I was a fishing vessel captain...for a few minutes

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That is goofball Hermione trying out our survival suits, a requirement for anyone heading out to sea this far north. Without a survival suit, you are not supposed to be able to survive for more than 20 minutes tops in the cold Pacific. Most people start losing clarity of mind and feeling in their limbs at about 3 minutes.

I did learn how to drive his boat, the Keet. There were more computers and maps to keep track of than I expected, but I really enjoyed it. Keet is the Tlingit word for Orca.

John Erp, my teacher and friend.

I felt like a Teletubbie.


My teacher and owner of the Keet (our vessel) is John Erp. I met him on the Fairweather, a speedy ferry between Juneau and Sitka. He works the bridge watching for potential obstacles; an extra pair of eyes for the captains. (If only he had been working the Titanic...)

I called him up once I had gotten settled in Sitka and we made a plan to head out; I would drive while he focused on fishing. At the last minute, Hermione, a friend and hosteler from Sydney, Australia got roped into the adventure as well. We headed out to a nearby island, Biorka. The plan was to spend anywhere from 1-3 days at sea, depending on the fish. I brought my motion sickness meds, already had a patch behind my ear, and was super excited to learn to drive his boat, but within an hour I was feeling sick. By two hours, I was making friends with a big, blue bucket. I was totally out of commission.

While I threw up, John drove us across a few choppy channels with good water and settled down in a beautiful, protected cove along with several other boats to wait for the King Salmon fishery to open. As of 12:01am that night, folks would be legally allowed to go after their King limits; kings are a big money maker in these parts and the fishery rules and regulations are taken very seriously. In just this little cove, there were probably 15 boats hanging out at 6pm the night before just waiting to get a 3am start (when the sun begins to rise.)

Once anchored and amidst a gorgeous sunset, I climbed below and crashed out. While they ate salmon and photographed the pinks and yellows surrounding us, I slept hard. I woke up feeling pretty good at about 3:30am the next day. I ate a full breakfast and had high hopes for my second day out at sea.

John told me we would drive around the bend and see how I was feeling. If the nausea came back, we would return to Sitka. If I was good to go, we would head to Biorka and the fishing would commence. I would be in charge at the wheel and mainly, sit and watch the whales, eagles, and marine life all around me. That would have been a dream come true.

Unfortunately, we hit real waves and I immediately started to get sick...again. I climbed back into bed for our channel crossing and woke up at the dock in Sitka. It was a very sad day for me as I don't know how to follow my dream of marine mammal research if I can't handle being out on a small boat in relatively gentle water.