We made it to
Seward around 3 or 4:00 set up the rv at Resurrection City Campground then
quickly went down to the visitor center to find out about their fishing
charters and glacier/wildlife cruises.
We called several charters and they were all booked up except one, LeSea
Charters. We scheduled halibut fishing
tomorrow and a wildlife cruise for Thursday.
7/17/12
SEWARD, AK - ASHES TO ASHES
We were at
the boat harbor ready for our halibut charter at 6:30. Our boat was a small one, suppose to seat 8
but I’m not sure where 8 would sit. The
captain was a 72 year old man, weathered and a pretty feisty old codger. We were his only people this day, yeah! We have our own personal charter! It was a ways out for halibut, about 1 ½ hour
boat ride. After we got out of the bay
area the waves got much bigger. I had
asked Duane, the captain if we could spread my mom’s ashes today. He was very accommodating, saying it was a
common request. We thought of a few nice
places to spread the ashes and finally decided on Emerald Cove. Ahh, this sounded nice! And boy was it nice. We pulled up, he turned off the engine and
Norm, Wes and I took the ashes out to the back of the boat and all of us spread
the ashes on 3 sides of the boat. What a
beautiful and peaceful place. I’m so
glad we were able to do this here. My
mom’s request was be cremated and spread her ashes out to sea. She LOVED the sea. If that wasn’t possible just spread them in
the wind and let them blow all over she said.
Well it’s been 8 years now.
Originally me and both my brothers had planned to spread them together
while on an Alaskan cruise. Mom wanted
to go on an Alaskan cruise but was diagnosed with cancer and died before she
got to do that. After her death we still
planned to go to Alaska but then my older brother was diagnosed with cancer,
fought it for over 2 years and he passed away also. Being a superstitious person I was convinced
I should not go to Alaska. Seemed like a
tragedy always struck when those plans were made. After all I only have one brother left and I
didn’t want to lose him to. I know,
sounds dumb, but that’s just the way I’m wired.
For several years I’ve been waiting for me and Wes, my younger brother to
get together somewhere so we could spread mom’s ashes. We never got together at a special place to
do so. Then Norm and I decided to tour
Alaska this summer and Wes asked me to spread the ashes while here. Good, I was thinking the same thing! I invited him to fly down to join us if he
wanted, and low and behold he did. So
here we are, in Seward, Alaska, out in a beautiful quiet cove with emerald
green waters all around beside a huge rock cliff. I couldn’t think of a more perfect
place. RIP mom. You are sorely missed!
Back to
halibut fishing: After spreading mom’s
ashes and taking a few photos of the area we started up the boat and headed on
out to fish. Like I said, it was a long
way out for halibut. Such a small boat
on such a large ocean. The waves got
bigger and we went up & down, side to side, uh oh…….suddenly I don’t feel
so good. Neither does Norm. We took motion sickness pills earlier, but
they aren’t working. We get to our
fishing spot, it’s 300-400 feet deep.
The captain gets the poles out and baited. I take a position near the cab of the boat,
lean over the railing and start vomiting.
This is what I did the rest of the trip.
Boy was I ever sick. At one point
the captain asked me if I wanted to reel in a fish that was on the line. After his encouragement I did so. It takes a long time to reel in 300-400 feet
of line. Captain held the pole while I
used both hands to reel. I think he felt
sorry for me, keep asking me stuff that was really pretty funny, like “want me
to get you some crackers”, I couldn’t speak or I would vomit so just shook my
head no. “Want me to help you”? Shook my head no. “Want me to turn your hat around”? He was funny now. No I blurted out and I closed my mouth real
tight to keep its contents in. It was all I could do to get that little
halibut reeled in then captain took over as I assumed by position back by the
railing to vomit some more. Luckily we caught our limit (2 each) pretty
quick and headed back in. I was sick as
a dog. Wes caught the biggest at about
35 pounds. We would have stayed out
longer to fish for something else or to see wildlife as we had book a full day,
but Norm & Wes took pity on me and decided to head back in. I feel like I spoiled the day. Sure wish we could have enjoyed the day more,
it was a beautiful day. By the way Norm
never got sick. He started feeling
better once we stopped to fish.
7/19/12 SEWARD, AK
Yesterday we drove out to Exit Glacier and went on a 2 mile hike to the edge of the glacier. Turned out to be another beautiful day. Later we walked around the old Seward downtown area and checked out the small boat harbor and shops.
Today was our 9 hour Fjords Wildlife and Glacier Cruise. Another sunny and warm day, I can’t believe the nice weather we’ve had since Wes arrived. I guess he brought it with him. We saw humpback whales, orca’s, sea lions, harbor seals and various birds including puffins. The captain got us close to Northwestern Glacier, shut off the engine and we got to sit there and watch for calving. And we did see the glacier drop chunks of ice. Nothing real big, no house size chunks, but we did see what was probably pretty good size pieces. We were very pleased with the cruise and glad we went. Afterward we dined at Ray’s seafood restaurant overlooking the harbor. King crab legs were delicious. A very nice end to Wes’s last day here. We booked him on a bus back to Anchorage tomorrow instead of driving him the 5 hour round trip. I can’t believe how fast the time went. Wish he could stay a bit longer.
Our catch!
Emerald Cove where we spread mom's ashes
Our fishing charter
Our campsite in Seward
Puffins
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