocean feel empty, there’s lots of traffic in this part of the North Pacific as we cross shipping routes to the West Coast.
  • Poised to catch a Japanese glass fishing float.
  • Glass ball ecosystem!
  • Perfect.
  • Sailing north and it’s getting colder.
  • And colder.
And colder still.
  • Ready for dinner.
  • We never missed a dinner on deck, regardless of the weather.
It was so cloudy for so long. . .
…and then 18 days after we lost sight of Kauai, the sun came out, the fog lifted and we saw Kodiak, Alaska (visible here at left) . . . .
  • . . . on Caitlin’s birthday.
  • Happy Birthday, Sailor.
  • We anchored in the dark on our 19th day out of Kauai and woke up to this.
  • And this.
The whole crew.
The fifth-largest city in Alaska, the town of Kodiak has something under 10,000 residents. And everyone is connected to the water. As I write, we are the only cruising sailboat in the harbor–our excellent neighbors are purse seiners (pictured here with its aluminum skiff), the seiners’ tenders, long-liners, and trawlers. We’re loving learning about Alaskan fishing, Alaskan lives and Alaskan generosity.
  • While in Kodiak, Arlo and Alma teamed up with friends on S/V Dogbark to spend a night on an island in Chiniak Bay. Here, the list of supplies they’d need.
  • They rowed two miles to Puffin Island, set up a lean-to shelter, caught and filleted five fish, cooked them over a beach campfire, fended off nesting seagulls, oyster catchers, terns, and bald eagles all night . . .
  • . . . and rowed home the next morning.
After a few days of re-provisioning and a few hot showers in Kodiak, we set off to explore Kodiak Island. Here we are coming in to a nearby cove.
Way up one gorge-like bay we shed our boots and we swam!
This cannery was shuttered fifteen years ago, but when our friends on Dogbark and we tied up to the dock, the caretaker, Lance, invited us in to look around. So many lives were lived out in this handful of buildings on the side of this island, so far from everyone else. Evidence of their days remains in bits of graffiti, their tools, the machinery they handled, the signs in three languages that set the rules that governed their movements, the scratches on the floor from their boots. More images below.
  • Dogbark and Debonair from the cannery deck.
  • Arlo and the boilers.
  • Alma scooping up the last of the salmon berries we picked for pie.
The next cannery was 50 miles further south–more remote, 109 years old, but still very much a going operation. The cannery is a real community built from itinerant workers, largely from Eastern Europe, Japan and the Philippines, as well as Alaskans who have been working in the cannery for a generation or more, and the fisherfolk who bring their catch daily. We visited at the cannery and with fishermen on DEBONAIR and there was more visiting even as we transited the bay. We were moved by the warmth and humanity that clearly sustains this community.
  • Beautiful Larsen Bay Cannery.
  • Where there are fish there are birds.
Here a couple of aluminium set net skiffs tie up to DEBONAIR for a gam while we are underway in Uyak Bay. This family gave us fish, sweets, and books for the kids as well as invitations to their fishing camp. We’ve also been given smoked fish, halibut, venison and elk meet. In great quantity. Sometimes we feel like we need to anchor far away from generous Alaskans while we catch up on the eating. As our biggest eater, Arlo is in heaven.
  • We’ve been given many salmon. These are sockeye. Good eatin’.
  • Arlo has cleaned many salmon. These are a silver and a pink. Also good eatin.’
  • When Arlo finds fish eggs when he’s cleaning a salmon, he process the roe. Yup, good eatin’.
  • Arlo and Alma and friends mapped an island in Uyak Bay. So far from the last island they mapped in the Tuamotu.
  • Sometimes mapping an island requires getting wet. Even in Alaska.
On a beautiful breezy day we sailed from Kodiak Island across Shelikof Strait to Geographic Harbor, a deep cove in the Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Alma rows around Geographic Harbor looking for Grizzly Bears.
This guy is a very big male. We also saw mamas and cubs and bears we think are teens. We got to watch these mythic animals go about their business–climbing hills, swimming, clamming and lying on the beach holding clams in their paws to eat them, berry-picking, wrestling, nuzzling, pooping.
  • Sow and cub.
  • They climb so fast!
  • Two cubs.
We’ve left the tundra of southern Kodiak Island. Spruce dominates the farther north we get and moss is a close second.
  • We celebrated Arlo’s 16th birthday on Spruce Island. . .
  • He really seems to like his new beach cruiser.
We are sad to leave every island we’ve been to, and sailing from Kodiak Island is no different. By the end of the week, we’ll set sail bound for Afognak Island and then we’ll go on to the Kenai Peninsula on the mainland, where we’ll look for a place to secure DEBONAIR for the winter.

We have a few more thoughts we’ll be sharing soon. Thank you again for reading–we love thinking of all of you.

22 thoughts on “Alaska Photo Bomb”

  1. Thank you for all the fabulous photos. I am happy for all of you. What an amazing adventure for your family to share.

  5. Enjoyed all the photos, keep them coming! Happy Birthday Caitlin & Arlo. Glad the sun found you again. Since you left Hawaii we have traveled from Venice Italy (celebrated Stevens bday) to Portsmouth England, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Holland & Brussels in a much bigger ship than Debonaire. We will be home just ahead of you. Love Linda & Steven

  6. Wonderful! What an adventure! Do you remember Phil Smith from the Vineyard?

  7. Thanks for sharing all the great pictures and stories. We enjoy following your adventures. Safe travels.
    SF

  8. I echo what Laurie said–what an amazing adventure for all of you and what an education for the kids. Love all the photos. Will I get to see you when you’re back in Alameda? (and when will that be?)

  9. We are so lucky to be able to share a tiny sliver of your trip, and of you yourselves, thanks to your posts. I don’t think it possible to feel closer to the adventure of people who are, by the map, so far away. thanks

  10. I hope Nancy is joining you soon, if she hasn’t already. I look forward to reading about your adventures with her. Such fun following along …

  11. Amazing, beautiful photo journal. Love seeing all of your faces looking so happy and in your element. The salmon berries look just like roe! So cool.
    We are hot in the NE this week though it means the blueberries are ripening and it’s great for swimming – in ponds or the ocean.
    Thinking of you all with love.

  12. What a treasure to see your story telling pictures & your detailed descriptions while you are actually living them!! Thanks again for taking time to share with us. Kudos on making your travels more than just a “tour”.

  14. Thank you for sharing this amazing trip, the photos and remarks , no words to describe how much I enjoy looking at them and reading too. Looking forward to seeing and hearing more about all your adventures.

  16. Such beautiful pictures! I love seeing what you guys are up to. All that salmon, yum:)
    Safe travels!!!!
    -Kelley

  17. I love, love, LOVE this, Caitlin and Jason! Thank you so much for sharing and for continuing to inspire us! Big hugs and safe winds to you all!

    -Becca

  18. Fantastic pictures- thank you for the bounty as we returned from two weeks off the grid (in a camper van feeling lucky not to be in a boat given some of the WINDY spots we wound up in). So glad you’re having a drier time than we’ve ever had in Alaska! Big love to you all from M, M, B + O

  19. Wow, what a great photo essay! Loved the stories of the canneries and those grizzlies and Arlo’s super cool new bike. Some good fishing and some great eating, and lots of hospitality. It’s wonderful that you haven’t had the perennial Alaska summer rain–sending lots of love from the Bay!

  20. Debonairs;
    Ahoy from Sausalito! We missed seeing you before your summer departure but have been following the blog and loving it. So great that Maddy sailed with you. Perfect! The photos made me drool of course.
    Be safe and enjoy the north. It is so majestic. Oh, happy B-day Arlo!
    Love,
    Rick & Nancy

  21. Debonairs;
    Ahoy from Sausalito! We missed seeing you before your summer departure but have been following the blog and loving it. So great that Maddy sailed with you. Perfect! The photos made me drool of course.
    Be safe and enjoy the north. It is so majestic. Oh, happy B-day Arlo!
    Love,
    Rick & Nancy

  22. Love the photos! What a great trip, and what an education for the kids. Hope to see you soon.

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