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.

Posted by Mike Lewis at October 28, 2003 03:23 PM