I know that date makes it look like it's November 4th, but that is really April 11th. On April 11th, we woke up to slush on the pens... and snow ALLLLL day.
Slush in the whole bay. And you can see how much fish food is stuck on top of that slush. It wasn't a very pleasant day. That was a Friday so Adam and I returned back to the hatchery that day. Luckily, at the end of the day, the snow turned to rain, which was a good thing. When you are driving fast in an open air boat in the middle of the ocean, you'd think being hit in the face with snow would be better than having rain hit you in the face. That is untrue! It sure makes for a wet ride, but rain is better. Unfortunately, as we came into Kaznyku Bay (the bay the hatchery is in) it turned to snow.
So let me set the scene... I am wearing this giant puffy survival suit with a hood, which makes me resemble an astronaut, but I don't care because it keeps me warm and dry. I have gloves on. It's cloudy and fairly dark for being 5pm, but I'm wearing sunglasses because it keeps the wind out of my eyes. I have a snow hat on and my hood pulled down so the only thing exposed is my nose and cheeks because my mouth is buried in my suit. It's raining and my suit is soaked and I have water dripping all down my face... and then it turns to snow. You would think it would be welcomed since I won't have water dripping down my face but the sensation has now turned to NEEDLES STABBING ME IN THE FACE. That's what snow coming at you at a fast speed feels like. It's great....
Well, we made it back... soaked, face frozen, but safe. The weekend was NASTY. Strong winds and rain. So I sat in and made some more bagels and cookies. The weather got better so we could head back Sunday night. Andy an Anna said they saw Killer Whales in the bay but they were too far away by the time we got out there. I saw their water spray though.
Our week at Takatz started off alright, I think. Monday we sampled the fish because the weather was decent enough and we weren't sure if the next day would be good enough. It was... Tuesday and Wednesday was sunny but Adam was dealing with a strong current on his side of the pens so he couldn't seem to keep the food IN the pens long enough for the fish to eat it. My side is on the inside so I was alright. Then, after two sunny days, we woke up Thursday to THIS...
NOT AGAIN! I thought we were done with this!? April 17th! The snow didn't last very long really... I can't exactly remember but it was probably gone by that night. Friday was yet another ACT in Mother Nature's LaughFest. Sunny and WIIIIINDY! Like 35 mph winds. That's when feeding salmon turns into The Art of Reading the Winds Mind so that more food goes into the mouths of the fish instead of YOUR MOUTH! We fought the wind all day... it was basically rediculous but it had to be done. Friday is our day to head back to the hatchery but we knew that wouldn't happen! We took a ride out to look at Chatham Strait anyhow and it was a sight! I've never seen the mouth of Takatz Bay so wavy before... there were waves on top of waves in our usually calm bay. Waves breaking all over the place. It was rediculous.
So our plan was to try again in the morning. We settled in for another night. Saturday, we did the first feeding, Survival Suited-Up, and tried to head back. No such chance. It was still fairly windy and the water was still very choppy... Plan C... we fed for the rest of the day and we'd leave at the end of the day. End of the day, Survival Suited-Up AGAIN, and drove about 1/3 of the way, but Adam decided Andy and Anna would have a tough time getting out of the bay so we turned around. Plan C FAILED... Plan D. So we settled in for the night again... the annoying part about that was I had to make the bed again! And did I mention I have a hard time getting out of that huge survival suit!
SOOO... Sunday morning was very nice so we headed back. WHEWWWW... The weather for the past two days has been great again. Yesterday, Adam and I took a little hike up to one of the lakes and walked around and it was so bright I could barely see! There was still quite a bit of snow up higher (hence the snow glare) and we saw a bunch of bear tracks walking all around. We wore rain pants so we did a bit of butt sledding, which was kinda fun too. Then, after we came back, I got ambitious again and decided to make a batch of pierogi! I made more than my first time but seemed to have a tougher time with that darn dough. I need to learn the trick..... They turned out alright though after some grunting and moaning and even a pierogi thrown out of frustration. I took some up to Deena and had some reserved for Adam and my dinner, but then we got invited up so I brought them along. Everyone said they were good despite my frustrations.
Well, that's about all I have for now. The weather for the next week is calling for Partly Cloudy and in the mid 50s! That sounds FABULOUS! The sun comes over the mountain and hits the pens around 11am so hopefully partly cloudy will mean "sunny?" That will make that 53 degrees feel about 75!
SHOUT OUT OF THE DAY - To Steven, Happy Birthday man!
RECOMMENDATION OF THE WEEK - We discovered yesterday that 30 Rock is a pretty funny show on NBC! Catch that! Also... Dried Mangoes are delicious! :-)
1 comment:
Just think... at least you aren't shoveling snow like last year!
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