06/21/2026
Hey dear ones -
Team Nerka 2026 is northbound! A day behind our intended departure but thankful for the skilled, kind friends who lent hands amid their family weekend to help get us underway. All good things happen in community, & we are so, so fortunate for ours.
Thanks for joining us in welcoming this season's teammate, Amanda! Amanda heard our solicitation for crew from a FisherPoets stage this winter & slipped us a receipt with her name & number: "Interested!" In addition to previous commercial fishing experience, Amanda brings videography skills that - if we're lucky - you may see on the Nerka's Instagram page later this season. Year three of Team Nerka's tradition of "A Team" deckhands... We're delighted she's on board!
2026 marks 20 years since Joel & I started fishing the Nerka together. (He bought the boat from his folks the year before, when he was a fresh-faced baby captain, only 22 years old.) As many times as we've been through this seasonal transition & as many ridiculously detailed lists as I make, it is always a chaotic, stressful, frenzy to say goodbye to land & reacquaint ourselves to the water. Leaving our girls, Zoey & Yuki, for three months is one of the hardest parts of our work. Another is the mental load on Cap'n J, who is ultimately responsible for every decision toward a safe & productive season, & the sleep deprivation we'll all be working with.
Even so... There's always relief in untying, knowing we'll motor out of phone service & be largely out of reach through the season. Slowing our internal hustle. Hoping for a safe, smooth migration, knowing new relief is on the other side, when we cinch the dock lines in Sitka.
It's been a long time since we last talked, friends. I haven't cared much for the tone of online communication this winter, thus the radio silence. I hope you've been well. Whether you're on land or at sea, I wish you a safe, productive summer, full of goodness & delights. We'll be thinking of you while we're out there.
With salmon love,
Tele & Joel
