# A few nice photos! And some stories



## Alasgun (Feb 20, 2021)

These are entered here as they have nothing to do with the farm and shouldn’t be considered picture of the week submissions. They are simply some nice ones, of which i have over 100 from 15 years of boating in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.
hope someone enjoys them. Each has a special story.

Attachments​



6FF758FE-2939-45D1-8FCD-1B16C73DCD89.jpeg
68 KB · Views: 0



AD08D685-6A30-45EE-8B06-8C8473D0F102.jpeg
172.6 KB · Views: 0



D22572DA-D4F7-4321-A8E7-6C65CA45EC88.jpeg
112 KB · Views: 0


----------



## thistlebloom (Feb 20, 2021)

Beautiful!


----------



## Alasgun (Feb 21, 2021)

Here’s a few more.


----------



## Alasgun (Feb 22, 2021)

And for today,


----------



## B&B Happy goats (Feb 22, 2021)

Very nice pictures, thank you for sharing  them


----------



## Alasgun (Feb 23, 2021)

Still zero here, so let’s look at some more ice, then get it out of our systems!


----------



## thistlebloom (Feb 23, 2021)

That hunk of ice on the upper left looks like a boat with a horse head carved on the bow.


----------



## Alasgun (Feb 24, 2021)

Hope im not boring too many of you?

“This is what they look like pre grocery store, ling cod, silver salmon & halibut”


----------



## thistlebloom (Feb 24, 2021)

Not boring me!
We had some Alaskan halibut a few weeks ago at our Alaskan friends house. So tasty!
They are from Homer, where G works as a welder on the fishing boats.
 They bought a house down here a few years ago because his wife, S, was starting to have problems with the long darkness. So they are apart a good part of the year, but making the best of it.


----------



## Alasgun (Feb 24, 2021)

Quite a few Alaskans work remotely. The biggy of course are the oil business’s on the north slope with various schedules, 2x2 3x3 etc, another group travel for mining and timber related jobs and during the season commercial fishing too. This allows for a diverse work force. During my time at Kuparuk i worked with folks from Indonesia, Puerto Rico, Maine, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Colorado, Washington, Idaho, N.Dakota etc. etc.
in later years we saw where some employers down in America had gotten on board and now Alaskans were traveling to some of these locations. Yes, you were away more BUT you now had a job with 2 weeks vacation every month! Many of us made good money working remotely and a lot of us had other “fill in jobs”. Some built houses, Commercial fished etc. During that time i ran a machine shop here at home, working for my employer from before going to the slope.
These days im happy to just be retired, still a lot of work but no travel required.


----------



## Alasgun (Feb 25, 2021)

Good morning America! Here’s you dose of Alaskana for the day.

A puffin who would dive for your bait when mooching salmon. Had to be quick cause they easily dive 100ft, fast.

A commercial fisherman who had peddled over to visit a friend across the bay. I slowly went by this guy and noticed he was doing 5 knots on that thing!

And a really cool yellow double two and a half domaflotcher flower? Actually i don’t know anything about it other than the cool part😳


----------



## Alasgun (Feb 26, 2021)

For today, im looking at some of the places we Anchor up for the evenings.
Bettles bay is a very secure Anchorage but some years very buggy later in the year. Anymore i only stay here if im in that area shrimping, long before the bugs come out.
The boat on Anchor at Mink Island. Focal adjustment wasn’t perfect on this shot but the goal was still accomplished. To show the “100 different hues of green”.
Mink island from on the boat. This is another very secure anchorage.


----------



## B&B Happy goats (Feb 26, 2021)

Absolutely  stunning photos  @Alasgun  ...keep them coming, I feel like I am on a peaceful vacation when I see them , THANK YOU


----------



## Alasgun (Feb 27, 2021)

Good morning, today were looking at a small hook out of Seward where i like to stop and clean fish on my way back in. It’s not unlike a thousand other suitable places except that it’s right on the path taken by all the tour boats as they move about the bay showing tourist the popular sights. This one is right next to the seal rocks so the tourist still have they're cameras out when they come around the corner. I always position the boat with her best side seward and as they pass i’ll hold up a nice one or let a grandkid “beep the boat” (blow the horn) and this always draws hooting and high fives from those less fortunate souls listening to the captain droll on and on about everything under the sun.
i‘m pretty sure im in more Japanese home movies than our Governor!

Deep water bay, is just a pretty place to eat lunch, too open to anchor and little wind protection if one comes up. Out around that left face the cliff continues for some distance and we’ve caught yellow-eye fishing along the steep drop to roughly 200 ft.

And lastly, a nice jelly. In Quillian bay, off Ester Island they must breed / raise young as i’ve never found another place where they are as prolific. In the spring there will be 1,000,000’s of them from this size (12 in) down to dime size everywhere you look. They are so beautiful and nothing exude’s tranquility to me more than one of these Gals sauntering along doing what ever jelly do when no one is looking!

Attachments​



80EB0DB6-D6AF-4BC2-9E91-55C491E7FFC2.jpeg
125.4 KB · Views: 0



F868879E-E33B-410D-AAB7-718C2D6A5DD4.jpeg
133.2 KB · Views: 0



6D62EF38-35CD-441A-B06F-4BF480E8719E.jpeg
57 KB · Views: 0


----------



## thistlebloom (Feb 28, 2021)

So beautiful! 
I had to smile at your fame... "Who_ is_ that guy?" lol.


----------



## Alasgun (Feb 28, 2021)

Thanks @thistlebloom, glad you enjoy these!

This morning we are waking up in the most secure anchorage in all of Prince William sound. No matter what the wind direction is, it’s always calm inside this little bay. The narrow entrance and high sides contribute to the safety And the blue mud bottom give you peace of mind that your anchor will stay put.
we’re on shore looking back at the boat and when we turn around 180deg, we walk thru this open wooded area with it’s nice little stream up to the lake 1/4 mile further on. 3 of the 5 salmon specie’s use this lake / stream as a spawning area.

And since everyone is familiar with Alaskan Salmon im tossing this one out for you to see how it works at “the ground level”.
I had entered this bay, heading to the end where i anchor sometimes when the float plane flew right over our head, slowly turned about and landed; then taxied up to the seiner. I didn‘t know these folks but can read between the lines. The seiner is in there waiting for a commercial opener the next morning and the plane is a spotter. His job is to scout the area and radio back the location of “any clouds he see’s below”, clouds as in; schools of salmon grouped up together. At that point the seiner moves in, deploy’s his tender and drags the purse sein around the school. It’s very impressive to watch, especially when the bag is coming over the side and there’s so many fish the freeboard is under water!😳. The whole back of that boat is water tight so it’s not a big deal.

Thanks for sharing this moment with me!




15963074-28E0-4694-82BA-91BDF49C06FA.jpeg
140 KB · Views: 0



8A6398C2-82EC-44E2-8498-CC8AE22862D7.jpeg
220.6 KB · Views: 0



5BBFF9D5-9BB2-4BA8-940F-D804B3BD011A.jpeg
150.1 KB · Views: 0


----------



## animalmom (Feb 28, 2021)

Beautiful pictures!  Thank you for sharing.


----------



## Beekissed (Feb 28, 2021)

What a cool life!!!!  I LOVE all the pics and can't imagine living in the midst of all that beauty and still being able to keep my eyes on the road, the river or the path....I'd be gawking all the time.   Got any of the Orca?  I think I'd really love to see them and also the river otters the most, as well as all the bird life.


----------



## Alasgun (Mar 1, 2021)

Good morning folks, in an effort to accommodate a dear friend, we’ll change it up a bit. The thread title now reads “a few nice photos And some stories”.

When i compiled this collection i chose 106 of “the nice ones” from the many photos taken. Beyond what we have here there are several hundred others on c.d’s. A “best quality” Orca picture didn’t make the list sadly, and for the following simple reason. Most of my pictures are taken with the boat at rest, as in an Anchorage simply due to the fact the light is nearly always perfect in the morning and the evening. I have some mid day stuff but those came from days where good light remained into the day. Another contributing factor is that typically im the captain, the fish netter, the tour guide, the guy watching out for rocks, the guy, the guy, the guy😳 and having free hands to get a camera going is sometimes challenging. The collection of “ones that got away” fills my head and are generally reserved for quiet moment of conversation with folks over a boat supper or while leisurely moving from one spot to the next. they typically come to mind as you drive thru the location where “the event took place”.”

Sorry @Beekissed, no Orca pictures (unless i find time to log back thru the c.d’s) but i do have an Orca tale worth repeating.

”Fishing for Silvers out of Seward one July, we traveled a couple hours out to the Pony cove / Chevalle Narrows region. This is a popular spot and when the fish are in it’s common to have a hundred boats in the general area. Everyone either slowly trolls around the more open areas or they drift and mooch. This is simply, find a place to nose in amongst  the others, shut the boat off and lower bait over the side. During a good bite this is by far the most productive.
On this day roughly 40 of us were in the line slowly moving along with the tide and i could see a pod of 30 some false Orcas (the all black ones) headed our way. They were quite a sight with they’re large dorsals breaking the surface and as they passed under each boat folks just pick up the line and everything works pretty well. Except that on this day the social predator in me quietly whispered in my ear and i succumbed to the urge! Being in such close proximity to the boats on either side of you, you converse about any number of things as you move along and I’d already established the folks on my port side were tourist and they were excitedly snapping pictures as the pod moved thru.
At the moment they passed under us i just casually mentioned that they’re guide was giving them the short end of the stick and pointed out that it’s customary for the guide to break out the big tackle on a rare occasion such as this and let his clients fish for the big fish!
Being local i knew the bite would turn off when the orcas came thru, so we just fired up the boat and moved on but from the burning looks the captian gave me as we left, i have to assume they were chattering about not getting they’re moneys worth😘. It was a good day and we all had fish, including the tourist so my conscience was mostly clean?

However, i do have a decent porpoise picture. Which illustrates my earlier point about have too much to do while driving the boat. This is an exception to that because once you pick up a pod of these playful fellows,  they sometimes stay with you quite a ways. On this day that was the case and even moving along at 25 knot’s i had plenty of time to record this one. Look close and you see another under the surface to his left. There were 1/2 dozen of them that day. I have some better pictures of another group who cam by once while we were cleaning fish and i was able to capture them swimming around with they’re heads out of the water, curiously checking us out.

Nen there’s the sea lion rocks. Go there anytime and they’re either lying about like this or coming and going as they feed in the deep water below these rocks. When the Grandkids were little they liked getting close like this and “beeping the boat”. We got a loud horn and one good blast would get the few Bulls in the group to barking and before long it would get quite loud.

And after a long day of story telling we like to cap off the day with a nice dinner at which point the Barby comes out and we have to make that always hard decision, Beef or Seafood?


----------



## Alasgun (Mar 2, 2021)

Eagles are just like the rest of us, somedays they’re soaring and somedays are ”bad hair days” for our majestic National Symbol!
Anywhere you stop for very long if you look around, an Eagle will be setting on a limb on shore; looking at you. Now, technically we’re not suppose to feed them however no one cleans fish and takes the leftovers with them. Typically they get tossed overboard and if anything floats, well; the Eagle may just swoop down and grab the easy meal. Such was the case with the first one.
The sad looking one in the next pic, had been standing in the rain for several hours up on that rock. I’m not sure why as there was cover close . Maybe the soft rain water made her plumage fluffy?
the last one is intently looking over a group of salmon headed up the little stream. My last picture is of those salmon, we took the dingy to shore and rowed right up into them. This picture was taken at arms length to the fish. After the Eagle was done dining on his!

Attachments​



BFED70CC-FC27-4586-88FD-E6568771C262.jpeg
63 KB · Views: 0



3BA73AE8-8A6B-44DE-9A61-289F7E79D46A.jpeg
126 KB · Views: 0



C543BA62-C873-42D3-8262-FB328960262B.jpeg
110.9 KB · Views: 0



B64D4E15-E202-41CF-B212-9FCADFAB4F2D.jpeg
156.9 KB · Views: 0


----------



## Alasgun (Mar 3, 2021)

At low tide, these first two are interesting places. The pop weed is full of little crabs and some snails, a few mussels etc. that are interesting to look at.

the next one is a narrow cut in the rocky shore that requires you to back in all the way and once inside you keep the boat pole handy!
At low tide the walls are COVERED with purple starfish up to a ft. In diameter. I bought a pool net and carried it and the grandkids out there once for some show and tell.

Next are a couple “reversing tidal waterfalls” which are simply a fresh water lake with no outlet stream. During low tide the water flows from the lake like any other (they’re all stream fed from above) and during high tide the ocean level is higher than the lake level so sea water flows into the lake during this period. Both of these are deep enough that during the high phase i could drive my boat up into these lakes!😳 which i’ve not tried yet.
tide swings vary, but around here a normal change would be in the 10 ft’ range, from low to high. Cook inlet on the other hand has some of the largest swings in the world at 20 ft.

Attachments​



12B68AB2-EB1D-4D71-A27D-8BF14251E736.jpeg
112.2 KB · Views: 1



D9B0A257-BFF7-4132-B6B3-9EA4C749207F.jpeg
88.1 KB · Views: 1



00388426-2652-40AA-8932-07DB2C27DB4D.jpeg
146.7 KB · Views: 1



2F7F0760-1735-41DA-A481-3A9DA9249059.jpeg
173.3 KB · Views: 1


----------



## Alasgun (Mar 5, 2021)

Trolling past the eye of the needle, out of Seward.

salmon jumping to loosen they’re eggs. They do this before coming into the spawning area. It was like this pretty much all that day and try as i might i could only get 4 in the air at once.

There are those who would say “you’ve softened in your old age, you had a clear shot and grabbed a camera?”. Mostly pesky but on occasion a gull will do something kinda cool.

Another out the back window trolling picture with the fireweed blooming on shore. I never tire of Alaskan beauty!

Attachments​



A62CB811-A649-4B60-9CF3-08BC5D41BA0E.jpeg
124.3 KB · Views: 0



F6289B61-356B-4220-B348-CF8BE0BDF4CD.jpeg
126.8 KB · Views: 0



D5EE3B91-BEA2-4938-B208-FEAC499BA029.jpeg
137.4 KB · Views: 0



D67A69AA-884E-48EA-803E-9A27A0CCC972.jpeg
211.1 KB · Views: 0


----------



## Alasgun (Mar 6, 2021)

Alaskan trees can be a mixed bag, we have some tall majestic varieties but we also have a Ton on ugly, spindly black spruce that hardly make it to tee-pe size poles during they’re lifetime. i’ve heard the statistic but dont recall the verbaige, but due to the cold, short season to say they are “disadvantaged” would be an understatement!

then there’s these guys, who for what ever reason have persevered and carried on. They’re everywhere along coastal areas and always draw my attention.
some have the bonsai look which i assume is from a steady diet of storm’s nattering them and some just decided they prefer “they’re own rock” Or have a “you just watch me, i can do this attitude”.

Diversity is what it’s all about and there’s no better place to witness it than in Creation!


----------



## thistlebloom (Mar 6, 2021)

I'm really enjoying the tour, thanks for being our guide. 
I never knew that about salmon jumping, it's nice to learn new things, and I agree with you, the Creators handiwork is never boring.


----------



## Alasgun (Mar 8, 2021)

Majestic covers a lot of ground. When the Mountain scenes are all around we tend to ignore them for the near in (easier) shots. These beach rocks with the pop weed are an example. Apparently tidal movement back and forth over time creates a “majestic”beach scape. Roughly 100 yards of it on this beach!

And when you’re on a 25ft. Cdory (Huda Thunkit) and an over 70 ft. ‘Pleasure craft’ like this pulls into the anchorage it’s kinda majestic.

And thats going to be it for a bit folks. Im moving back into my busy season. Let’s see what fall brings, maybe we can dig up something?
Thanks for following along!
​



B927BD9F-5107-4B4B-9BDF-92C3BB1B9635.jpeg
55.5 KB · Views: 0



E5018E47-B39C-4C3D-8D5E-0B950C5AE3EA.jpeg
211.1 KB · Views: 0



82D6AD0B-4270-4095-B218-C40B4EF83A7B.jpeg
94.7 KB · Views: 0


----------

