Homeroids

There's a few problems with life at Mile 14. One of which is that around this part of the wilderness we have limited choices for travel when that inevitable ' cabin fever ' sets in, when we all get that human urge to migrate and satisfy our curiosity by seeing new things. So it's either north to Anchorage which everyone says is only 20 minutes from Alaska or south to Homer where the ' land ends' . Homer is the groovy town in Alaska and known as the home of country star Jewel, writer Tom Bodet and my friend Hobo Jim and it's an absolutely gorgeous place. In true ' Jethronian ' style we showed up for a hike on the beach at exactly low tide without even consulting the book and the clouds parted and magic was made. Here's the views from the Homer spit looking west and east.

Of all the ' things ' in life I guess my two favorites are guitars and boats so after a stop at Cornish Music to talk story with Steve we hit the harbor... I just love the smell, the look , the names and stories of the boats. The ugly ones and the pretty ones, the high liners and the hanger on ers , the sport guys right next to the... ahhhh....net guys, I like it all.

Last year in Mazatlan I got a pic of a boat running quad 150's and boy was I impressed with that. Well this landing craft trumped them pretty good with 1200 horsepower just bolted on...did you know that the Transatlantic speed limit was set by an outboard powered boat ?  True story, the  Liner S.S. United States held the record for years when a crew on a 30 footer beat it, one of the secrets to the success was the nature of the outboard, they carried spares and when they had failures they just unbolted it and let it drop to seafloor and bolted on new one.

Here's my two favorite boat names....How often to you see a mermaid holding a gun with tattooed arms and sporting  mohawk hairstyle....perfect.

The harbor has many ' live aboard ' boats. Not as many as South east Alaska but quite a few.  I've noticed that the live aboard sail boat people in Mazatlan are an interesting bunch so it wasn't that big of a surprise to me to run into this guy here....I didn't want to pry so I fired off just one shot because he was in there sleeping but you can see his breakfast making and all eh ? Now THATS and Alaskan. He kinda made me feel better about my retirement plan, or lack of.

 So me and MPeasy had to agree that prettiest boat in the harbor was of course a sportfisher. This lap strake wood boat was gorgeous and huge. It was built by the Seaman Boat Co. and all exposed fasteners and a gorgeous flair to the bow. It looks to be a New England lobster boat design and you could tell she's made for the weather...

Naturally it didn't take me long to find the fish. This guy here goes out alone and comes back in with 3 immature King Salmon when the limit is two.....mmmmm.....You see in Alaska where harvest is everything we have a ' proxy '  system where you can go out and catch the salmon for your friend or relative who wants to sit home and catch the game and pound down a few cold ones and eat tater chips. These little guys are about 10 to 12 pounds apiece and like most Kings bound for any river they would have weighed maybe 25 pounds or upward if they'd lived. But no worries, there seems to be a lot of them out there.....at least for now that is.

Being a fair weather Mariner myself I should know the difference between a ' can buoy '  and a ' nun buoy '....So just because I love the sound of it this is the coolest ' nun buoy ' I've ever seen... Of course they are to give directions to Mariners with all that ' red, right, returning' stuff but the directions this buoy gives are pretty simple....have fun here. AND , its for sale by owner....wonder how much ?

Over ol smiley's shoulder there you can see the wheelhouse suite of an enterprising Homeroid . Looks a little like something out of Waterword eh ? I guess I really don't need to say it...but ya gotta love Alaska, there's no place in the world like it and Homer and it's people show us all how in one of the most beautiful backgrounds you can imagine. If any of you are planning an Alaska trip, Homer is a double duty must do. Great people, great place, and did I mention it's a pretty darn good place for fishing ????

And how about this motorhome, my new friend Jim Slinger took the pic this summer and passed it on to me....ya can't buy them off the rack looking like that eh ? I especially like the fishy front bumper.