Cousin Floyd Peterson |
Barrie the Halibut Fisherman |
This morning we are headed to Hoonah where Cousin Floyd and his wife Marjorie are expecting us. Floyd is a Peterson is the same generation as my mother – so it is his great grandparent and my great-great grandparent that we have in common. Floyd grew up in Hoonah and is part Tlingit (but more Swedish) and his wife Marjorie is also a born and raised Alaskan although she has only been in Hoonah for 51 years!
We depart Glacier Bay after a leisurely breakfast in the
Lodge dining room and head across Icy Strait to Hoonah. The water today is completely calm – quite
different from the last time we crossed Icy Strait with waves breaking over the
bow. We arrive in Hoonah and dock at the
City Pier just before 2 pm. No sooner
have we finished tying-off the dock lines than my cell phone rings. Cousin Floyd has been watching our entrance
from his living room window.
Marj - Expert Fish Filleter |
After touring the Cannery and related grounds, we head back
to the Peterson’s house where we are treated to a dinner of local black-tail
deer steaks. It is a delightful evening
and at the end of dinner, Floyd offers to take us fishing for halibut in the
morning. Marj offers the use of her computer
to obtain Alaska fishing licenses. Since
I do not have my driver’s license with me, Barrie borrows a car and retrieves
it from the boat. With newly acquired
fishing licenses in hand, we head back to the boat for the night.
Wednesday morning, Floyd and Marj bring their boat Silver
Spoon to our dock just before 9 am. Once
aboard, we travel at speed for about 10 miles before arriving at the fishing
grounds that Floyd has selected for catching halibut. For many years, Floyd was a fishing guide and
his is renown for his abilities.
Locally, he is known as a high-liner which is the highest compliment a
fisherman can receive. Floyd quickly
baits two poles with herring and we begin fishing at 6 fathoms. In less than 10 minutes, Barrie’s pole bends
over and the line releases from the downrigger.
Floyd estimates a 20-pound halibut but says we won’t know until Barrie
brings it in. Barrie’s halibut weighs in
at 23 lbs. and is just the right size for the freezer on our boat. We continue fishing and I catch a Dolly
Varden trout before we pull in our lines and head back to the harbor at
Hoonah. On the way back, Floyd and I spy
a brown bear on the beach.
Barrie and I spend
the next couple of hours on the boat. We
have lunch (fresh trout) and complete a few chores before Floyd and Marj pick
us up on the dock. This evening, we are
treating them to dinner at Icy Strait Inn at the far edge of town. As the evening draws to a close, Floyd asks
if we like crab and says that we can go out in the morning and retrieve crab
from a friend’s pot and then take a drive on the Forest Service roads outside
of town. We will have a picnic on the
beach and hopefully will see some wildlife on the drive. Floyd brings his boat alongside our dock at 9
am and by 10 we are back with 5 large Dungeness crab. Back at the Peterson house, Floyd cooks the crab
while Barrie and I catch-up on email etc.
We head out of town and are soon on dirt roads that are
maintained either by the Native Corporation or the US Forest Service. The scenery is stunning. We enjoy looking at the muskeg flora and then
see a young (perhaps 3-yr old) brown bear cross the road and run into the
woods. We continue to the beach and breakout
the freshly caught and cooked crab.
Lunch is topped off with brownies that Marj made. Yummy!
On the drive back we first see a black-tail deer and then a mother brown
bear and her two cubs. They are perhaps
50 yards from the car and don’t seem to be the least bit interested in us. Soon we are back at the dock and saying our
goodbyes.
This is our second time visiting Floyd and Marj. We first met in 2015 on our first solo trip
to Alaska on Chug. They are the
consummate hosts, generous to a fault with their time and treasure. We will
remember our time here with fondness long after we have returned home. We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know
them and hope that they will visit us on Whidbey Island.
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