Tutka Bay Part 1

Tutka Bay just might have been the highlight of the trip. I haven’t been up to Randy and Bernadette Arsenault’s place in probably over 10 years, because I don’t think I ever had Malachi with me and he is now 11. And when Bernadette invited us up to stay in the houseboat, I only remembered the one houseboat where they lived and I thought, “Wow, ok, that’s a tight space for everyone… do they know what they’re getting into with having all of us??” But Bernadette is not one to say anything she doesn’t mean, being a straight-shooter from Massachusetts, with an accent to go with it. So I assumed they must have some kind of way to situate bigger groups up at their remote spot than I was unaware of. I also was aware that Randy wasn’t a fan of large groups of people, and was particular about people in general, so I was surprised they even considered having our brood. So when she mentioned one or two nights…. I thought I’d better ere on the side of caution and just plan on the one in the chance that it would suddenly become obvious that we were too much and we should head on back to the camper.

I have learned over the years to tread lightly with a large family, if that’s really possible. When you have a big family, you really become inoculated to the noise and absolute chaos that surrounds you constantly. And, if you’re not careful, you fail to realize that others outside of your family or general circle may be overwhelmed by your presence. I’ve found I really have to take into consideration the person’s current life situation. Are they older? Single? Ever had kids? Only two kids? Is their personality flexible, carefree, easy-going? Or maybe uptight, nervous, needs their space? Are children viewed as a blessing or a slight nuisance? Sometimes I can gauge and avoid catastrophe by shooing children outside at the right time, leaving the building before things escalate, discreetly shutting a kid up in the midst of an unappreciated comment or distasteful joke. Sometimes, however, I have missed the mark with somewhat disastrous consequences. I believe I nearly lost a friendship over miscalculating a situation, and I most certainly have lost one by misinterpreting things in the past. Life in a big family has made me unconcerned and laidback about things most people might consider a big deal, and I think I’ve not been careful to realize that it may come across as being disrespectful of other’s wishes or concerns. I just can’t sweat the small stuff or I’ll loose my mind because there’s just too many of them. But it really might be a big deal to someone else and I have to respect that. I just sometimes don’t see it in time.

Anywho, just a side note to explain that I have become a lot more wary of invitations in the present time. People just don’t know what they’re getting into when they invite 9 people into their home - 7 of them being children who have no common sense or decency at times. Well, most of the time honestly. And they’re just kids, it’s not their fault. But 7 of them compounds problems a lot more quickly than just 2 or 3 and things can go south pretty darn fast. So there’s always a fine line that we walk: I want to enjoy people’s hospitality because out of the goodness of their heart they have offered up a piece of their home to share with us and it makes them feel good because they are showing love to others - but I have to watch that we don’t take advantage of their kindness by trampling them. Because we can trample people pretty easily without realizing it. I let down my guard for a moment and some kid has spilled hot wax on a couch, another one is chasing his sister screaming like a wild indian through the living room, and two more are taking turns sliding down a banister of a brand new staircase. Yes, true story. Thankfully I was related to that one so they’re stuck with us, but another person would probably have written us off as insane.

Wow I just can’t stop with the tangents tonight. Back to Bernadette. She was one of 9 so I was pretty sure we were safe. The jury was still out on Randy. They picked us up at the church Friday afternoon in their boat, The OldSquaw (named after a duck - people like to give them a hard time about the boat’s original name they purchased it with). It really is the coolest old boat and Randy earns most of their living cod fishing in the winter. He used to tender fish in the summer for the island set netters, but he retired from that (fish tenderers pick up fish from all the local fishermen, bring the fishermen ice to keep on their next round of fish until he returns, and takes the fish back to Homer for processing).

We had such a load of stuff that it was easier to get our things to Tutka in a boat bigger than a skiff. The OldSquaw is a retired seiner. Randy doesn’t use it that way anymore because cod fishing is done with pots that are basically cage traps for fish. It has a deep hull so it can’t move onto shore like a skiff to drop and pick up people and things so we had to be skiffed out to meet them in the water. The boat moves pretty slow but thankfully it was a gorgeous day so we enjoyed catching up with Bernadette, shouting over the drone of the diesel engine.

Once we reached Tutka (Let me explain for a moment, the geography. Cook Inlet, named after Captain James Cook is very large and points all the way up to Anchorage. Branching off of that is Kachemak Bay, 16 miles wide, which we cross to get to Homer. On the our side of Kachemak, are several fingerlike bays reaching into the peninsula. Seldovia Bay, where the town is, Jakalof Bay, where the main dock at the end of the road is to get you to this side and then follows several more - Little Jakalof, Little Tutka (where the Daigle’s and the church are located), Tutka Bay (where we are heading), Sadie Cove, China Poot, and a few more that I’m forgetting. On the other side of Seldovia bay the other direction, there is Port Graham and English Bay (Nanwalek) where there are two villages where I taught special ed years ago.)

Once we reached Tutka, it was another transfer to skiff on the mooring, then a boat ride to shore to, surprise, a SECOND houseboat! I had no idea they had acquired their neighbor’s boat. Wow. We actually got to spend our time in our very own houseboat, in the process of being redone, but mostly there, it was basically a vacation rental. Amazing! Tim and I had a ROOM with a BED. The older girls took the living room on cots and the rest huddled upstairs in the loft. So great!

What followed was, I believe, probably the

highlight of our trip. The only form of contact out here is an old CB radio, which not many even use bc most people get some kind of cell reception. Even when we left 10 years ago this side of Kachemak had little to no service. Very few had cell phones and everyone still used the CB to connect. I was surprised to find that there is a cell tower or two on this side now and you can get relatively decent service in the right spots. You have to take a ride outside of the bay to get a signal out here. And the peace and solitude is incredible. I’ve always been fascinated by people who live outside of normal human contact, and I eat up books written by or about such people. “We Took to the Woods” being one of my favorite of a woman in Maine back in the 50s. And I think it a lot of ways that is the draw to places like this for me. I feel like I’m stepping into those adventures myself and anything can happen. There’s something kind of exciting about being totally cut off from the rest of the world.

Randy and Bernadette had planned to take us to the Tutka Lagoon to snag reds so we could fill our cooler to take home. The tide was going out so we had to act quickly. We dumped our things in the guest boat and jumped back into the skiff. There is one thing you have to understand about living out here. Every single person owns a tide book, which is a tiny pocket-sized book containing the times of high and low tide for each day of the year, separated by community area. It is referred to daily by those who live on the water because critical decisions need to be made based on those tides. For example, the tide was going out as we entered the lagoon with Randy. That means the water is getting lower and lower. Some tides are lower than others, so based on the amount of water moving, some areas are impassible during certain times of the day for some boats. Depending on your boat, you may be able to pass through some areas at times when a bigger boat may not. Randy’s skiff could go in at low tide, he just had to keep to certain channels. The OldSquaw would probably never sail into the lagoon just because it would be too shallow at any time, but even some skiffs can’t get in or out of the lagoon if they’re not careful - getting stuck on a sandbar, or maybe needing to spend a few extra hours in the lagoon until the tide changes and comes back in. The tides change the very nature of the ocean landscape and it is very important to know what they are doing if you plan to boat anywhere around here.

Randy knows the channels very well so we slipped in easily and started snagging fish. Snagging is only legal in saltwater. And snagging from a boat feels a lot different than from shore. I prefer shore snagging because I don’t like being on a boat when there are several people jerking heavy metal balls with three sharp prongs around. It’s bad enough on shore if you’re not careful but it can be really bad in a tight spot like a little skiff. Thankfully Bernadette offered to keep Moriah and Zip back with her so I didn’t have to worry about them getting a snagger in the face. Half of us went to shore while the other half stayed in the boat with Randy. The number of fish was incredible. Swarms of fish rushing past the shoreline - you could see them easily. We were jerking fish out of the water every few minutes. The catch is always fun and even Abbey was getting into it. I always say that Alaska ruins you for fishing anywhere else. I can’t stand waiting around for a fish to bite anywhere else. Snagging my 6 salmon out of the water in a few minutes and heading home is more like it.

The only unfortunate thing was that there were a lot of pink salmon, which I mentioned before don’t hold up as well as the firmer red. We started letting some of the pinks go so we could snag more reds but the pinks were thick. We ended up with only a few reds and about 36 fish altogether. And fresh pink salmon is nothing to sneeze at. It still beats the old fish that have been sitting at the grocery stores back east for a year (yes, we check the dates when we buy salmon in NC - if it’s Alaskan and not farmed Atlantic, it’s a year old). We will probably smoke and can the pinks.

Randy decided it was time to head out before the tide was too low and we really did get stuck out there and so we headed out. Their little cove is almost directly across Tutka Bay from the lagoon so it’s not a long ride. Bernadette had dinner almost ready. We started a fire to cook the salmon up and had 10 years of catching up to do over a delicious Alaskan dinner and s’mores. Then Bernadette noticed salmon jumping right out front and she grabbed a pole and headed to the beach. Before you knew it all the boys were out in the skiff with their fishing poles, following a school of pinks around and snagging a few more out of the water. I dried zippy’s wet pants by the fire and then bundled them off to bed in the loft of the houseboat. It was fantastic for all of us to be sleeping somewhere besides the camper we were all becoming a bit sick of.