June 2nd

On the road again, oops, on the water again, just can't wait to get on the water again. No waiting, we're rocking and rolling on the deep blue sea. On our way north to Kake to pick up our next hunters. oops, sorry just had to run and grab some stuff, the melons went rolling across the floor, the diesel stove just "poofed" and the fire went out so all the windows are open. We are going through some very strange water whirlpools, you wouldn't think that they would affect a big ship like this but holy cow! I appreciate the fact that Brad knows what he's doing. It's almost like threading a needle and with my eyesight, we wouldn't make it through here. And I miss Luke already, he won't be with us on these next 2 hunts, we are getting a different assistant guide. Luke would have figured out what is banging around outside, I looked but can't figure it out. Driving me nuts. Oh well, nothing is going overboard so that's good. Weather is again bee-u-tee-full. Hard to believe this is Alaska, I could be trolling along a lake in eastern Oregon, except for all the very tall mountains and of course, the ocean water. That would be hard to come by in eastern Oregon. Cripes, just asked Brad if we made it through and he said and I quote, "didn't hit the rocks, so we should be okay". REALLY.....that's how you gauge success? He and I are gonna have to have a very serious talk sometime about his deadpan humor. But I will wait until my safety is no longer in his hands. And here comes some more fun water........! I think I need some chocolate. False alarm but I got the chocolate anyways. Well, after all that, it was NOT a false alarm. Holy crap. That was an evening to remember or forget depending on your perspective. We had 35 knot winds which made this boat rock front to back, (stem to stern?) whatever, it was stupid crazy. We had just eaten and we hit the waves. I took a Bonine quickly since it felt like maybe I would toss my stomach contents. Then I just sat and looked at the horizon and realized the galley was coming apart. So I made my way over there and taped the cabinets shut, moved the coffee pot onto the floor and prayed for calm. Seriously one of the roughest times while I've been here if not the worst. I ended up sitting out on the back deck so the cold air would keep me from throwing up plus I stared at the horizon. But I ended up getting so cold, I came inside, curled up in a ball and sat in the back of the dining room watching the horizon. Brad was driving the boat and I was the only one else on board. Talk about feeling helpless and lonely. Geez louise, if that would have been my first experience, pretty sure it would have been my last. We finally pulled off into a small bay to let the winds die down. I went to bed and tried to relax which wasn't easy. I heard Brad get up at 3 am to get started again but the winds never died down. We were still pitching and rolling. I just stayed in bed, saw no reason to get up and try to hang onto things when laying in bed was working just fine. I couldn't lay on my side because it felt like I was going to roll right out, so just looked at the bunk above me and hoped for the best. Here's the other thing, my bunkroom is in the bow of the boat, (front), so every wave we hit, I bounced. What an ride. So glad we are on the other side of that experience. Okay, I'm going to close this for now since it's actually Weds the 3rd, will start a new blog for today.....dj