Pukeless in Seattle

SEATTLE -- We're back. Photographer Karen Ducey and I got home last Friday night at 2 a.m. The flight out of Dutch Harbor was delayed as the weather turned for the worse. While we waited on the tarmac, the ground crew doused the 737 in a de-icing solution. For another take on the flying experience in Dutch, which is the port for the town of Unalaska, check out this excerpt from a recent Alaska magazine piece by Nick Jans:

Everyone has tales of angst and woe -- the waiting for hours, days, even weeks as flight cancellations pile up hundreds of increasingly desperate travelers; the stranded fishermen buying multiple shots of tequila for anyone ahead of them on the waiting list, hoping to get the competition so drunk that they won't be allowed to board the plane. Unalaska is the only place I've ever heard the pilot announce, as he revved his engines for takeoff on a windy, rain-spattered October evening, "OK, hang on -- here we go." Once airborne, the 737 thumping upward through turbulence, the packed cabin broke into spontaneous applause.

Some people did clap when the airplane lifted off. But after we were airborne, the flight went pretty smoothly. Our connection in Anchorage also was late, so we got there right on time.

As I write this, the crew of the F/V Exito is coming back from a second trip to the Bering Sea to retrieve crab pots. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game allows boats to store pots -- unbaited and wired open -- at sea for up to 10 days after the season. When the crew gets back today, they'll unload the pots and try to fly home Friday. Weather permitting.

I'd like to add how much Karen and I appreciate the generosity of the Exito's crew -- some of whom confided at the end of the season that they initially weren't pleased to be ferrying journalists around. The whole trip, no matter how lousy the conditions or how sleep-deprived they were, co-captains Quinn Ferguson, Steve Toomey and the deckhands couldn't have been more helpful or professional. Simply, they made the stories work.

Back home, the reaction to the articles has been terrific, so thanks. It means a bunch to the both of us that so many people had crabbing experiences to share. One note, however, I do feel the need to respond to in this forum:

Cheryl, crab fishing is dangerous enough as it is so I won't be giving Lyndon a kiss for you.

Bracing for a harrowing flight home

DUTCH HARBOR -- The F/V Exito is moored at the Coast Guard dock waiting to unload its crab.

The crew's work isn't done yet. Today, they were in the storage yard re-rigging the crab pots for smaller snow crab. That season starts in January. After they offload the boat this Sunday morning, they will head back out to the Bering Sea to pick up empty pots left behind when the season ended.

So they've got about one more week up here. Like us, they are anxious to get home.

We're flying out of Dutch late today -- we think. The weather changes on a whim here and, as it is one of Alaska's most dangerous airports, flights often get delayed or canceled.

Alaska Airlines says it cancels one in five flights to Dutch. That's why, in part, it's giving up this route to a local carrier in January. So with some luck we'll make it out of here tonight and be in Seattle shortly after midnight.

The story in pictures

Check out Karen Ducey's photos of life aboard the F/V Exito during the Bristol Bay crab season -- five days of gale-force winds, rough seas and around-the-clock labor.

Heading back to Dutch Harbor

ABOARD THE F/V EXITO, BRISTOL BAY, BERING SEA -- The F/V Exito is nearing Dutch Harbor, and the crew is more relaxed and rested than at any time since leaving port seven days ago. With the crab still uncounted, the captains expect that the boat finished a little below average -- the first time in the Exito's 15-year history it didn't better the fleet average.

Co-captain and co-owner Quinn Ferguson blamed the media presence on the boat. He was kidding. I think.

It's possible that just a few boats hit it big this year and left the others fighting for the rest of the crab. According to the radio rumor mill, one or two boats pulled in a remarkable 200,000 pounds of crab. If true, this would make a single full deckhand share $60,000 for seven days' work, before expenses.

Owners deduct expenses, such as fuel and food, from the gross of every catch before figuring out crew shares. An experienced deckhand generally will get paid between 5 percent and 6 percent of the catch. Most boats have three full-share crew members and a couple of half- or quarter-share people. The Exito has four full-share crew and one half-share. Co-captain and co-owner Steve Toomey explained that the more experienced the crew, the better. In difficult conditions it makes the boat run more safely and smoothly.

Once we reach Dutch, we will unload the pots and get in line to unload the catch. Then, of course, it's time for a beer in the bar once called the world's second-most dangerous: The Elbow Room.

Deckhand dies

ABOARD THE F/V EXITO, BRISTOL BAY, BERING SEA -- The victim of the accident I reported about in today's earlier weblog entry was later identified as Vernon Rosendahl, 46, of Texas. He was pronounced dead at Cold Bay.