The Sound of the Sound

I've always loved the eastern entrance to Salisbury Sound.

It's so wild. It's so fresh. It's raw, and unprotected.The cold breath of wet pine and brine. The ocean swells roll through and rock the boat. To me, it's an invitation, "Come out! Come out! Come out to see!" I'm a poet at heart, and forever pulled by the allure of the sea.

I think that's why I like sounds so much. It's a place to let go of the relative safety of land and embrace the ocean. Sounds by their nature are transitory - where one gradually meets open ocean from the inner waterway, or vise-versa. It's a natural funnel.

If you headed out here, the next stop is Kodiak Island some 600 miles of open water later.

By chance, I passed by just before sunset. Thirty minutes before we reached the sound, I knew it was going to be beautiful.

I headed up to the lido deck and felt the waves and cold breeze. I paid homepage to my favorite sound.

Sea Sick

My first baby steps of becoming a mariner was on Salisbury Sound. I was working fishing boats back then. It was the summer of 2009, and I had never been on the ocean.

I remember My boss was skeptical, thinking I'd get sea sick. But, fifteen years and I'm guessing fifty thousand miles of sea time later, I've yet to become sea sick.

One strange circumstance of working on a boat is that if you get sick and puke in any other job, (with some exceptions), you go home and heal. On a boat? You puke and get back to work. It's kind of expected.

I judge people based on their reaction to sea sickness. If you get sick, fine. But you really see what someone is made of after the session. If they come back to work, and do what they have to do, they've earned a lot of respect. It's not easy to work when you are feeling miserable.

If they turn into a marshmallow, well, so be it. More work for the rest of us. It's just how it is.

"Sea legs" is a real thing. My first 4 days on the open ocean were very rocky and bouncy. Picture working on a 35 ft aluminum bull for 10 hours. When I got in the shower that night, I swore something was lifting and tilting the whole house, just like the movement I felt that day. I started laughing my ass off. It was such a peculiar feeling.

After 4 days, I never felt it again.

A Crack in the Clouds

These two pictures are in concert together. The western sunset over the mountains illuminating the Eldred Rock Lighthouse and Eastern side of the Lynn Canal.

Portage Cove

Two nice photos of a half hour spent at Portage Cove park near Haines.