return to Alaska...

Ok so it has been AGES since I last wrote, but I am BACK in Alaska. Yes, for the third time, I made it back to the land of the endless summer nights and unpredictable weather. I am working again on the Regent Seven Seas Mariner, this time with a new gal, Abbey. I have the same job as last year, Ambassadors of the Environment Naturalist. It is a pretty sweet gig, but the cruise ship life has been a little rocky this time around.

To start, we got on the ship June 3 and were told that we weren’t supposed to be there. So we almost got sent home. Luckily that didn’t happen, they just placed us in a crew cabin. Now for those people who have been on a cruise, you know that the rooms are nice. And on a Regent cruise, the rooms are even nicer. The rule is that every passenger suite gets a balcony. That’s what we were expecting. But no, Day 1 begins in a room with no natural light at all! Not even a porthole! Needless to say I slept for over 14 hours the first night.

AS the week progressed, we got to know the crew and crew areas well, but were then informed that when the cruise was over, we would be placed in our passenger suite. BUT, that meant we had passenger status and we weren’t allowed in the crew area AT ALL. Sounds pretty silly seeing as how we were living in a crew area at that point. And the reason was that it was a liability; if we got hurt, the ship had to pay. However, they didn’t care if something happened the week we were actually living in the crew area, only after we left did they care. Something fishy is going on around here and I don’t like it!

We finally moved into our suite and it is pretty sweet! The balcony is fabulous and the scenery phenomenal. I can’t complain too much as it is a huge privilege to be able to stay in a six star cruise ship suite. It also means that as passengers, we have to eat with other passengers. Anyone who has ever been on a ship knows that the food is supposed to be one of the best parts of cruising! Free food 24 hours a day! YAY! Most people leave the ship 5 pounds heavier than when they started a week earlier. What happens to those who eat that food for 10 weeks? Is that 50 pounds? YIKES! It’s a little distressing knowing that I get to eat amazing food all the time and I don’t have a choice. The amazing food also comes with a price, we have to eat it with other people all the time. For the most part, one would say that’s not a bad price and that is very true and I totally agree, most of the time. But when you must eat dinner over a span of 2 hours EVERY night of the week, it makes it a little less charming and a little more like work, trying to make small talk and not spill something on your dress. Not only that, but the sommeliers come around and refill your wine glass 15 times during dinner. After 2 hours you can imagine I get a little tipsy! Lets just say, it’s less than ideal for someone who has to work afterwards and keep it up for 9 more weeks! I hope I don’t come home a fat cow!

Good news is, I am a certified personal trainer now so I can train myself as well as any others who want me to kick their butts. I need/want the practice and have been practicing on Abbey as much as possible. Hopefully that will help in the not becoming a fat cow department. One of my other workout buddies just left the ship as his contract was up, but another just boarded and he is in for it! There are a few others that are always up for a good hike or stroll around town so its nice to be surrounded by people who appreciate the outdoors and want to explore.

Now here is the fun part. I haven’t talked about any of the real good stuff about Alaska yet. So here goes… I finally got to go FLY FISHING! I have never been before in my life. I am not a fisherwoman. My dad and brother love it, but I almost never go with them. It seems as if I have terrible luck catching fish. I have only caught a few in my life, and the majority of them were here in Alaska over the last 2 years. This time was amazing though. A friend of Dan’s and sort of a friend of mine, named Jesse, invited me to go fly fishing with him one day two years ago. Now mind you, he met me, and not long after invited me to join him and his tour all the while we were out at the bar. Dan told me that he was just drunk and didn’t mean it, so the next morning, I didn’t show up. Later that day, Dan mentioned that they were waiting for me. Needless to say, I was not happy to hear that, as I took Dan’s advice and didn’t show.

Two years later, I run into Jesse again. The first thing he says to me is, “you stood me up last time to go fly fishing! But the offer still stands if you want to go.” So two weeks later, he had space for me again and I got to go! His tour consists of a floatplane ride out to the wilderness (aka the middle of nowhere) and we all get off, and the plane then takes off back to the airport. Next, they teach us how to cast the fly rod, add the fly to it, and we are off to catch some fish! Everyone has chest waders on so we are standing in the freezing water casting and pulling in, casting and pulling in, and on the third cast, I caught one! I definitely screamed because I was so excited and didn’t really know what to do at that point. He helped me get it off the hook, but I left my camera about 200 meters away so I kissed my fish and let it go. I spent the next hour or so chatting and casting on a high from my catch. Unfortunately it was the only one I had the whole time. It was a great experience though and now I know how to cast a fly rod. You learn something new every day! I really want to go again and Jesse invited me back, this time though when the salmon are running so I don’t catch a 3-pound Dolly Varden, but a 10-pound Pink Salmon! Maybe I’ll have to wait another 2 years for the opportunity again…

Funny story though, once the tour was over, the floatplanes came back to pick us up. Now the company that flies the fishermen around is called Ward Air. It is owned by 2 brothers, Ed and Randy and Dan used to work there. I know most of the pilots through Dan and they are a great group of people. Ward Air is one of the most well respected charter floatplane companies in Juneau. One of the pilots, a good friend of mine, Avery, came to pick us up. I was excited to see my friend and also know that he is a great pilot. We took off and started flying back to the airport. Since I lived in Juneau I knew, for the most part, where we were. After about 3 minutes in the air, Avery began to tug at something at his feet. He kept leaning down and pulling as if something was stuck. Finally he pulled so hard that whatever it was broke! Next thing I know, he whispers something to Jesse and he begins descending away from the airport. I thought, uh oh! What could possibly be wrong. I trust Avery completely so I knew that he would take care of us, but he landed on the water in the middle of nowhere, got out of the plane with the engine still running, stood on the float and said to the other passengers, “I have to fix something”. We were all thinking the same thing, what could possibly be wrong? Jesse turned to me and said he thought it was the water rudders on the floats. A minute later, Avery hopped back in the plane and said, “All better!” We took off again and headed back to the airport. We landed at the pond and came to a stop at the floatplane dock. After we all got off the plane he explains to us that his water rudders were down and when he tried to get them up, he broke the line. Now according to Dan and Avery, if someone sees you with your water rudders down while you are flying, you own them a drink. Avery did not want anyone to see him with his water rudders down so he made an emergency landing just to make sure that wouldn’t happen. HA oh the crazy bush pilots!

Other than that, I have been in Alaska for 4 weeks now, and so far I have seen a black bear, a brown bear, sea otters, orcas, humpback whales, gray whales, seals, sea lions, humpbacks bubble net feeding, mountain goats, sitka black-tailed deer, banana slugs, the rainforest, amazing flowers, glaciers calving, salmon jumping, Dall’s porpoise, sea stars, sea anemones, crabs, totem poles, it never ends! Alaska is an amazing place and anyone who has never been really needs to add it to their bucket list because it really is the last frontier, with pristine wilderness and awe-inspiring glaciers.