The season is a wrap. I can't say it was a very successful one, but you gotta play to win. Everyone here is pretty disappointed in how it all played out, and there were several factors for why nobody is doing a touchdown dance at the dock. From weather to politics the Drifters of Cook Inlet didn't have a chance this year. I myself pulled in about of quarter of what I was expecting, and as a result may be heading to Dutch Harbor for a month and a half in a week or so to make up the difference. But I'm still on the fence. If I go to Dutch it will ruin my plans for hitching down the AlCan, and if I don't I won't have much in the way of finances in case I get into any kind of trouble down there. It's a rock and a hard place for sure.
To tally up some of the highlights for the 2013 season: I lost my new cell phone, fancy new camera, and my best deck knife over board, saw the most amazing electrical storm I've ever seen in Alaska and was even zapped by a bolt of lightning, saw it rain 4 inches in 20 minutes, broke my right hand trigger finger at the start of my season seining in Prince William Sound (it didn't slow me down any even without medical attention), and maybe the most profound thing that happened this year...The seed has been firmly planted in my head to get my own boat and permit. I've decided I want to be a skipper. Maybe not next year, but certainly by the year after, I'm going to make it happen.
I'm excited to see what happens next. No matter what it will be fun.