We arrived in back in Ketchikan on Saturday morning around 8am, and immediately dove into cargo. Northland Services had a light crew for a heavy load, which left only the other AB and myself lashing and hanging chains on cargo boxes all day while the forklift operators just kept bringing us containers. We loaded over 70, 40' containers in about 14 hours. I heard the foreman say that half do the load was canned salmon, weighing in at over 80 million pounds. The other half of the barge was 40' refrigerators, mostly frozen fish, weighing probably at least double that. I did notice a few reefers coming from Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau, which I'm a big fan of. I'm constantly amazed at the sheer number in weight and dollar amount of the stuff we transport. It's not a pretty business, but somebody has to do it and the most economical way to get something shipped to or from Alaska, is by barge. We pass towboats constantly, making the trips north or south, towing barges and moving fish and or supplies to some of these hard to reach towns. It's a good feeling sometimes, knowing that you are helping feed the economy and are assisting businesses with getting their product to market... Especially beer!
So, with our last cargo stop behind us, we head south through Canadian waters, through Seymour Narrows and back into Seattle. The trip from Ketchikan to Seattle takes about 3 days on average depending on the tides. If we can grab the tide right entering the narrows, we can get flushed out the south side and make good time home. If not, we have to slow down until the tide is right, therefore pushing us back a few hours. When I get on watch in a few hours, I will hopefully hear that we are making good time. The one thing that is hurting us on this leg, is that our barge is completely loaded down. We stacked quite a few rows up 6-high in Ketchikan, and there isn't a gap left to fill. The heavy barge is sluggish, keeping our average speed lower.
I get about 9 days off after this trip, and then I get to do the same trip all over again. I'll be crewing up with the same crew, different boat, although I think we are getting a different AB. This crew has been great, super laid back, easy going, and they know each other pretty well which lends itself to some good humor at times. The Captain is good at what he does, yet he's humble and likes to make people laugh. At this point, I assume that I'm cooking, but who knows. It doesn't really matter to me, but I wouldn't mind seeing how some of the other AB's do it. Between the two AB's, the job isn't too much different. Underway, I cook, and the other one cleans and does maintenance, painting, etc. When we pull into port, we each have the same duties... handle lines, make/break tow and work cargo.
If I don't post much over the next week, it's because I'm chilblain at home. But, I may pop a few notes in here before Seattle. Cya
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