Big Bertha's First Run

 

Over the long Memorial Day weekend we took our boat out for its first adventure with our family and some friends.  We were pretty excited to get her on the water and see how she did.  I was also interested to see how Ethan and Malley liked it.  The boat ran great and everyone had a fantastic time in her!

We are still working on a name for our blue beast and until we settle on one I am calling her Big Bertha. This will not be her name.  Certain of that.  Aaron calls her Humpback Harriet, which I am fairly certain will not be her name either.  I am confident we can something better than Bertha or Harriet...

We decided a lake would be safest for Bertha's first run so we headed down the Kenai Peninsula to Hidden Lake to camp, fish and boat around for the first day/night.   The picture above is Aaron and our friend Brett heading out for a fishing run at 11pm - fishing all night is one of the perks of the sun never setting!

 

We set up camp on a small island in the middle of the lake.  We had a fantastic view, with great direct sunlight, and best of all were off by ourselves.   It is so fun to camp with 20 hours of daylight - this one was around 10pm.

Ethan loved camping.  His perfect world would include never having to go inside, and for three days he got to live this.  He played in the dirt, ran around and tried to get in the lake every chance he could.  

This was Malley's first camping trip and I think she too was in paradise.  She ran around constantly smelling and chewing and checking the island out.  It was nice being away from other campers and dogs because we didn't have to worry about who she was bothering.  She got to roam free.  

The second day we were out was cloudy and cool, so we left Hidden Lake and hiked up to a mountain lake where the boys could fly fish.  I think they both caught a grayling within in their first few casts, it was a good day on the lake!

While the guys fished, the rest of us explored the area and played on the shore.  

The best part of the trip came the next day.  Since we found out the boat ran well on the lake, we decided to take her out and see how she did offshore.  

Captain Aaron gave us a tour of Resurrection Bay, outside of Seward, AK and we saw some amazing wildlife!

Just out of the marina, otters came and played around the boat.  We could almost reach out and shake their cute little hands.  

Dall porpoises came to play as well.  They moved so fast I couldn't get a picture so I snagged this one off the internet.  The pod of 10 or so came back to the boat several times during the day.  

The highlight of the day was seeing a humpback whale.  First we saw the spout from a distance...

...and then saw the tail fan over the water.  It was an awesome moment to sit and watch.  We were respectful of this gorgeous animal and stayed a good distance away.  

We also saw seals and puffins, but luckily no fish!  Aaron and Brett pulled out the large King salmon fishing pole and threw it out just to see what happened.  I was a little worried something might actually bite and what were we going to do with 50 lb of fish on the boat???  Our day was fish free.  :)

During all the excitement of seeing sealife, Ethan took a nap.  The hum of the motor puts the little guy to sleep so quickly and he missed it all.  But as long as he didn't sleep through lunch, he didn't care what he missed...

The sun broke through the clouds around lunch so we parked in a cove and enjoyed the sun and scenery.   Afterwards we continued to explore the bay.  

Almost as great as being outside for three days straight, Ethan loved getting to spend the full weekend with his best friend Hattie.  They played and explored all weekend!

Between the scenery and the wildlife, Alaska is truly a magical place and we completely enjoyed all it has to offer this weekend!