Homer's Spit

On Sunday morning, it was off to Homer. We traveled up the Kenai Peninsula, crossed over to the west side, then down the Cook Inlet to Homer. We stopped in the largest town on the route, Soldotna, for fuel, groceries and a quick trip to the Laundromat. About ten miles before reaching Homer, we passed through Anchor Point, another small town, and the farthest west highway point in the continental US.

Homer is a town of about 3,500, and is known as the “Halibut Capital of the World”. We stayed in a campground on “The Spit”, a finger of land that extends about 3 miles into Katchemak Bay. The spit is almost exclusively devoted to the fishing industry. There must be at least a dozen fishing charter companies, fish restaurants, and of course, the full measure of gift shops. We stayed in a waterfront campground near the end of the spit. We had beachfront sites, but only electric hookups. We’d filled up with water and made sure our holding tanks were empty before setting up camp. Our stay was for four days, which is well within the limits of our capacity for dry camping. Electric hookups were a bonus, giving us the opportunity to use a small electric heater for warmth, and unlimited lights, hot water, TV, etc. during our stay.

We explored the various businesses on the Spit on Monday, visited the local library where we had wi-fi internet connections, and booked a fishing charter for the guys for Tuesday morning. That evening, we strolled over to the local ‘hot spot’, the Salty Dog Saloon for a beer before calling it a day. We met some interesting guys, including a native artist & musician, and a young man visiting from Germany.

Bright and early the next morning, the guys headed for the marina and a half-day halibut fishing charter on the “Born Free”. No, it’s not an RV, but a 40-foot diesel powered fishing boat. We traveled about 25 miles from Homer, and after a couple of location changes to find better fishing, we hit the jackpot! Halibut fishing is kind of like fishing for rocks. The fish are on the sea bottom, and so we fished with 3# weights on our lines to get the bait to the bottom. No sooner had the bait hit the bottom than, ‘jerk, jerk,’ we had fish on the line. Then it was the simple matter of cranking the weight plus the fish the 130 feet or so to the surface. Halibut really don’t fight much, but they don’t want to come to the surface, either. The catching was almost non-stop for two hours or so, although everyone threw smaller fish back. The limit is two halibut per day, and it wasn’t long until everyone had their limits. The boat then headed back to shore while the deck hand filleted all the fish on the way in. We have a Food-Saver vacuum packer in the motorhome, so as soon as we got back to camp, we packed the fish and stuck it in our freezers. We each had sixteen packages of fish which should last for several meals. Yum!

Wednesday we took a drive around Homer, checking out the view properties on top of the hills just outside of town, and visiting the region’s only winery. They make pretty good wine, considering they add local fruit, including blueberries, strawberries and rhubarb to it. Debbie and Tom went out for a nice dinner at a waterfront restaurant before turning in for our last night in Homer.

On Thursday morning, we gathered with our traveling companions for breakfast, then after hooking up our cars, headed back up the Kenai Peninsula to the community of Cooper Landing, and the Princess Kenai Wilderness Lodge and RV Park. The complex is owned and operated by Princess Cruises for their guests who want to take a land tour after (or before) taking a cruise. The lodge is on the Kenai River, a beautiful, glacier-fed river that boasts a huge salmon run several times a year. We have full hookups and cable TV. What luxury! Our gang will stay here for six nights, while Debbie and Tom head out to the Anchorage Airport on Friday morning for a trip to L.A. and the wedding of her brother, John, and his fiancée, Deborah, on Saturday. We’ll spend Friday and Saturday nights in Southern California and then head back to Anchorage on Sunday. We expect to rejoin our friends late Sunday night to continue our great Alaska adventure.