Fish On!

Another day of spectacle and excitement for the anniversary couple and we were delivered further north overnight and woke up as we arrived in Skagway. Started the day the earliest yet with tickets to board the White Pass Scenic Railroad trip at 8am. We had been told that this trip was “ok” but we were pleasantly surprised at what a nice trip it was. It was raining early in the morning, but it let up while we were on this long train ride that ran a total of 3 ½ hours.

Due to the rain and low-slung clouds, the scenery was quite spectacular and the river running down the mountain into Skagway was running wild and quite the view. We went to the summit of the mountain pass, which put us back into Canada again, but only for a few hundred yards as we were turned around and sent right back to Skagway.

For the afternoon we had reserved a date with a salmon boat charter and it turned out it was just us and the boat captain for that afternoon. “Captain Joe” was an easygoing guy and quite friendly and talkative and a youngster (compared to us), probably in his 30’s – he grew up in Michigan. The goal of the trip is to fish for King Salmon and he said we would hopefully catch a couple small ones to get started and get some experience and then start going for the big boys. Jocelyn and I each caught a “small one” – about a foot long each which we did easily and then tossed back. Then things quieted down and we didn’t have much luck. We were out on the water for 3 ½ more hours and nothing was happening. The boat captain was very informative and it was fun conversation – just nothing happening in the fishing department.

We were within seconds of calling it a day and heading back to the harbor when all of a sudden – “FISH ON!” and we snagged something. Jocelyn grabbed the pole and started reeling it in, but her arms got tired quickly so she handed the pole to Kevin. Only took a few moments (no doubt due to his mad fishing skills) and we were pulling in a 20-pound King Salmon! Will spare the gory details but it was quite the experience for us rookie desert dwellers…and being the sucker tourists we are, OF COURSE we’re having it processed, packed and shipped to our home by the fish packing company. Captain Joe was almost as thrilled as we were, since we got the impression he REALLY doesn’t like bringing his customers back empty-handed.

On Friday evening, we saw a magician’s show in the “Princess Theater” (best show yet), then had dinner in the dining room, followed by a comedian show in the “Universe Lounge.”
By the time we were having dinner, the ship had already left the port in Skagway heading south. We’ll round a peninsula and head back north while we sleep tonight and when we wake up in the morning on Saturday, we’ll be in Glacier Bay. Only two more days of cruising left…