4th grade Seward boat trip

[bogydave]

Kenai Fjords tours has a special for local schools to take school classes out of Seward on a field trip.
Granddaughter's class went, I tagged along.
4 classes on the boat. Ocean water, plankton, marine mammals & geology
Had a lab on the boat to sample the water, scoop up plankton & view it under a microscope.
Marine mammal, sea-water & geology instructors.
I took a few pics. Every time I took a pic of the whales, I missed pic with the glacier in the background is the whale, it's just under water.
Saw thousands of sea birds.
Dolphins, eagles, seals, sea otters, whales, Mt Goats & great Mt scenery. (&we both learned allot)

 

[MasterMech]

I'm moving to Alsaka....

Not everything will fit in the truck, so lesse here, Saws, Stove, Camp Gear, Hitch up the splitter and .....

 

[nate379]

We have a couple Walmarts here... what doesn't that store have?!

I'm moving to Alsaka....

Not everything will fit in the truck, so lesse here, Saws, Stove, Camp Gear, Hitch up the splitter and .....

 

[fishingpol]

Makes the local whale watch trips around here look like a trip to the pet store. Nice scenery.

 

[jimbom]

Alaska is beautiful. Twenty years ago six of us took our scoutmaster from the 1960s to Alaska for two weeks in June. We did the Kenai ocean trip to a glacier etc, caught the salmon run on the Russian River, and then stayed in the wilderness west and north of Anchorage for king salmon. It was a good trip. He is a man without his own sons, but him and his wife have a number of us that keep an eye on them. They are in their eighties and in relatively good health. Thank goodness.

It is amazing how one man with a supportive wife has had a positive impact on so many lives. He was a machinist and worked hard to support his wife and daughter. But he found time to give to the community through the Boy Scouts. He had a real impact on my life. Encouraging, helping and insisting, he led me to Eagle scout. But more, I still remember a watershed day in my life.

Thrust into a Seabee detail building river patrol boat bases in Vietnam right out of OCS/corps school, I was terrified. There was a LT and a Senior Chief for the hundred men, but they expected me to pull my weight as a leader and engineer. At 21 years old, I was the age and temperament of most of the young Seabees. My style was informal and the guys felt comfortable hard-assing me and I them. My handle was Peewee after the Vietnamese word for my rank. I had my nicknames for them. But we were in a tense situation and stress was always present. Some of the men were borderline going nuts. One day the old joke about the difference between the Seabees and the Boy Scouts was told for my benefit. The punch line is the Boy Scouts have adult leaders.

I laughed and had my comebacks, but felt an overwhelming wave of homesickness. I went back to my berth. It was the middle of the day and the LT was not there. I remember laying there sobbing for the boy scout trips, the friend and fellow scout that had been killed in Vietnam, the scoutmaster, home, everything. Then for some reason I started thinking of what would my scoutmaster do in my situation.

I had an epiphany. I arose from the bunk as my old scoutmaster. I became comfortable talking with guys that were having trouble. I listened to young men wrestling with their own fears as if I were their father. I heard wife and girlfriend issues. Sick parent issues. Interpersonal problems. I noticed those not busy and made them so. I noticed those about to break and got them some relief. I crawled around at night and spent time with each sentry. Theirs was an especially lonely task. Sleep during the day when everyone else was working. Long hours alone in the towers or fighting positions at night. In short, I became a leader and a real naval officer. I grew up. When one of the sentries shot himself, I discovered that I knew more about him than anyone in the detail. From me, the LT got the personal background for the message to the battalion. The man had no friends in the detail. From that deployment, I developed the confidence and skills that carried me through life. All because of what my scoutmaster taught me by example.

For me Alaska evokes powerful memories.

 

[Jags]

Man - if it wasn't for the 10 months of winter I could see myself lovin' life up there.

 

[MasterMech]

I think that 10 months of winter is what appeals to me Jags. I'm not much for temps over 80.
My wife however would divorce me to avoid moving with me.

 

[Jags]

I think that 10 months of winter is what appeals to me Jags. I'm not much for temps over 80.
My wife however would divorce me to avoid moving with me.

I can understand, but for me it is the opposite. Their summer (Tuesday, Aug 7th) is just a bit too short for me and I don't fish on hard water.

 

[bogydave]

Hoped the pictures helped show you one little part of Alaska.
I had been 25 years since I took a trip out of Seward. Just beautiful.
Soon the whales (Humpback) from hawaii will e arriving, then whale watching gets easy. Over 800 of them in the area. Plus some other types.
If coming to Alaska for a vacation, Seward is a good place to go experience the ocean in a well protected deep water port.
Is is a little colder there than in the Mat valley. More snow, lots of glaciers & the cold ocean water.
3 hour drive from the Mat valley thru some incredible mountains.
Bring a camera with extra storage & binoculars
Male sea lion:

 

[fossil]

I like everything about this...the concept behind the cruise, the way they conducted it, and the breathtaking scenery of Alaska. I'm assuming that this boat is not permanently configured as a classroom/lab, but was specially outfitted for this field trip. The whole thing is just way cool...what an experience for the kids (and the lucky parents who got to ride along). Rick

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Dave, that is great and thanks for posting about the trip and the pictures too.


I also hope others did not miss the story that Jimbom wrote. It is easy to picture as he writes it and I have to publicly thank him for his service. That surely had to be a bit of Hell on Earth and thanks to people like Jim for helping others get through that mess.

 

[bogydave]

I like everything about this...the concept behind the cruise, the way they conducted it, and the breathtaking scenery of Alaska. I'm assuming that this boat is not permanently configured as a classroom/lab, but was specially outfitted for this field trip. The whole thing is just way cool...what an experience for the kids (and the lucky parents who got to ride along). Rick

They out fit one boat for the last few weeks of school, many schools make the trip. 5 trips per week. It's just prior to the peak tourist season.
It's one of the boats they use for normal tours, just some special equipment & small aquariums onboard. The Captain has to drag the plankton collector for 5 min at a slow speed. The microscopic plankton is amazing to see. (the bottom of the food chain critters)
Some of the instructors were on a waiting list & felt lucky to get the assignment.

Maybe a few future Marine biologist were created.
$50.00 per student. Volunteer parents free.
Went down Tuesday AM, visited the Seward Marine center & aquarium Tuesday afternoon.
Cooked about 150 hot dogs & made almost that many "smores" Tuesday evening.
We slept on the Seward Elementary school gym floor, had to be out by 7:30 am before their school starts. Boarded the boat at 9:00AM on Wednesday.
Boat docked around 3PM.
Drove home Wednesday evening.
Great outing & learning for the kids.

 

[nate379]

Always an open invite if ANY of you guys want to make the trip up and need a place to sleep for a few days/weeks or even place to park the RV.

Winter isn't 10 months by any means. We get snow around Holloween and it's usually gone by mid April, so roughly 6 months.

The spring and fall temps can be "cold" but it's usually not horrible. Camping season (in a tent) is around May-September. After/before that you better have a thick sleeping bag or a heater.

The -30* winter temps are not so common in this area, might never get that cold, depending on the year. In south central AK (the area where me and Dave are) we might see highs of the upper 70s for a few days a year, and lows maybe -25* on occansion. In between that it's generally quite comfortable. The humidty is usually low and that makes a huge different on how a person "feels" the cold or heat. It's not desert low though, really just about perfect IMO.

 

[firefighterjake]

See you guys in 38 days.