We surfed at El Faro, and this is a view from the air:
Ok, now I will get to surfing pictures. There are a few surfers that I took some pictures of during the trip, some at El Faro:
A brief Mexican Interlude
We surfed at El Faro, and this is a view from the air:
My Guide-Post
Alaska is greener and bigger and brighter than ever before, my eyes are continously popping out of my head with delight and surprise, and I love my job. So, what have I seen so far?
There's been a number of birds that are on migration paths that take them through SE Alaska, so for a short time they are here, but in years past I haven't been around this early in the season, or been in a position to be looking for them (or pointing my camera at them) before. Can you ID any of them??
I am also quite stunned by the last three weeks, which have been sunny. I've never seen a run of such weather, and I don't know what to make of it. Many of the locals are talking about it too. If it doesn't rain, will the trees dry out? I really love to see this place in the sunshine, but the rain is important.
It seems that a week of sun gets all the mammals out to warm up and munch on things, and this season we've seen plenty of Bears, as well as Otters and Mink. I've even seen a Moose. 
I am going to be taking a three week break now, two of which are going to be in Mexico, and then one back in Seattle.
Alaska (At Last-ka) !
Its been a long time since I was onboard Altair, and the intervening time off the deck of a ship at sea was tough for me. But here I am again, on the sea again, and working as a Guide in Alaska! Thus far on the trip north we've seen some Humpback Whales, some Transient Orcas, and had some Dall's Porpoises bow ride our boat, including some bowriding the small skiff. This coming week is the first week with a full boat of guests, and I'm excited about that. I still have to get used to all the tasks and get comfortable working with all my compatiots, but that should be just a mattter of time. The Wilderness Discoverer is a very smooth boat, with quiet engines and lots of well thought out things, like drainage and crew spaces and electrical plugs. I think it is the nicest boat of the three green ones, but maybe that is just that it is the nicest to work on. The bridge is fantastic, with a great view of all. We had some ducks visit us at Fisherman's terminal and here are some shots...
Here is a picture of our Chief Mate, who has been with this boat for a few years, and I really was impressed by his driving, when he took us through Seymore Narrows while it was flowing at 10 knots or so, and he did it super smoothly with people talking all around him in the bridge. It is a big testament for those who can drive with background noise. 
End of Summer, Start of Spring
Its the end of the Summer for me down here, and the start of the spring up in the north. As we sailed towards the Marina La Cruz, where we'll put the boat away, we saw some Arctic Terns, winging their way north from the far far south, following (or preceding) the sun on their journey to their namesake. We will wing ourselves north on Thursday. Altair is almost all packed away now, but I wanted to share some of the pictures from sailing and in Bandaras Bay (this time around). This first one was on a trip across to Yelapa, and I was sailing alongside a boat called Coyote, (blog is here) That boat is going to sail across the Pacific to Australia, then sell the boat. I like the idea, and they think they can make a bit of money, enough to make it into a business.
So here are some pictures of their boat...
So we finally got to Yelapa, and walked up the river. There are these seed pods that I love, and couldn't resist taking pictures of.
Also the trees that have spines to defend themselves. I don't know what they designed these for, because there aren't many animals that would munch on the trees, except insects. And the spines are too big to poke the feet of bugs. Possibly they are just out of place, and they defend against monkeys? Or maybe the monkeys used to live here and were killed by the humans? Or a large prehistoric sloth thing? Whatever they are for, I found that they hurt when you grab the tree. Of course there are these butterflies all over the place, flapping their beautiful wings like eyelashes. I think they bat their wings, almost.
And most of what we've been doing has been surfing. This is an activity that is hard to document with a water sensitive camera, so I don't have a lot to show for it. Lindsay does, though. Here she is shredding some Nar on a wave called stinky's. Appropriate?I hope to work on a surfing video next fall, but really I just love to go out and catch waves, and not think about filming or pictures at all. That is the reason that I haven't been blogging a lot lately.