http://gallery.me.com/sundogjoe#100734
For some reason I have always dreamed of coming to Meyers Chuck, it seemed to me to be the perfect spot on the map to live the coastal Alaskan lifestyle. Ahhh to have your wooden trolling boat out at the dock below your house and each season to look forward to trolling along the many shorelines picking up chinook as you go that pay the bills and fill the freezer. I was lucky to meet a long time resident Steve Peeve (yep, like the logging tool, in fact he is a relation) Steve has been in Myers Chuck for over 40 years and fishing his wooden trolling boat for the same amount of time. Steve had a gentle ease about him and hands that seemed about 2 times mine and his boat was freshly pained from bow to stern. We talked about placed that I have only read about in books and I was able to live a moment vicariously through his stories. His boat used to be a double ender that did not work well so he had had the whole aft section cut off in Wrangell years ago, lengthened and turned into a rounded stern. The poles that carried his fishing lines looked like they had been not to long ago cut and likely from the woods right near his home. We talked motors a bit and he called his a “Jimmy” that he thought was the perfect poor mans motor and although it was a bit of a oil leaking machine it was easy to get parts for and service. I asked him about his upcoming season and he noted he was hoping to get out by the middle of the month but a stroke this last winter had took some of the use of out his left hand, and he is left handed and he was concerned that it might be a tough year unless it heals up more.
I shared a little about our story and he was interested in our route and got a big laugh out of the triplets. He gave me some tips on the gulf crossing and shared that he had fished around much of those areas and just encouraged me to watch the weather and just go. Turns out his wife is the post mistress and the mail goes out on Tuesday and Thursdays and comes in on Wednesdays and a long time local wanda told me that you watch for the flat to be raised and then you know you can come get your mail.
Also spent a little time aboard the Sea Mist, a 42 footer out of washington and enjoyed a good visit about his time up North in AK. His website is www.seamist.me and after a career as a boiler inspector he was very excited to be spending his summers as a boater. The majority of people on the water in boats like these are retired or commercial fisherman so our family is a bit of an anomaly and I am far from retired and in fact I will be working extra hard this fall and winter to catch up. However almost everyone I have talked to said they wish they would have started early like we are doing so that they could have shared the experience with their children when they were young enough to appreciate and enjoy it. One parting word of encouragement from Ken in the “Sanctuary” was just be sure and have those kids spend more time with a fishing rod in their hands than a computer.
We are planning on spending an extra day in Meyers Chuck and our friends the “Wandrian” will be joining us here and then off to Wrangell in the morning.
Cheers from the Sundog Crew and happy Lords Day.
We Are Social