We've been fishing

We've been fishing, too bad we haven't been catching.

The fishing has been quite poor, and we are never in the right place at the right time. When we try to move to see if it's any better some other place, the place where we just left always seems to get a big run. *sigh* Oh, well… It's hard to believe that I only have 3 more weeks of fishing. We better catch some more fishing soon, if I going to make some money, hopefully seining will be profitable.

The weather has been beautiful! Sunshine and in the low 60's, high 50's. I've been skipping the sweatshirts while fishing normally. I've been just wearing a T-shirt and my rain gear, when I take off my rain gear then I have to put on a sweatshirt or something, because it's too cold for just a T-shirt, even for me. :P Last year I usually wore a lot more clothes: a T-shirt, a long sleeved shirt, a sweat shirt, and a hooded sweat shirt.
So, I've been enjoying the nice weather while we have it.

We went seining a couple days ago. It was only a 24 hour opening, from 8 p.m. July 3rd, to 8 p.m. July 4th. There weren't many fish, but we knew that there wouldn't be very many. We had a lot of learning to do, because this is the first year Rick has had his seiner. So, he's never been the captain of a seiner before, and none of his crew had ever seined before. So, we're all rather new to this.
Seining is quite a bit more complicated than the gill netting that we've been doing. There are more lines, and more shackles and releases, it's a lot to grasp. It's also exhausting. And we need all 4 of us to run the boat, so every man has to be working at the same time, so we can't take shifts. My job is stacking the lead line. (That's my main job, I do other things to like run around hooking up lines and hooks here and there and attaching other things and such.) Rick told me (the day after we did our seining) that stacking leads is the hardest job one the boat. Maybe not the most difficult, but it is the most physically demanding. Anyway, we fishing from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. then, we got 3 hours of sleep and were back at it at 4 a.m. and we didn't stop until 7:50 p.m. that night, with breakfast and lunch thrown in there in the little bits of time we could spare. By the time we finished I was fully, totally, completely, and utterly exhausted. It was in the 50's and I was only wearing a T-shirt and my rain gear, and I was completely soaked with sweat, head to toe. Often, while working, my glasses would fog up from the sweat evaporating off my face. After a huge dinner, (I was starving too) I took a lukewarm shower, (I'm so thankful that we have a shower on this boat, even though the thermostat is broken and it only gets slightly warm.) and then rolled into bed, and thought about how good of shape I'll be in by the end of the season. :P
By noon I was so tired, that as I was pulling in the lead line I was praying, asking God for strength and endurance. Just praying and stacking as fast as I could. And the Lord gave me the strength to keep up until the very end. It was one of the longest 24 hours in my life. 24 hours, that I don't think I will ever forget. Next week we are supposed to start seining all the time, no more gill netting for the rest of the season. I know that it's going to be hard, but I'm looking forward to it. :) God will provide, like He always does, because He is faithful.

I've been doing pretty well, I don't feel discouraged or lonely like I did about a month ago. The Lord has definitely been at work. Thank you all for your prayers.


Anchor Man Tim

Resting in Whittier

Well, here I am again, updating my blog.

Well, fishing has been pretty slow. :(
Quite a bit slower that it was supposed to be, I'm not really sure why. Last year and this year both look like they are turning out to be pretty bad years.
But there is nothing that I can do to control that, it is all in God's hand, He controls the fish population. And His perfect plan will be accomplished.

Rick headed out earlier today (Saturday) with Dave and probably won't be back until Sunday evening. On the little boat there isn't much room for more than two people. And with the fishing so poor, there really isn't any reason to have more than two people on board anyway, two can handle it fine.

So, what that means is, I was left here at Whittier for a day and a half without much to do. Rick gave me a few tasks to accomplish, and I finished those up in a couple hours. So, I started on some other projects that I've been wanting to do: writing post cards, writing my sermon outline, and memorizing some verses.

I found some internet here in this little, one-horse town. They have two computers that are open for people to use over at the Anchor Inn. So, I've gone over there and checked E-mailed and such, but it's so slow that it took me literally 15 minutes to get to my E-mail so that I could start reading them. But, today while I was walking around town I saw someone with his laptop out, sitting over somewhere, so I wondered if there was internet there, so I popped out good ol' Christina (my laptop), and sure enough there was internet. Much faster than the Anchor Inn. And I can connect with my own computer, so that means I can write up stuff (like this post) offline, and then go over and connect and then copy + paste, and I have a post. :D

So, anyway. Yeah, I have internet again. Yey! :D

Well, I don't have much planned for tomorrow. I scouted out where they have a church here. So I'll go there tomorrow and see what kind of church it is. :)


My phone doesn't have reception out here, but I got a hold of a phone the other day and called home. That was very good, because I probably haven't called home in a month or so.

Anyway, that's about it for right now. I've been enjoying the time off work, I read all of Romans this morning, that is one of my favorite books in the New Testament. It's packed with so much information and knowledge.

I've been doing well, like I said, enjoying the time off. But even more than that I've been able to really find peace when fishing. I still don't "enjoy" it, but I doubt that I ever will. These other guys talk about how they can't wait to head out fishing again, and I don't really share those feelings. I see fishing as "a necessary task" that I must complete in order to make money and stay in school and all that. I know that most people up here don't agree with me. They talk about the excitement and rush they get when they see the fish hitting then net. And I don't really feel any of that. But we're all made differently, and I thank God for that. :)

I think that I'm backwards from most people. (Doesn't surprise me) Most people see school as "a necessary task" that they must compete in order to go on with life. Whereas, I love school. There is so much knowledge, wisdom, and instruction to be gained there, and not only from the classes. You can learn so much from the people and the experiences there. Everything from Artist Series to Extension is a learning and growing experience. The classes are hard, but that's good. It makes you grow.

But yeah... Most people don't really care for school. But my point is: most people see school like I see fishing, something that in necessary but not enjoyable.

Even though I don't really care for fishing, God has been doing a mighty work in me. I've been able to be content with my situation, and I've been able to be genuinely thankful for this job that God has provided.

I'm am very grateful for your prayers. I can definitely tell that God has heard them and is stretching out his hand of comfort to me. Thank you.

Tim

Delayed Again

This week has been an interesting week.

On Wednesday, we were supposed to go back for the prayer meeting service, but… we found leaks in the refrigeration and we couldn't leave until about 9 p.m. So we missed the service. And I was really looking forward to going to the service because I thought that that would probably be the last time that I would be able to go to that church.

I was severally disappointed. But I knew that this is God's plan for me, and He knows what's best for me far better than I know. Even though I can't see His plan, I know that He is completing His perfect plan.

The refrain from the song, "God is Good" comes to mine.

God is good, through every trial and test
God is good, and I know his way is best
Even when I cannot see the purpose of his plan
Still I understand God is good

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were long days, but pretty good overall. Rick and I were doing some fiberglassing, and hydraulic work. I also spent more than 20 hours on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, pumping, vacuuming, scrubbing and wiping the oil and dirt out of the engine room. The refrigeration guy had been here every day, and every time he fixes something, it seems like something else breaks. It's been very frustrating.

Usually we go back to Ninilchik, on Saturday nights, so that we can go to church the next day. I was hoping that we would be able to go. I asked Rick and he said that he wasn't sure, the refrigeration guy was still there, so it depended a lot on what happened with him.


After soldering up what we thought were the last leaks, we checked the system again, and the leaks seemed rear their ugly heads again. The refrigeration gave up and called his boss to have him come and handle it because he didn't know what he could be doing wrong.
When Rick called Steve, (the boss) and when Steve said that he would be here "first thing tomorrow," my heart sank. Once again, I had gotten my hopes up for going back, and once again, only to be dashed, in a few moments.

I figured that I would try to go to church with the other deck hand, Dave. He stays back sometimes when we go to Ninilchik, and when he does he goes to The Church on the Rock. Rick even went with him to that church last week while I was at Calvary Baptist in Ninilchik.
I mentioned to Rick that I was going to try to go to that church, but he said that there was a good Baptist church in Homer that he's been to before that was quite good, and he things that I would like it.
To make a long story shorter, Dave went to the Church on the Rock and Rick and I went to Homer Independent Baptist Church. The service at the church which I went to was very good, their standards on music and such seemed to be pretty close to my standards.


Rick could only stay for Sunday school, because he had to go back to the boat and meet Steve, the guy who was going to fix all our problems with the refrigeration. So I was supposed to meet Dave (The other deck hand, who is going to The Church on the Rock) after the service and get a ride back with a friend of his. I got to the Church on the Rock just as they were packing up the colored lights and drum set. I was like "Oh. Now I see why Rick thought that I would prefer going to Homer Independent Baptist Church with him." If you know me then you know that I don't choose CCM, I prefer a more conservative approach to worship music.

Anyway, once we got back to the boat and went back to work. Rick said that we were going to go back to Ninilchik today to drop off and pick up some stuff. I asked if we would be able to go in time to go to the evening service. Rick said that he'd like to. So that's what we were aiming for. I was very excited, I was going to be able to go to church again, and say good bye to everyone there. We finished up the project we were working on at about 4:40, and I started loading the truck, while Rick and Dave checked the refrigeration for leaks one last time. Church started at 6, and it is about a 50 minute drive to Ninilchik from Homer (from the spit). So I was trying to get everything loaded as fast as I possibly could. I was literarily jogging while carrying mostly empty compressed air tanks. Those things must weigh about 80 lbs each. Anyway, dripping in sweat, I finally finish packing the truck, (in time to go to church) and I come back to the boat, and find that Rick and Dave found a leak. Again my heart sank.

The minutes ticked by as the checked and rechecked the pipes, for the 4th or 5th time. The time went from "Can still make it" to, "Would be a little late" to, "would be coming in right at the end" to, "If we could teleport there, we would still miss the whole thing." I was severally disappointed. I grabbed my bottle of water, to rehydrate myself, and went outside and sat on the deck. Asking the Lord why it seemed that He was keeping away from church. I don't know God's purpose or reasoning, but He is still good. He does what is best for us, I know that because the Bible says that it is so. And I'm trusting God that this is what is best, even though I have no idea what He's reasoning is.

Well, we did come back to Ninilchik and dropped off some tools and stuff that we won't need at sea. Had dinner and then I went to write about what happened, and so here I am.

We should be heading out on Tuesday. Steve is going to replace that one section that is causing problems, and then patch it all up so that it works.

I really wanted to get back to Ninilchik and say good bye to everyone here, but I guess that wasn't in God's plan.

A bit of a disappointment, but I'm looking forward to finally starting fishing. :)

Love you all.
In Christ,
Tim

Very soon....

Well, we still haven't started fishing, but we are getting very close.

The refrigeration guys aren't showing up half the days that they are supposed to, so they still aren't done.

We have been doing some projects that are "niceties," things that aren't required, but are nice, so we've been keeping busy.

I really don't know when we are going to head out fishing, the plan was to head out today, but that hasn't happened. We didn't go to church today, but we did come back to Ninilchik at 10 p.m. or so. We picked up a lot of stuff that we are going to need, buoys, and such, so we're all ready to go, whenever the refrigeration gets done.

I don't think that we'll leave tomorrow, maybe Friday, but more likely it'll be Saturday.


As for me, I've been doing very well. Since last Saturday God has really just allowed me to joy in His blessing. I've been greatly encouraged, and am not "dreading" fishing too badly. :P

I appreciate all of your prayers. When something that seems bad happens, it's nice to know that people are praying for me.

Tim

P.S. Fiberglass dust is not fun in any way shape or form, period. ;)

Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Heading out fishing soon

Hello to all of you kind blog readers.

Let me tell you about my week.

Monday was a good day, I stayed in Ninilchik and worked on a net which can get tiring, but there wasn't much to do so I finished it in about 4 hours. And I was able to listen to my music while I worked so that made it go by quickly as well.

After working on the net, I came inside and worked on burring a CD with the pictures from the 90th birthday party. (mentioned in the previous post) And then I updated my blog. Yey. Rick came to the house to get some things and then we all went to bed.

Tuesday was a long day, Rick wanted to be out the door and gone by 5:30 a.m. So I got up at 5 and got my stuff ready and we left at 5:23. We got to the boat and worked until 10:22 p.m. Long and tiring day.

Wednesday was pretty good, I worked on the boat until about noon and I went over to Rick's old boat, the Deacon, and helped a man named Jason, a fellow fisherman and friend of Rick's. Rick had hired Jason to rewire the Deacon, and so I helped him with that. Jason is a good guy, but he uses language that I don't use, nor do I ever intend on using. And he likes to talk a lot, which is not that bad because he's pretty funny. He won 2nd place in Alaska for Archery, and 3rd in the Country. He is coming very close to having his own hunting TV show. Anyway, he's big into hunting, fishing is just his way to make a living so that he can hunt.

Anyway, Jason Iand I worked on the Deacon's wiring, which I enjoyed because I enjoy those kinds of technical things. Making sure all the hot wires go to the "+" , and all the ground wires go to the "-", and making sure that they don't touch in the process because you get fireworks if they do. :P

We packed up and went to Ninilchik for the evening service. I thought that I was going to go back to the big boat first to get my stiff, but Rick decided just to pick me up. And Rick didn't think about grabbing my bag, so my sleeping bag, and my clothes, and my computer were left at the boat. Thankfully I had a change of clothing in Ninilchik, and Rick had an extra sleeping bag, but my computer couldn't be replaced so easily. Oh well, it was sad not being able to get on Facebook on Wednesday, but That's how it goes.

Thursday started off early, Rick wanted to leave Ninilchik again at 5:30. I worked with Jason until about 2 in the afternoon, then I went back to the big boat, The Guidance. The rest of the day, I would think a certain word that Jason used all the time whenever I wanted to say "Stink", or "crud" like I normally do. But thankfully it only lasted that one day. :)

Friday was a harder day, I'm not really sure why. Maybe it was the 10 and a half hours spent down in the engine room pumping , cleaning and draining engine oil. (not my favorite job for sure) Or maybe I was just feeling homesick and lonely, but either way, I wasn't feeling so great and wasn't too happy with my circumstances. That night I got online and instant messaged with a couple of my friends and that helped quite a bit. :D



Saturday was great, I decided the night before that no matter what happened I was determined that I would have a good day and find God's blessing in everything that I had to do. Whether I enjoyed it or not I would praise God for it because He give us only what will be good for us. (Romans 8:28)

It warmed up to 53°F and I took off my sweatshirts because it was warm enough with just a T-shirt. :O And I wasn't even doing anything physically demanding, it just felt warm. I thought it was 65°F or something. I was very surprised when I saw that it was only 53°F. I guess it's that Alaskan blood in me. ;)

I was feeling very good all day Saturday, even though it was a long day as well I had a much better attitude about it. Thank you so much everyone for your prayers.

The refrigeration guys are being quite slow, we still aren't done on the Guidance, but we are planning on heading out fishing on Tuesday or Wednesday. Hopefully we can get the refrigeration done tomorrow and head out on Tuesday.

Right now I'm back in Ninilchik for the day, I'm heading back to Homer either this evening or tomorrow morning, I'm not sure. Rick is taking the Harpazo, (smallest boat) to Whitter so that we can get started fishing on it this week.

I've been very fortunate to have internet for so long, I was surprised when I heard that Rick and Etta had internet, and then even more surprised that there was wireless internet at the dock in Homer. But once we start fishing, there for sure won't be any internet out on the water. (There won't even be any power because the Harpazo doesn't have 110 electricity.)

So, this might be the last that you hear from me in a while.
Please continue to pray for me, the endurance contest is taking its toll on me. And the fishing hasn't even started. :) God will supply all me needs, so I will survive.

Good bye all (I'll make sure to take pictures)
Tim