After nearly two weeks in the boat yard, the crew launched the boat on the 20th at 2:30am. Mike described the launch as "uneventful," which is a very good thing. If you followed us last year, you probably remember that Mike was running a different boat, a new, fancy aluminum jet boat called the F/V Sofia. It had all kinds of issues upon lauching, so getting over this big step is a huge relief for Mike.
They were scheduled to launch the night of the 18th, but had a setback. They were unable to finish one of their many preseason projects- replacing a prop shaft bearing, because there weren't any replacement parts in the entire town. Mike had a machine shop make the part instead, but he wasn't able to get it back in time for the original launch date. If you have no idea what a prop shaft bearing is, you are not alone... that's why I have photos below ;-)
After launching, they did need a few more parts, so Mike sent Bhajan to shore in a kayak to grab them.
They had to wait for two days to get the RSW system checked. There is one guy that specializes in the kind of system we have on the Courageous, and he flipped his small skiff during his transit between boats, and lost all his tools. He is fine, but had a lot of anxious fishermen waiting on him. Not exactly a fun position to be in! He was able to finally check out system out on the 22nd, and Mike left the evening of the 23rd to head to the fishing grounds. It's a 50 mile trip from Naknek, and takes around 10 hours in our boat.
He's decided to begin the season in the Nushagak river, which is new and exciting. Gus's knowledge of the river will be extremely helpful. Boats in the "Nush" aren't as close together as they are in Egegik. Egegik is more of a battle field, and so it will be nice to get warmed up in somewhat friendlier territory. There's a big catch to switching districts though- you must wait 48 hours before beginning to fish in the new district. This means missing out on fishing periods and loss of (potentially) thousands of fish, so you have to be somewhat strategic in where you start and when you switch districts.
There haven't been any openers for fishing in the Nush announced yet, as the fisheries biologists are waiting for the escapement of king salmon to go up before opening. Every year, the Department of Fish and Game sets escapement goals for each river system. Escapement is the number of fish that get through the river without being caught, either because the fishermen weren't able to fish, or because they dodged the nets. As escapement increases, the fishermen get more opening times to fish. Once escapement is met, fishing is typically open around the clock, and that's when things get exciting. If you want to know more about how all this works, and also want to know what's it like to fish during a pandemic, check out this article. KDLG does a great job at covering the Bristol Bay fishery.
How long will they have to hang tight before fishing? Will Mike decide to stay in the Nush, or head to more familiar territory sooner than expected? I'll send out Update #3 next week to let you know!
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