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Danny Sills Journal - Trip to Seattle, WA. & Sitka Alaska
With Uncle Andy & Aunt Georgia
August 9th to 21st, 2007
Things we did:
August 9th, Thursday:
Weather, partly cloudy, 55 lo, 71 hi. 57% humidity, no bugs. Mountains
clouded in today.
- Danny arrived @ Sea-Tac Airport, 10:43AM, Alaska Airlines. Georgia found
Danny at Alaska Airlines baggage claim, Andy waited in traffic for them to
arrive. Driving G’s 2002 "fire engine red" Chevy Trailblazer LTZ.
- Toured the house, ate lunch & went down to the beach at the Cove
(Community Club) beach below the house.
- Drove thru the 3-Tree Point neighborhood looking at all the houses &
views. Saw Phil Salyer’s old house, it won the Seattle Times/American
Institute of Architects Award (as did Andy & Georgia’s house a couple years
later)
….Phil’s
house is huge! Phil now lives in La Conner, WA., where he keeps his 42’ boat.
Visited Pike Street Market, saw the Flying Fish Market (they toss salmon,
as seen on TV), the 1st Starbuck’s store, ate crumpets with ricotta cheese,
honey, & almonds. G bought lots of veggies, lots of great looking food at the
Market, tons of flowers & lots of crafts. Saw A&G’s "tile" at the market,
purchased as a restoration fund raiser. Lots of street musicians.
Walked thru the center of downtown Seattle, saw the store (Bon Marche, now
Macy’s) where Georgia worked & drove thru the rest of downtown & old town
(Pioneer Square) Seattle.
Drove along the Seattle Waterfront, saw the Coast Guard Ice Breakers,
Freighters, Ferries, Tug boats, Cruise Ships and docks where the old sailing
ships use to unload, now shops, hotels & the Seattle Aquarium.
Saw the house boats in Lake Union. Floating on logs, originally the house
boats were used by logging crews for housing at logging sites along Puget
Sound. Now permanent floating homes, still floating on logs & costing
millions. If you move something heavy (fridge, piano) into your home, you have
to call the "log guy" to re-balance/re-level your floating home. New versions
of these floating homes use concrete "basements" as their floats instead of
logs.
Toured the University of Washington (Huskies) campus.
Drove to West Seattle and had Fish & Chips at Spud Fish & Chips (a Seattle
institution since 1930’s) @ Alki Point & beach overlooking Puget Sound & the
Olympic Mountains.
Danny met Andy’s friend, Capt. Mark Taylor (a fishing guide) who’s staying
in A&G’s basement for a couple weeks. He lives 50-miles north & is guiding
clients out of a marina near A&G’s house for King salmon in Puget Sound.
Staying with A&G saves him a 100-mile round-trip each day. We may fish with
him on Sunday.
August 10th, Friday:
Weather, partly cloudy in the AM, sun-breaks in the afternoon, low 53, hi 69,
57% humidity. Mountains clouded in this morning.
- Capt. Mark is up and out at 5AM to fish with clients.
- Andy’s up & Georgia is out at 6:30AM headed to Curves, back at 7AM.
- Dan sleeps in until 8AM or so.
- Andy’s friend JR stops by at 9AM to pick up his fly fishing gear for the
Yellowstone Gang trip
….the
back of his Jeep is filled and the gear is headed to Spokane, where the trip
begins.
- Leave at 10AM for Safeco Field & a little league game at Mariners Field.
U.S.A Mariners vs. Chicago White Sox. Sox win 10-0. Leave the stadium at about
2PM.
- Stopped by "Outdoor Emporium" to get a Washington fishing license for
Danny as we may go salmon fishing with Capt. Mark on Sunday. At 14
…at
least for a couple more weeks, Danny’s license was free. Uncle Andy bought
flies. Then we went next door to "Filson", a famous Seattle outdoor outfitting
company, established in 1876, they outfitted the gold rush miners headed for
Alaska. Now they handle really high end (read: fancy & costly) outdoor
clothing.
Head out for Fisherman’s Terminal in the Ship Canal (between Lake
Washington (fresh-water) & Puget Sound (salt-water) to look for Sig’s
"Northwestern" crab boat (of "Deadliest Catch" program). We didn’t find Sig’s
boat, but saw several others that are on the program. Fisherman’s Terminal is
were the Alaskan commercial fisherman keep their boats in the off season…many
also live in the area. We also visited the memorial for fisherman lost at sea.
Danny went down to the docks and got an "up close" look at the crab boats….there
HUGE!
Then down to the Ballard "Hiram Chittenden" locks where we saw King &
Sockeye Salmon (lots of them) going thru the fish ladder. Also saw a lot of
big ships/boats pass thru the locks.
Then to the Ballard Market where we bought fixings for dinner. And had a
bowl of New England Clam Chowder for a snack. Danny loved the clam chowder!
Got home and "the Mountain was out!!" Mount Rainier came out of the clouds
for a clear view this evening!
Andy took Danny down in the basement to show him what he’d made for him.
Opening the fridge there was 30 lbs. of smoked salmon! Danny had just seen
smoked salmon at the market….$20/lb.
…. Andy
said, all that’s for you! Dan did a little quick math saying…."that’s
$600 worth!!" and smiled.
How long will it last? It’s vacuum packed and will last for up to a year
in the fridge….DON’T
FREEZE IT….it
ruins the texture. Once the vacuum pack is opened, let the smoked fish warm a
bit to room temp…it’s
best then, but don’t put it in the oven or microwave. It’s good for 3-4 days
once the package is opened.
The salmon / halibut we get in Alaska will be vacuum packed & frozen. Keep
it frozen. It’s good for a year as long as the vacuum packs don’t loose the
seal. Check package seals, if one breaks, use it first.
Georgia makes desert while Danny & Andy go out in the yard and practice
using a salmon rod and Danny gets tips on how to hook & land the "big one"!
Andy & Danny pick a couple fly rods out of Andy’s rack and head down to
the lawn at the Cove to practice fly casting. There’s a wedding going on….we
get off to the side in the lawn and proceed with our fly casting. People at
the wedding come out to watch us fly cast. After a few minutes, Danny is
casting like a pro. We learned basic fly casting, hitting a target, side-arm
casting, a roll cast and a steeple cast. Then how to land a fish with a fly
rod. Two hours later Danny’s ready to go fishing. Uncle Andy recommended a
Scientific Anglers fly rod outfit (rod, reel, line) (9’- 6wt.) from Wal-Mart
(~$30) as a good starting fly rod for beginners.
Appetizers: Pickled Herring in sour cream sauce, oriental seasoned Octopus
slices & Uncle Andy’s smoked salmon. Entrée:
Dungeness Crab Cakes, coleslaw, corn on the cob & rhubarb crisp. Yum!!! Danny
wanted to try different kinds of seafood….we’re
doing that.
After dinner Danny brought out a bunch of presents for Andy, Georgia & AJ
the Cat. Wow!! A great necklace for Georgia, neat toys for AJ and a really
cool Wheatly fly box for Andy!!! And, something we both love….the
"Planet" video…we
loved that program & will be watching it over & over now. Too cool! Thanks a
bunch!! Andy put the new flies he bought today in the fly box.
August 11th, Saturday:
Weather: Woke up at 6:15 this AM, Danny up at 7:15. Sky is clear and
beautiful & the mountain is out. Good thing, we’re going to Mt. Rainier today &
it’s the first clear day since Danny’s been here. Temps: 54 low, 76 high.
- Left the house at 8AM & drove to Mt. Rainier Park. About a 2 hour drive.
- Stopped to see all the sights in the Park, drove up to Paradise @ 5400’,
then hiked up the trail toward the mountains. The mountain was clear &
beautiful, snow capped glaciers & wild flowers everywhere.
- Drove up to Nickel Creek, Georgia’s favorite place, parked and hiked up
the creek. Huge boulders, clear, ice-cold water. Climbed up on a big rock and
had lunch.
- We were thinking about driving around the mountain to "Sunrise" or the
town of Yakima in eastern Wa., but the damage to the roads from last years
huge storm still hasn’t been repaired
….$26M
to fix all the road damage from flooding rivers. We turned around and drove
back to Seattle. Stopped at the "bread" store, Danny & Andy bought a bunch of
donuts & cookies. Then stopped by the Des Moines Marina to see Capt. Mark’s
boat. Home at 6PM.
Mountain is now completely clouded in…what
luck that we had a clear day to visit the mountain!
Friend Bob Yanak (father of Mike Yanak, skipper we’re fishing with in
Sitka) stops by to drop off 1000 fishing leaders that he’d tied for us to haul
to Alaska for his son. Bob had tied 1600 leaders last winter, a years supply
for his son’s guide business, but they burned up in the fire at Mike’s lodge.
Andy’s special Spaghetti for dinner.
August 12th, Sunday:
Weather: Slept in today, Andy up at 8AM, Georgia @ 9AM, Danny 10:30AM.
Overcast this AM, Temps: Lo 54, Hi 70.
- Capt. Mark called last night at 10:30PM, he has a client this morning,
then is planning to get some sleep, so it doesn’t look like we’ll be fishing
with him today.
- Capt. Mark called, fishing was terrible
…lots
of fish showing on the fish-finder, no bites.
Uncle Andy showed Danny a bunch of his Apollo 11 moon landing / Cape
Canaveral memorabilia, World & State Record fishing certificates and all his
fishing rods (over 60) hung from the ceiling of the garage, then took a tour
of his aluminum boat in the lower garage.
Drove past several of the Boeing Plants that Uncle Andy worked at, the
Kent Space Center (space craft, lunar rover, etc), the Developmental Center
(Boeing Supersonic Transport, Military jets), Military Flight Test Center
(Military planes of all types), Propulsion Center (were they assemble jet
engines), Plant 2 (WW2 bombers built here).
Then to the Boeing Museum of Flight. By-plane rides today, several
by-planes there, $275 for 15-minutes, $650 for a
½ hour w/
aerobatics. Saw the "Gossamer Condor" plane of first man powered flight, SR-17
Blackhawk, fastest plane in the world, several thousands of miles per hour,
exact speed classified, flies military spy missions at a 92,000’ ceiling. The
"Red Barn", Boeing’s first building where they build wooden & cloth float
planes. A couple of pictures taken here w/ Andy’s camera.
Off to REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.), major outfitter for the worlds
mountain climbers, huge, neat store full of outdoor recreation goodies. Bikes,
kayaks, climbing, & hiking gear. Bike paths to try out mountain bikes, hiking
trails to try out shoes, and a huge rock wall to try out climbing gear in the
store. Danny bought new sun glasses….lens
fell out of old glasses. Uncle Andy super-glued the lens back in the old
glasses along with gluing the screws in that kept falling out…..all
better now.
Then to Uwajimaya (Wa-ja-mi-ah) in China Town, Seattle’s largest Japanese
/ Chinese Grocery Store. Looked at all the live / frozen fish. Danny has
picture taken with a Gooey Duck, a huge clam native to Puget Sound in Seattle,
yummy! We had a Japanese dinner at Uwajimaya.
Drove down to the Cove and walked all around the property to look at all
the stream restoration projects Uncle Andy works on with the residents & Eagle
Scouts. Uncle Andy has helped 7 scouts make the rank of Eagle. Last year they
awarded him the "Eagle Mentor" rank with a badge. We tossed bugs in the stream
and watched little salmon fry jump out of the water and eat them. Cool!
Home 9PM to finish packing for Alaska.
August 13th, Monday:
Georgia takes Danny & Andy to the airport for a ll:47AM flight. Meet the
guys at the Alaska Airlines booth. Fishing Team: Danny, Andy, Al Barrie (trip
organizer)(retired Boeing Planner, 37-years), Phil Salyer (retired
Lieutenant-Colonel Air Force, MIT graduate in Aeronautics & Space, retired
Boeing, now consultant), Phil Warner (Quality Inspector, Boeing 35-years) &
Rich (Borden Company, retired 37-years). Arrive Sitka, picked up by Eric from
the lodge, stop for licenses ($85.00), Danny gets off easy, no licenses
required until you’re 16! Free fishing in Alaska!! What a deal! Stop buy the
lodge to pickup boots & raingear, then off to our apartment that overlooks
Sitka Sound & a partially snow capped volcano on an island 4-miles away. Bald
Eagles everywhere, they roost in a tree off our deck.
Sitka is on one of three islands off the coast of mainland Alaska right on
the Pacific Ocean. It’s the largest town in the U.S. as the city limits
include all three islands, thousands of square miles. There are only 17-miles
of roads in Sitka, all the rest is rugged snowcapped mountains, glaciers and
extreme wilderness. Breathtaking area!
We get our own van to drive during the trip. We head off to the Sitka
Raptor Center. They take in injured eagles, owls & other birds to mend and
release. We get there just at closing time….normally
a $12 entry fee…the
girl says, "come on in for free, we’re about to close." Danny gets to see Bald
Eagles up close, Owls, Golden Eagles, & Raven’s (huge crow-like birds). The
trail into the woods has a sign: "Use trails at your own risk….lots
of Grizzly Bears in the woods". Sitka has the largest population of Grizzly
(Brown) bears in the world….estimated
at one per square-mile! Danny leans on the fence with his nose on the cage of
a huge eagle (30#), the eagle immediately flies at Danny’s face….never
seen him move so fast!
The gang heads for Storrigavin Creek where Andy & Danny fish for Humpy
(Pink) Salmon. Andy told Danny he’d show him a river with more fish than
water. Danny was astonished. Thousands of fish! Not biting too well,
accidently snagged a dozen while trying to get one to bite.
Off to town, dinner at a nice restaurant overlooking the cruise ships &
the bay. Tour around town to see the shops the old Russian Church in the
middle of town. The Russians came to Sitka to trap sea otters.
Sitka is were Seward signed the deal when the U.S. bought Alaska from
Russia. Known as "Seward’s Folly" during the day. Yea right.
Back to the apartment to organize the next days fishing gear & some
shuteye.
August 14th, Tuesday:
Up at 4AM, coffee and breakfast cereal/toast. Down to the docks at 5:15AM.
Weather: Clear, no rain, 60-degrees, warmed to near 70-degrees, then
sunny, ocean flat. Unbelievable weather for Sitka.
Meet our skipper Paul. Danny, Andy, & the two Phil’s fish Paul’s boat. Al
& Rich fish in another boat. 30’ Koffler welded aluminum boats (designed for
Alaska fishing) powered by 250HP Yamaha outboard, 30 MPH.
40 mile run out thru Sitka Sound and into the Pacific Ocean today.
Coffee, breakfast rolls, pop, water, sandwiches, chips, & cookies consumed
in great quantities on the boat.
Danny catches the biggest King Salmon today (30#) and the most Coho Salmon
today (8). Also Halibut & Lingcod.
Back at the docks at 4PM. Back to the apartment to clean up and have a
snack before dinner.
Little Tokyo for dinner, Danny has a "bento box", a sampler of all things
Japanese, also tries Uncle Andy’s Octopus & BBQ Eel Sushi. He liked the eel.
Bed at 8:30PM.
August 15th, Wednesday:
Pretty much a repeat of the day before…..Danny
out fishes everyone…..again!
Spot the "Northwestern" (Sig’s boat) from "Deadliest Catch" show, anchored
in Sitka Harbor tonite. He’s packing fish (hauling fish from fishers in the
ocean back to town). Uncle Andy threatens to stop in to see Sig to get Danny a
job on the crab boat. Sig an a lot of the crab fishers live in Seattle,
keeping their boats there during the off season and doing maintenance on the
boats at Fisherman’s Terminal (freshwater) in the town of Ballard, north of
Seattle.
August 16th, Thursday:
Danny catches more big kings & the biggest halibut of the trip….~50#.
Danny hooks a 5# rockfish, on the way up from 350’ down, a huge Lingcod
eats the rockfish….Danny
fights the monster to the surface. It has huge teeth like a Pike on steroids.
We have to let it go after pictures because it’s too big to legally keep. The
big Lings are females and must be released.
Back to the docks, we all stop at Murray Pacific (commercial fishing
store) to look & shop.
Phil S. has Paul filet one of our Coho and cooks tonite for all. White
wine, Salt & Pepper, Lemon juice, Butter & Tarragon, broiled for 10-minutes
until med-rare. All think it’s great….especially
Danny.
August 17th, Friday:
More fish catching…lots
of new species of fish for Danny today. Black Sea Bass (10#), Quillback
Rockfish (6#, huge poisonous spines, but good to eat), Kelp Greenling (3#,
golden color), China Rockfish (3#), Yelloweye Rockfish (15#, red color, yellow
eye, best eating of all), Canary Rockfish (10#, red w/ yellow stripes),
Dogfish Shark (3’ long), Dusky Rockfish (2#), Silver-Gray Rockfish (5#) &
several Rat fish (4#) (related to sharks, bright green eyes, teeth like a
beaver, weird). One of the guys in the other boat caught an 8’ long Wolf Eel &
a 100# Skate! Last year we saw Blue Sharks (8’ long) around the boat, hooked
them several times but they bit off the line; and caught a Salmon Shark that
weighted 375 lbs (12’ long), it ate a 15# salmon we had on the line, this year
we didn’t see any.
We take a 100-mile run around the island today, fishing all along the way.
Scenery is awesome!
See many Humpback Whales right next to our boat…20’
away!...awesome! They’re HUGE…..some
up to 60’ long weighing tons. Pictures of them diving with tail flukes up out
of the water.
See a Sea Lion rookery on a huge rock cliff with a huge 2000#
"beach-master" Bull and 30 Cows in his harem.
Sea Otters all over in a kelp bed….20’
from the boat…white
faces, black bodies, 60#, lying on their backs eating clams…..they
dive before we can get pictures.
100 Harbor Seals sunning themselves on a rock, they see us and dive into
the kelp bed, then swim over with their heads poking out of the water to see
what we are……big
brown eyes.
Lots of huge, 24" diameter, jelly fish today, Danny gets tentacles on his
fishing line, Paul shows him how to get it off without getting stung.
Danny wants to see a Grizzly (Brown) Bear so Capt. Paul runs 20-miles back
into a fiord with huge mountains on either side plunging down into the sea…..it’s
400’ deep 30’ from shore, we’re scanning the shorelines for a bear….no
bears out today….too
bad.
Tufted Puffins all around the boat….really
beautiful…had
to get a picture, they dive quickly.
We anchor in 450’ of water to halibut fish using 600’ of anchor line.
Swiftwaters (birds) all around the boat looking for a handout. We put down 5
fishing lines with 16 oz. lead weights and 2 lbs. of fish heads & guts to try
to catch a big halibut. Caught some HUGE lingcod, Danny catches the biggest
(~60#), but they were too big to be legal to keep. Tossed them back. No big
halibut today. Paul used a big orange buoy with a ring around the anchor line,
then used the boat & buoy to pull the anchor. Sometimes Skipper Paul pulls the
anchor by hand….hand
over hand without a break. 50# anchor, 40’ of log chain and a few hundred feet
of 1" anchor line….pretty
awesome….Paul’s
6’-4", 250# and as strong as an ox.
Paul (a commercial black cod fisherman when not guiding) brings smoked
Black Cod for lunch. Danny tries it and says it’s great eating several large
pieces. It’s very oily….&
expensive to buy. Most of the catch goes to Japan.
The huge (2000#) Stellar Sea Lions are at the fish cleaning dock every day
eating fish carcasses. They come to the surface right next to our boat (10’)
shaking carcasses to tear them apart. They’re impressive…..and
HUGE!
Back to the docks at 4PM, drop the raingear & boots back at the lodge.
Danny elects to eat with Phil S. whose cooking steaks tonite. Phil W. was
a McDonalds’ burger & the rest go back to Little Tokyo for more sushi.
Danny says it’s the BEST meal he’s ever eaten and wants to hire Phil as a
permanent cook.
Danny & Andy drive all the roads in Sitka (17-miles + a couple logging
roads) looking for Grizzly Bears. None seen, maybe one heard chasing salmon in
the creek. Darker than hell. Scary!! Better than an E-ticket at Disneyland.
Home at 11PM.
August 18th, Saturday:
Flight out is afternoon back to Seattle.
We arrive at the airport & Eric brings our fish boxes. Three boxes per
fisher, 2@50#, 1@70#. 170 pounds of cleaned filets per angler; 1020# for the
group, that’s a half-ton of cleaned fish! At ~$15/lb. (salmon $20/lb., halibut
@ $12/lb.) that’s ~$15,000.00 worth of fish filets. Smoked salmon is selling
for $30/lb!
Fishing in Sitka was about as tough as I’ve seen it in 8 years….but
we did ok!
Back to Seattle at ~4PM. Georgia picks us up & we load fish boxes.
One guy didn’t get to go with us, canceled in the last week when his Dad
died & he found out that he had prostate cancer. Danny agreed to let Phil W.
pay him $160 for a box of his fish for the guy that didn’t get to go….both
were happy with the deal. Andy gave one of his boxes to Phil S., cause his
freezer wouldn’t hold that much fish.
All the guys think Danny’s a great kid, mature for his age, fun to be
around and a great fisher!
August 19th, Sunday:
Up late today…resting
up from AK trip. Weather: Raining this AM, very cloudy, Lo 50, Hi 67. Rain
stopped at 11AM.
After breakfast, headed to Costco to have film developed.
Then to Lake Washington boat ramp in Renton, WA. Bass tournament going on.
Saw friend Mark Markantinio who was in the tournament, scored 2nd place with
12 lbs. + of smallmouth bass, 5 fish.
Then to the Cedar River to see if the Sockeye salmon were spawning in the
river yet. They weren’t.
Off to the town of Issaquah, near the foothills of the Cascade Mountains
to see if there were Kings & Sockeye coming back to the hatchery, not yet, in
Sept. Saw one big King in the creek and a bunch of Rainbow trout in a rearing
pond.
Back to Costco across Mercer Island (read: EXPENSIVE homes on an island in
the middle of Lake Washington, then across the floating bridge. The lake is
over 200’ deep, that’s why a floating bridge. Lake is also 22-miles long and 3
to 5 miles wide. Bill Gates home is on Lake Washington.
Danny had smoked salmon appetizers, Andy had the rest of the octopus &
pickled herring. Potato chip Halibut for dinner tonite….Danny
& Andy are cooking….Danny
does most of the work…meal
turns out great. Danny’s now a chef, says it’s one of the first meals he’s
ever prepared. He did a great job!
Andy tells Danny lots of stories about fishing, motorcycles and his
younger days, including the story about Wayne opening the deck door and
falling thru the joists on the uncompleted deck….Danny
thinks it’s hilarious!
We look at lots of old picture albums…Wayne
& Mary’s trip to Seattle, Yellowstone Gang fishing photos & lots of family
pictures…..Danny
finds a picture of Wayne holding Doug & Danny as babies….says
he has to have this picture to show his Mom.
August 20th, Monday:
G & A up at 7AM. Georgia has to take a friend to a doctor’s appointment in
downtown Seattle. Weather: Raining hard, (what’s with this weather, we never
get rain in August). Temps: Lo 50, Hi 64. Packing up and filling fish boxes
this AM, along with putting pictures in Danny’s album.
A&G’s friend Steve Nord from San Diego stops in for dinner. Steve has
collector cars including a pristine ’56 T-Bird. Steve’s a retired University
professor who, with his wife Bev, just moved from Seattle to San Diego.
Danny & Andy cook Uncle Andy’s BBQ salmon recipe on the grill. Basted with
a melted mixture of butter, honey, brown sugar, garlic powder, pepper & salt,
then grilled skin side down on the Barbie for 20-minutes.
August 21st, Tuesday:
Up at 3AM, airport at 4AM, Danny leaves Seattle for Chicago, 6AM. Andy
packs for the Yellowstone Gang trip (12-days of fly fishing) leaving tomorrow
at 4AM. He’ll be some 600-miles away by nightfall in the mountains of British
Columbia.
We had a GREAT time with Danny…..he’s
a good kid and fun to be around……and
share neat experiences!!!
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