Just more people,slugs and whales. That's all...or not :)

Alrighty folks!!!  I am just going to just jump right on in!!!  It has been awhile since my last update and that is because it has been a mad house around here!!!

Last Monday Caitlin and I were asked to go and help the guys get some salmon.  Now this was not an ordinary fishing trip.  We were doing subsistence fishing.  Basically, we let out this really long net around a school of salmon and we drove the boat in a really big circle and it caused the salmon's gills to go in the net and they got caught.  So then we had to pull the net up and the guys pulled the salmon out of the net and threw them in buckets.  Caitlin and I were the ones to run the salmon back to the fish holds.  We had to either stab them or rip their gill first though so that they would bleed out (if they don't bleed out then that causes the fishy flavor...fun fact :) )  So we did that for the whole day basically.  We got 320 fish!!! (oh, that was our job too...counting the fish as they pulled them out).  We unloaded them all and then had to fillet them.  That took FOREVER!!!  I am getting better at filleting salmon now though!  We were at that for awhile but then had to go and help with dinner and mingle with the guests.  That was fun.  We got a family of 4 (mom, dad, two girls ages 16 and 13).  They were a really nice family.  Jordan and I were the only ones at dinner because Shannon was at the doctor in Kodiak and everyone else was helping with Salmon.  It was fun to entertain :)  After dinner we ran out and helped the others.  We ended up working until 12:30 a.m.  It was a long night but with us all working together it wasn't so bad :)

So that was the kick-start to our week!!  The rest of the week was relatively normal. We had more guests come in on Wednesday.  It was a group of 6 men.  They were all older guys: 4 from France, one from Switzerland, and one from Australia.  The 4 couldn't speak English so that was interesting...especially because Caitlin had to go and take them on a tour of their cabin and they couldn't understand her at all.  Haha!  It was really fun to watch :)  (now I kind of see what it is like to have a little sister!)

Having a full house of guests kept us very busy for the rest of the week!!!  Everyone was gone by Saturday morning so Saturday was a nice little breather.  We just organized things and such.  It was nice.  The guests were all really nice and it was great to have a diverse group of people.  The family was from Minnesota.  The girls were really sweet and it was fun to chat with them and have 'girl talk' a little.  The parents were very friendly as well.  The European group was a little more tough because we couldn't understand each other super well and our cultures are very different--but it was really cool to experience that.

On Sunday we had a crazy, crazy day.  We had two guests come in.  They are from South Africa.  They are some of the most genuine, respectful people that I have ever met.  I loved them instantly!!!  Peter and Lynda are their names.  Peter is retired and they just like to go on trips!  They take about a month out of every year to do one big trip.  They have been planning this one for over a year.  They absolutely love it here!  Lynda keeps saying that she doesn't want to go back.  They want to move here.  :)  They just GUSH about his place.  They are so cool :)  So they came in the morning.  After they got here and then got on the boat, Caitlin and I had to to help set everything up for the camera crew that was coming.  We were running around like crazy for most of the day setting things up.  By the evening we had most everyone here.

Now to explain about the camera crew:  I can't say too much due to 'confidentiality' and things like that.  What I can say is that there is a film crew here doing a reality TV show.  It will hopefully be airing this fall--so I'll keep you tuned in on that!!  It will be interesting to watch though.  Probably quite dramatic :)  But its been fun to be in on a lot of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.  We are basically just providing food and shelter for the crew.  They are filming everything (except for beginning interviews) off of our island.  Having everyone here though is hectic!! There are about 14 people here for the crew.  Everyone is really nice though and they have cool things to share with us.  Its been fun :)

Also on Sunday we made more slug trap things because slugs are taking over our garden.  Its awful!! I am so sick of those buggers!! Just a fun fact.

Yeah..I make a pretty good boat captain if I do say so myself :)

Because Sunday was so crazy, Luke said he would take us on the boat on Monday.  We went out with him and Peter and Lynda.  It was really nice to get away, but it was kind of a bummer because it rained all day.  It was really windy too so that made it hard.  We didn't get to see any bears or anything and we didn't do any fishing.  It was really rocky and we got a little sea sick.  Especially Caitlin.  It wiped her out for the rest of the day the poor thing!!  I did get to drive the boat for a bit which was way fun!!  We also saw a cute little fox that we took lots of pictures of on one of the beaches.  We also saw a bunch of Harbor Seals.  It was cool.  Despite the weather and sea sickness, we did have a good day. :)  We got lots of rain, that's for sure!!


Tuesday was average...so let's get to Yesterday!!!  Yesterday was awesome!!  It was just an ordinary day of making lunches, eating food, cleaning cabins, and cleaning our floor.  Then, Josh and Frank were like, we are going to go one up the film crews and get "good footage"--want to come be our cast?  We jumped on that one really quick!!!  We had a guy here with a drone that Josh decided to hire while he was here to get some airiel shots of the property and other areas of Afognak that are just gorgeous.  They wanted other people in the shots to show what it is like for guests.  So we grabbed two other girls who are here with the film crew who are more of the 'office workers' doing the paperwork and stuff. They were happy to get some sight seeing in :).

My little Salmon :) Poor guy didn't stand a chance with that hook!
His blood dripped down my arm...Nasty :)  I am fearless!! haha

We went off and found Luke and his guests where they were fishing.  We ended up fishing as well and I caught my first Halibut ever!! It was awesome!!!!  I am telling you what, those fisheys are HUGE!!  It took forever!! It also took forever because we were in 300 ft deep water and they are fighters! It was soooo much fun though!! I named him Dave after my father because we have a tradition of naming fish after each other :)  Right after that workout, I caught my second on!  It was a baby one though so we threw him back.  It was so fun!!!  After that we were in another spot and other people were catching halibut.  But then I got a fish and we thought it was a halibut but it felt different to me...when I got it up, it was a pink salmon!  They were all shocked to see that it was over there..I guess it was in an unusual spot!!  So that was fun!! It was very exciting.  I love fishing here :)

After the fishing, we were going to go and see some sea lions.  But on our way, we spotted a whale so we chased after that.  We ended up spending probably the next 2 hours or so watching the whales.  It was fabulous.  We chased them all over the place.  We saw pods of them.  At first it was just humpbacks for the first hour and a half or so.  It was incredible.  They got really close to the boat and were flipping their tales and it was just awesome!!  All around us you could see them blowing water and oh man, I can't even describe it!!  It was an amazing sight!!  Then, out of nowhere, in the middle of the humpbacks we saw Orca (Killer Whale) fins!!  They were in a pod--and there was even a little baby!!  We all got SOOO excited.  The guys said that it was really rare to see Orcas mixed right in the humpbacks.  It must have been good feeding :)  So we just followed the whales.  It was so amazing.  All we kept saying was "this is so cool."  "This is amazing!!" We were so close to them!!  Oh man, I could go on and on and on!!!!  Frank (the handyman who has lived in Alaska for a while now) said that it was more fun watching all of us than the whales because we were so excited and into what we were seeing.  It was so breathtaking though.  You couldn't help but smile.  I am so grateful for that amazing experience :)  I hope to have more like it!!

And think..I didn't even have to use zoom for this photo!!

Well, that was our day yesterday!! It was a great end to the day!! I am happy and doing well.  I miss everyone from back home, but I am grateful for this once in a lifetime experience! I hope you are all well!!!  Please keep me in your prayers--I can tell they make a difference!! I love you all and invite questions, comments, or whatever!!!  Keep it real!!!!!!!! :D

The two girls from the film crew, Caitlin and I and our fish :)  This photo was taken on our dock.