JOURNAL [18 OF 50]

So we are not going to give away all the journals that have been written for "A Fisherman's Journal".  We will be releasing a few as the project progresses more and more.

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Journal 18 of 50

Date: [8.5.2011]

So on this opener we started out on the side of Kodiak where we have been fishing for most of the summer. Once again the fishing started out horrible. We made our first set to only haul in about 20 fish on low tide. So we decided to wait until the tide change for a few hours and try another to see if the tide would bring in any more fish. At the tide change we made our set and snagged on the rocks below ripping our seine all up and catching not many more fish then our first set.

From this point we decided to head into Kodiak with two other boats, deliver our small amount of fish, get new ice and venture out to the other side of Kodiak Island, uncharted waters for the crew of the Amy La Rae.

We woke up at 5 am ready to follow Fuzzy with the Anna Lisa to uncharted waters but the boat would not start. Just clicked and clicked. On top of what so far has been a slow summer with not many fish, boat issue after boat issue, this just killed the crews mentality once again. We worked on cleaning the starter and battery cables figuring it was the starter that had failed. While we worked for at least an hour, Henry went to another boat to get an extra starter to change out. We said a little prayer and Larry said, “lets give it one more try for good luck”, what do you know it started. We yelled to Henry and we motered away from Kodiak, far behind the Anna Lisa who we were going to follow.

As we traveled further away from Kodiak to a place none of us had every traveled the tide rips started getting very violent. Larry who was sleeping in his bunk, henry and Bowman who were at the wheel, and myself who was attempting to make some coffee in this wild storm, were getting tossed around like crazy. All at once we came crashing down so fast and hard that it sent all of us in the air for what felt like a minute. Larry hit his head on the top of the bunk, Bowman and henry were airborn at the wheel and myself hitting my head on the top of the cabin and falling like I had just been smashed by a semi. About 2 minutes later the boat started sputtering and missing sending the fuel pressure guage to zero. Bowman ran down to the engine room and at this point we were dead in the water, miles from anywhere and anyone in weather nobody would every want to be in.

At this point everyone was outside the engine room while bowman feriously tore apart the fuel filter to see what was going on. In this type of weather, with a smaller fishing vessel such as the Amy La Rae you do not want to be trapped dead in the water very long. Bowman found that algae had clogged the fuel line from crashing down and killed the boat. Larry jumped in the skiff and started towing the boat so we would not rock side to side so bad. We continued to work on fixing the fuel filter.

The weather was not getting any better. Even with Larry towing the boat the little skiff could not really keep up with keeping the boat out of the waves completely at the angle we had it towing from. As we continued to work on the filter it took twice as long as normal being thrown around the boat like rag dolls while working. I ran up to get the fuel to put back into the filter, I slipped on the deck almost smashing my head in to the corner of the fish hold [ on the webisode 1 video you can see some of the video from this whole ordeal]. Basically all the fuel and oil from the engine room had spashed all over getting on all our gear making the entire boat slipper then a ice skating rink. So on top of already having a hard time getting around from the waves we had this to deal with. Once I finally got down with the fuel for bowman we put everything back together only to find that the boat would still not start.

Fuzzy of the Anna Lisa at this time had turned around to come back to help us but he was at least another hour away in the weather. Bill with the Heidi May who had left Kodiak a little while later then us was only about 20 or 30 min away. They both were trying to get to us as fast as they could in case the situation turned worse. We continued to try and figure out what the problem was but nothing seemed to work.

When you are put in a situation such as we were, many things go through your mind. You have no control over the Ocean and it is not forgiving at all. It will literally swallow you up and with the cold waters of Alaska you only have minutes before hypothermia sets in and your body freezes not letting you control your own functions. Even if you have time to put on a survival suit if the coast guard or other boats do not get to you fast you’re a gonner.

It takes a strong crew to think straight in situations as these and the crew of the Amy La Rae did exactly that. It does no good for anyone to freak out and loose control of there thinking. You have to stay strong and do what needs to be done fast.

Time seemed to be going in slow motion. An hour which felt like ten went by and Bill with the Heidi may finnaly reached us, we switched from larry towing us in the skiff to Bill which made things a little bit better. We continued to clean the filter and switch fuel tanks back and forth to try and unclog the fuel line for another hour and finnaly the boat started while being towed in the rough seas by the Heidi May.

We still had another hour or more to get to calm waters but having the Heidi May by our side the rest of the way incase we came across any other issues made all our minds at ease a little bit. I would like to say a huge thanks to the Crew of the Heidi May for basically giving up time which they could have been fishing to help us. Out here fishing in the Ocean, Captains and Crews are very competitive while fishing but if another fellow fisherman is in trouble the competitiveness goes out the door and they come to the rescue. Its amazing to see.

I have been reading a few books by fellow fisherman and Author Spike Walker over the summer. In the evening I started reading the book “Knights of Ice”. The first chapter was about a crab boat that was heading back to Kodiak with a full load. They hit weather two hours out of Kodiak in Chiniak Bay and sunk the boat escaping barely with their lives.

When I read this chapter of Spike Walkers book it sent chills through my body like I have never felt, this was exactly where we were when we went dead in the water.

God was watching out for the crew of the Amy La Rae this day.

Below is Webisode 1 of "A Fisherman's Journal".  In it will show some of the video footage from this day.