The Rhodes in Alaska

First Real Storm

2006-12-28T22:24:00.000-08:00

The driveway after a big snow. The VW Syncrow Van made it up easier than the Land Rover.

Winter Solstice

2006-12-20T22:58:00.000-08:00

The days start getting longer now!

Alright I know it has been a while, 2 months I guess but I'm here and I am updating. Winter has set in and we are enjoying the snow. Sailey doesn't last a long time outside when it is like this but Alec is really getting into it.
Here she is sitting on the heater warming up after some time outside. We had a really cold November with temps in the single digits and below for about 3 weeks. Then December came and it started snowing. This is what the road to town looked like one morning when we had to go.Now that we are at the winter solstice I can say that we are really enjoying hauling water in the winter and going to the outhouse when it is 10 degrees out. Actually it is amazing at how well the kids do, they don't seem to mind at all. Sailey even wants to go by herself now.
Alec and Sailey are getting into the christmas spirit, well at least the gift part, and are having a hard time waiting for the big day. We are busy putting the finishing touches on this years DVD and can tell ya that it won't be there before christmas. With that I must go. Happy Solstice.

Alec's Birthday

2006-10-16T19:16:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week now so I thought I should get something up about Alec's birthday. We had a small party at our house on Saturday with 6 kids and Alec and Sailey, BBQ'ed some burgers, had some beers, and watched Alec tear through all his presents.
Alec seems to be popular with the girls already.

Mom made a great cake. Alec couldn't decide between a monster truck or a nascar. Who would have thought you could get this out of a toaster oven.

Alec had a great time as did the other kids and adults.

Seasons are changing quickly!

2006-09-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

How fitting that I finally get around to updating the blog and it is the Autumnal Equinox. It wasn't that long ago that we were out on our boat in t-shirts. There wasn't many days like this one this summer, it was a pretty wet one. One of the wettest that I can remember, more like what I remember from when I first visited up here when I was a young lad.

We took a camping trip up north into Denali State Park, it borders part of the national park to the south. It was already fall up there and that was a couple of weeks ago. We camped at Byers lake and took a 4 mile hike up to a ridge with a view of the mountains at the base of McKinley. The kids love going camping and sleeping in the top of the bus. We love our Vanagon!

Out on a recent science cruise we went right by Augustine Volcano. It was steaming pretty good earlier in the day, but in this sunset picture it had calmed down.

Back from fishing, were did summer go?

2006-08-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

Just before I left we moved into a new house. April has turned it into a cute little home and has become an expert at hauling water. That's right no running water and an outhouse, winter should be fun.

I'm finally finished with the IPHC halibut fishing charter. It took a little over 2 months to get it done, here are some stats from the fishing-
Amount of Halibut caught and sold to market - 250,000 pounds
Miles of groundline hauled - about 300 miles
Chum Salmon used for bait - about 20,000 pounds
Total distance traveled during the charter - 6000 Miles

April and the kids came over to Seward to visit during one of our off-load breaks. Alec wasn't to happy about daddy leaving again.
I got a week off in July and we went up to the Forest Fair in Girdwood. Lots of good music and food, and I got to see some old friends. It was also our first camping trip in the bus.
That's it for now, we're getting ready to go camping for a couple of days, taking the bikes and hitting the road. More to come later.

Dance Class and Spring Snows.

2006-04-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

While we are still waiting for some real spring weather to get here the kids have started going to a little dance class once a week. April took a little video of it the other day.

Last year at this time we were packing up and getting ready for the big move north. I was checking the weather up here while we were still in Bend and the last week of April they had temps in the mid 60's. This year winter seems to be holding on as long as it can and we keep getting these spring snows. As you can see the kids had been enjoying the deck the day before. Not to worry though it melted by the next day.

Is Spring Here?

2006-03-31T18:13:00.000-08:00

The beginning of this past week we had a tast of spring. Warm sunny days that were melting the snow like crazy, and light until 8 o'clock at night. The kids were having a blast going to the beach everyday. They even got two bike rides in. But it seems like winter wants to hang on a little longer. Strong winds finally gave me a day off and it has been snowing all day with the forcast saying snow all weekend. Oh well that's Alaska for ya.

Going Cod Fishing

2006-03-02T22:08:00.000-08:00

With a deck load of cod pots the F/V Columbia is ready to go fishing. Weather has been slowing us down the last week or so but hey, who wants to be out on the water when it is 10 deg and blowing 20. Soon I'll be leaving the house at 4am and looking forward to a weather day.

Not sure if any of you reading this has heard about the Eagles here in Homer but it has been quite controversial this winter. There is a large winter population that has grown over the years due to feedings by "the eagle lady", Jean Keen. It is a photographers paradise for eagle photos and there are more people on the spit in March than I have ever seen. This photo is in the harbor right next to the boat.

Speaking of Eagles I want to say Hey to my fellow 1986 West Anchorage High School classmates that may check my blog out. Yes that's right mom my 20 year high school reunion is this summer and I hope to be there.

Mt. Augustine finely visible

2006-02-12T16:35:00.000-08:00

We have had some stormy weather around here the past couple of weeks and the Volcano has been mostly obscured and quiet. It cleared up the other day and AVO's web cam caught some great footage. The snow has been coming non-stop and it seems like every few days we get several inches, then it warmed up and rained yesterday and started to make a mess of things. Today it is snowing again and we will most likely pick up a few inches. Getting ready to go cod fishing this week so check back for some photos of that.

Snow Storm!

2006-01-23T20:41:00.000-08:00

Had to do a quick weather post. 9am this morning after about a foot of snow overnight. It stormed all weekend with lot of wind on Saturday night.

We still managed to get some deck down today. Here's Tad in the afternoon sun with a temp of around 10 degrees.

Christmas in Salt Lake

2006-01-20T21:03:00.000-08:00

The kids had a great time in Alec's new "Grave Digger" that Santa brought him. We had spring like temps while we were in Salt Lake.

Making christmas cookies the night we picked up the tree. Um Looks good!

Here she is, We've named her Number 3 and we plan on having many great adventures in her. The top pops up to make room for a bed, and it can seat 7. After working out a few bugs in Utah I traveled 3000 miles in 4 days to bring her to Alaska.

Mt. St. Augustine Erupts to Welcome Us Home

2006-01-20T20:51:00.000-08:00

Image Creator: Eichelberger, John

I cruised into Anchorage after my 4 day 3000 mile journey in our newly aquired VW Syncro Vanagon just hours before the first of many small eruptions from the Augustine Volcano in Cook Inlet. The Island volcano is located 75 miles southwest of Homer. Lucky for us it didn't delay April and the kids flying in later that day. We did get some ash mixed in with a light snowfall but nothing serious yet. They say that this activity could continue for several weeks, hopefully we won't get a large eruption or significant ash falls. I'm anxious to get some photos while out fishing in a week or so.

Where did all the snow go?

2005-12-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

It's been about two weeks since that big snow picture was taken and this is what we have now. We had the typical December warm up here. Storms have been rolling through but they have been drawing warm air from Hawaii, called the pineapple express. April went for a bike ride yesterday, her first in more than a month. I think we are going to go today as well.
We are busy getting ready for our trip south and are looking forward to some family time with the Stowes.

Day after Thanksgiving Blizzard

2005-12-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

We had a nice Thanksgiving with just the four of us at our house here in Homer. It was the day after turkey day that was exciting. They had forecast a couple of inches of possible snow accumulation but we got nailed. It was a very local storm only affecting Kachemak bay. When all was said and done we had 18 inches of new snow. Needless to say it really looks like winter now.

Still snowing and Keesh loves it. Hope the temp garage makes it through the winter, just have to keep shoveling. The Rover got put to the test with a cruise in whiteout conditions.

Had to put in a shot of the squareback. you can hardly tell what it is under all that snow. Since that storm we have had clear and cold weather but the maritime climate is helping us out. Anchorage has had freezing fog and temps around 0F. We have had highs in the 20's.

Alec goes skiing

2005-11-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

The other day out of nowhere Alec asked about his skis. Grandpa Snyder got him a pair last Christmas but he never got a chance to try them out. They have been in storage since we moved and I'm not sure what made him remember that he had them but he sure wanted them. So I went and got them a few days ago and at the same time we had a typical warm up that melted away a bunch of our early season snow. But, it has been a pretty white winter so far and the weather didn't disappoint yesterday. We had about 5 inches of new nice light snow and we headed out to the backyard. I'll let the video speak for itself, we were impressed.

Current Weather

2005-11-10T17:37:00.000-08:00

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Alec gets a new bike!

2005-11-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

After a mix-up at the Homer post office that delayed the arrival of Alec's birthday present from uncle Shane we finaly got it. Would have been nice to have it that week and half it was sitting there, the weather was a little warmer but oh well. We have been for 2 short rides and Alec really likes it. Yesterday (when the video was taken) was a little breezy so it was a short ride. By the time next spring rolls around we'll be ready.

We also got a new (used) car. It is the total family station wagon, a Volvo 740 GL. I didn't want to abuse the squareback with driving it in the winter snow and slush. The Volvo was a good deal and is a pretty nice car for a thousand bucks, it has been well cared for it's whole life. It doesn't get more plain jane though.

It has a little seat that folds out in the very back that Alec thinks is cool. So now we are a 4 car family, good thing we have a big driveway.

Weather report - We have had clear and cold days for a little more than a week. This morning was the coldest with the thermo reading 10 deg when I got up this morning. Looks like winter is settling in early. Beluga lake is already partially frozen over. I guess it's time to put the bikes away and get out the ice skates!

Here's Sailey getting some snooze time in on a recent trip up the Soldotna.

First Snow of the Winter

2005-10-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago we got our first snow of the season. A nice 5 inches or so of nice sloppy wet stuff. Then it got clear and cold and it has stuck with us. Drive down into town and you wouldn't even know that it snowed, up here on the hill it looks like winter.

The end of October not only brings Halloween but the closing of the Salty Dawg as well. We had to stop in during a recent bike ride so Alec could play one last game of pool until next March. "The Dawg" is the watering hole for all the sport and commercial fisherman that spend any time in Homer.
We have had our fair share of fall storms coming in off the Gulf of Alaska, sure wish I had my surfboards here. It does make for fun times on the beach.

Bristol Bay Salmon

2005-09-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

I'm mixing it up with a little video, for those with a broadband connection it should be good, without I don't know. This first one was taken while I was salmon fishing in Bristol Bay this summer. This is a shot of a little bunch of fish hitting the net, imagine the whole net like this and that's some hot fishing. Let me know what you think of the addition of video.

A little info on the Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon fishery - It is the largest Sockeye run in the world. This years commercial harvest was around 25 million fish, talk about a natural resource. There are about 1200 drift gill net permits that allow 32' boats to participate in this highly managed fishery.

The Autumnal Equinox and a Wedding

2005-09-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

Bring on the dark and cold of winter. Today is when we have equal hours of daylight and darkness, after this day in the northern hemisphere we will be enjoying longer nights and shorter days. To those of us up here in the northern latitudes, Homer is at about 59 degrees north latitude, this change is much more significant.

We started off our fall with a trip down to my brother Shane and his new wife Missy's wedding. It was a wonderful weekend on a guest ranch in Napa Valley near Calistoga. The weather was perfect and aside from Shane and his father going to the emergency room on two separate occasions it was a great time. So fun to see all the family and friends of both families coming together for a great celebration.

For Alec it was all about the pool

The girls were so beautiful the night of the wedding.

We had a great time down there but we knew we were back in Alaska when somebody helped April get all of our luggage out to the curb at the airport while I went and got the car.

A little more than a week ago was 9-14 the significance being that we own a Porsche 914 that I brought back to life before last winter when I had a nice big garage to work on stuff. I leave with a shot of a beautiful September 14, 2005.

Fall comes earlier in Alaska

2005-09-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

In the 2 weeks from mid August to now things have changed around here. You can now go down to the spit in the middle of the day and find a place to park. The tourists are becoming fewer and so are the sunny days. On the last clear morning we had yesterday was a little bit of frost on the glass. It won't be long before the mountains across the bay get a dusting of snow.

Here is a radar shot from earlier today.

Looking forward to many more days of this.

Back from IPHC charter fishing trip

2005-08-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

I made it back to town Monday morning from a two week long fishing trip on the F/V Predator a 59' longliner based out of Homer. This wasn't your average fishing trip, it was a stock assesment research trip for the International Pacific Halibut Commision (IPHC). Its in my links list if you want to check it out. Fishing was done in a scientific manner with pre-set fishing spots, specific bait size and routine fishing hours. We had 2 scientists on board measuring and sampling every fish that we caught.

When you are longlining somethimes there is what we call by-catch, the incidental catch of other species that you are not targeting. On this trip we caught hundreds of Spiny Dogfish Sharks. They are about 3-4 feet long and can run in school of thousands. Needless to say they are a bother.

Here are some nifty facts from this trip-

1600 gallons - Amount of diesel burned for 2 weeks of fishing.
$4000 - Cost for that fuel.
3000 pounds - Amount of chum salmon used for bait.
250 pounds - Biggest halibut caught.
1 Dogfish shark - In the belly of a 100lb Halibut.
20,000 Pounds - Total weight of Halibut delivered for 7 days of actuall fishing.

August is off to a great start!

2005-08-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week since I've added anything but it has been so nice we've been out and about a lot. Weather has been fabulous, in the 70's, so we have to get the most out of the August sunshine 'cause the rain will come. We found a nice beach to play on while cruising a Peterson Bay, just across the spit from Homer.

Who doesn't like a picnic on the beach?

Alec, always a cheeser for the camera, shows off the nice black sand beach.

I'm off for another fishing trip. It's a survey trip for the International Pacific Halibut Commision. Should be fairly easy, I'll let you all know how it goes.

The Sun is Back

2005-08-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

After a lot of rain the past few days the sun has finally come out. We are planning another trip across the bay today. I added a couple of pics to The Boat so check those out. I'll get some more of the kids up soon. We're off to enjoy the nice weather.

Bounty of the Bay

2005-08-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

Homer is a great place for having a garden, April wanted to have her garden where she could see it and have easy access. She made a nice little spot on the deck. She used some old wood boxes as planters and has grown some great lettuce.

We took the boat over to Jackaloff Bay and met some friends that live over there to do some berry picking. The salmon berries are thick and we only had to walk a few steps from the dock to load up. Salmon berries come in different colors and are very juicy. Sailey really got into it and was right in the middle of the bushes with her mom, while our friend Kari directed Alec to the choice ones.

Of course we can't forget the halibut. Our freezer is already getting full and we still have a couple of months of good fishing weather. On the last little water survey trip I landed a 100 pounder, that's a lot of meat on one fish, sorry no picture of that one.

New Boat

2005-08-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

You can't live where we do and not have a boat, that's what I think anyway. So we bought a 20' 1969 Fiberform. It has a V-birth, large canopy and lots of deck space. We have already had it accross the bay a few times and it seems to be a fine vessel that is perfect for us. Of course it needs a few things here and there and possibly some wrenching on the engine this winter but it is in the harbor right now and ready to go for a cruise any time.

The kids love it when we have to go the the fuel dock, they have popcorn. We can't just get one bag, Alec has to have his own.