Gina Friccero:  

My life in Alaska has been so wonderful...and there have been so many amazing, exciting adventures that it is hard to share just one. I guess that before i was married to my husband, there were three years when i owned and fished my own boat in Bristol Bay. One of my best friends and I had a great time up there. We had so many friends from the fleet in Kodiak that were there to help us with anything we needed, and we kept them entertained with our antics the whole season. One time, when i needed some gear (gillnets) hung i had a contest to see who could hang gear the fastest. After somebody broke out a bottle, it was done in no time, and we had a lot of good laughs! Another time i was on the boat alone and motored up to the dock to tie up. There was a guy standing on the back deck of another gillnetter. He had his back to me, so i couldn't get his attention. I kinda hit the back end of his boat and he fell on his butt. Then i ran up to the bow and threw him a line! He caught it and tied me up, and we had a good laugh over morning coffee. Another time, Libby and i were sitting around having coffee and some of the old timers starting telling us the legend of dead man's flats. Bristol bay in the Nak Nek area has some huge sand bars. Years ago some of the guys in sail boats went "dry" on a sandbar. When the tide came in, the wind picked up and there were breakers. The...Expand for more