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Homer Alaska

August 20, 2010 airstream2305 Leave a comment

Sue’s lunch at Halibut Cove

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Coming into Homer in the rain…

On the 16th the gypsy caravan headed for Homer, Alaska. There was intermittent rain all the way, also no flats and a good breakfast stop at Gwins Roadhouse. As we  approached Homer the rain cleared, somewhat, and we got a glimpse of Homer, the mountains, snow and the Spit. Geography…. spits are long narrow pieces of land that extend into bays. Homer Spit extends about 4 or 5 miles into Kachemak Bay. Homer is small about 5000 people in winter, but the surroundings are impressive. Massive mountains, glaciers, ice fields, the bay and just 40 miles up the road (across Cook Inlet) smoking volcanoes. Tuesday, 16 of the caravan guys and 3 ladies chartered a boat to go halibut fishing. We met the captain at 6:15, boarded the boat for an hour’s ride to a fishing spot. The ride out was rough, about 4 foot seas, but once we arrived and anchored it wasn’t so bad. Not more than two minutes after the first hook went down, 200 feet of water (line) Sandy had the first catch. After about 90 minutes everyone on the boat had their limit. Halibut can reach a weight of 400 pounds most of ours were between 12 and 20. These small ones are called “chicken halibut” and are supposed to be better eating. Sue: While the men were out fishing in the big boat the women had a “Girls Day Out”,  We were expecting the same size boat but found the Danny J to be a small fishing boat that had no covering and we sat on benches with yellow ponchos to keep us somewhat dry.  The day was rainy and the wind was blowing and the waves were fighting the boat most of the way.  This sounds awful and it was but we all kept saying it was an adventure to remember.  There were 19 brave souls aboard and none of us got seasick just a little damp.  We arrived at Halibut Cove where there are no roads and the few dozen residents are fishermen and artists.  They get around on 12 blocks of boardwalk which are reached by long  gangplanks from the ship,  difficult because of the wetness.  We ate lunch at the only restaurant called The Saltry which was very cozy and the food was excellent and beautifully displayed.  I had a half of a delicious salmon salad sandwich, a bowl of seafood chowder and a small salad with nasturtiums, which we all ate.  Afterwards we walked along the boardwalk to another dock as they had ordered a bigger boat to take us back.  The ride back was again on the outside with no cover.  It moved over the waves and went down into troughs and then back up! Someone estimated that the waves were about 7 feet. Some women got a shower but again no one was seasick.  It was truly an adventure and I will remember it with fond memories.