Although I still haven’t finished the story of how I ended up working on the F/V Starbound at the start of this winter, I thought I’d cover what I’ve been doing since being forced to leave for medical reasons.

There I was, again crashing on couches in Fairbanks while waiting to hear when Starbound would be back in port so I could potentially fly back to Dutch Harbor and go back to work. I’d been to the doctor in Fairbanks and was told to hang around for 3 days to make sure the cyst didn’t fill up again, but then I was cleared to go.

Initially I was given quite positive vibes on my likelihood of returning to the boat, meaning I was assuming it would happen. Well, I should have remembered Mr. Meyer’s (snow day) advice and not gotten my hopes up, because when I contacted HR again, I learned that my spot had actually been filled and there were no other openings.

Going with the flow and expecting the unexpected is the norm when working in field biology, so you might think I could have just absorbed this information and moved on. For once, this was a little too much for me, and I had a brief breakdown. Those are allowed now and then, right? After all, I’d barely started working and gotten used to the routine before everything was tossed around, and now I was being told that for at least the next 10 days, I couldn’t rejoin that life.

I’ll be honest and say that the work wasn’t exactly fun. You try watching fish guts move along a conveyor belt and picking out roe for 16 hours a day! Living on a boat was fun, though. Over the 3 weeks I spent out there, I always grinned to watch as we all stumbled down the hallways as waves of various sizes rocked the boat. On land we would have all appeared to be drunk. Showering was an adventure in and of itself! I had also started getting to know my fellow workers, from Polish engineers to American deckhands to Mexican, African, and Philipino processors. Not to mention I hadn’t taken nearly the photos I’d wanted! I no longer felt completely clueless as to what was going on, and I was content to spend my winter at sea.

When I learned that wouldn’t be an immediate option – perhaps there’d be an opening on Starbound later in the season, but no guarantees – I knew I needed another plan. I didn’t have that other plan in the works, but God had my back. Remember how I’d applied to work for about 12 companies in November? Somehow one in Juneau just happened to be hiring for tanner [snow] crab season and called me out of the blue asking if I still needed a job. At the time I hadn’t heard the “no room” message from Starbound yet, so my answer was along the lines of “… Actually, maybe I do!”

The rest is history. Unfortunately I had to buy my own plane tickets to/from Juneau to work for this company and then neglected to use my brain when I ended up giving them the wrong arrival date, which landed me without a ride from the airport to housing and therefore a night at a hotel at my own expense. That was just the beginning of my less-than-fantastic Juneau experience. I did decide to come here because

• I needed a job and didn’t want to go through a frantic and depressing search for short-term winter work in Fairbanks.
• Housing and a ride to the plant would be provided by the company, meaning food would be my only real expense.
• I’d never been to Southeast Alaska.
• Starbound encouraged me to take the work because there was no guarantee I’d make it back to the boat this winter.

Snow crab season ended up being significantly shorter than I’d been led to expect, meaning fewer hours than I wanted to work. By spending hours cutting through crab shells with scissors, I also ended up with tendonitis in my wrists. Wunderbar! Then the period of “lighter work” before herring and black cod season became ~2.5 weeks of me (and others) sitting around while only the main crew worked the limited hours.

With no car at my disposal and basically having no friends, my options for adventure were limited. It was only by being the squeaky wheel and showing up without being scheduled for work – which my roommates told me was “breaking the rules” – that I finally got to work some hours. (note: I hate being the squeaky wheel! I don’t want to cause any trouble; I want to be the invisible wheel that never breaks, but apparently that option doesn’t help in the long run.)

Finally we hit herring season, which almost yielded the hours I’d been told about. I volunteered to be nocturnal by working the ~7pm to 7am shift, and I was hoping that with my giant container of kiwifruit from Costco, I’d become a kiwi. Sadly, it hasn’t happened yet. I did learn that the smaller crew size of night shift is preferable to working days, and the hours go by a lot faster for some reason!

Herring season became black cod season, and now I’m done working here because it’s time to return to my people!

That’s been my main problem with this job in Juneau; I’ve gotten to know some people, but I haven’t had the chance to make real connections with Juneau-dwellers. The most unique part of living here has been living with 3 Ukrainian girls and hearing their take on the crisis back home. This company somehow works with Ukraine to hire about 70 workers for summer’s salmon season, and then some workers stay on for more work. Most of the Ukrainians here now were hoping to file for something along the lines of political asylum so that they wouldn’t have to go home to the uncertainties plaguing their country. I now know more about Ukraine than before, and I know I wouldn’t mind visiting it someday.

By going to “my people” I mean some friends in Fairbanks and then field workers! In another 10 days I’ll be headed out to live in a tent for a few months. There may be decent money in seafood, but I have to do something that makes me happy. Summer is my season for adventure! As much as I can be a lone wolf, I do need to have some friends or like-minded people around if I’m going to be stuck in one place for long.

As a wise and handsome man once said, “Whatever you do in this life, it’s not legendary unless your friends are there to see it.” That’s probably part of the reason my stay here in Juneau wasn’t as satisfactory as I would have liked. One of my roommates made sure we got out on a few hikes, and I’m glad I got to know her. At work I made a couple friends, but it’s hard to have conversations with foreigners who barely speak English. I think I had just a little too much time on my own while living in a town.

Now, if I had punched Obama in the face like I want to, my winter would have been a little better. My anger toward him is better saved for a different post or for my own rants to family or friends. For now, just know that I don’t believe Obamacare or general health insurance care a lick about anyone’s health. You see, if gentle Steph (who pretty much never starts problems) was to punch someone of importance, perhaps that person would listen. Ginger rage is brewing, but I digress.

It’s time to head north to a town that should really use this slogan: Come for the friends. Stay for the ice cream. (Time for some Hot Licks!)