A surfing day in Alaska

Joe Carter, brains behind the filming, setting up to shoot some surfing amongst a winter's worth of driftwood.
Wheelers are the best way to access the varied surf around here.
Graveyards looking appealing but a bit too small, time to check around the corner.
Sea lion about to bodysurf another Point wave.
Billy, Ben and Jeff looking pretty comfortable on the shore, pros from the East Coast, here to shoot the sequel to the surf film, Get in the Van.
The boys checking out the lineup and Ben alone with the sea lions.
Ben paddled out solo with a broken off center fin and ripped off a nice cutty.
Sea lions harrassing a grey whale, not the most comforting sight when surfing.
Bear across the Ankau River on the way home, digging for clams and other shellfish.
Beautiful sunset over Monti Bay at Sandy Beach, the end of another Alaskan surf day.

A Rainy Day

On a very rainy day in Yakutat, I was looking through old pictures and came up with this one. Sunny cold November day in the Yukon, headed home.

Also, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of John Nicoletta, killed yesterday at Alyeska Resort during the U.S. Freeskiing Championships (http://www.adn.com/outdoors/skiing/story/373546.html), and Jesse Tol, killed in an avalanche last week at Thompson Pass, Valdez (http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/368983.html). I had just turned on the live webcast of the event yesterday and saw the fatal fall that killed him.

Please remember these families in your prayers.

World Record Sitka Herring Catch

The world record for a herring set was just caught in the 2008 Sitka herring opener. I have a friend from 7th grade that was on the boat and said that they caught 1506 tons. Here are a couple of pictures of the record set. He and his wife plan to eventually go to Mexico as missionaries, couldn't have happened to a better family. Good on ya!