Life on the Beach

There is no question that our main focus here is on fishing. But there is a lot that happens on the beach during the day, while the boats are out on the water.

Beach Crew On Rocks in Sitka, AK

Some of the APC staff, near the lodge

For some of the staff, their day starts at 3:30 a.m. These are the breakfast girls, who get up before anyone, to prepare the waffles, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, eggs, sausage, bacon, fruit, or whatever they are making that particular morning. It’s at least a full hour later when the others at the lodge start stirring.

After first breakfast—when the fishing clients, captains, and deckhands eat—the girls bake dozens of fresh cookies (averaging 12-15 dozen cookies per day) and start working on dessert for that days’ dinner. And at 7:15 a.m., they put out second breakfast for non-fishing or departing guests and the rest of the staff. After that, there are dishes to do, and cleaning up the kitchen so the chef can get started on lunch and dinner prep. A hot lunch is available for any non-fishing guests, and whatever staff are not on the water that day. Preparing dinner is an all-day process, as every gourmet meal consists of appetizers, two seafood dishes, one non-seafood dish, and several side dishes.

The housekeeping crew gets to work after breakfast, freshening up rooms for the fishing clients, and doing complete turn-overs and deep cleaning to the rooms that have been vacated. The dining and lounge areas in the lodge also get fully cleaned, and everything is restocked for when the clients come in from fishing. The girls load up the guest refrigerator with soda and bottled water, restock the “treat counter,” fill the fruit basket, make sure there are a wide variety of hot teas available, and perform many other tasks that contribute to the smooth running of the lodge.

Snack Counter at Wild Strawberry Lodge

The treat counter always has fresh homemade cookies, assorted teas, coffee, and fruit available.

The head processor and other boys on the beach do a lot of general maintenance around the lodge, as well as de-racking the previous days’ catch and sorting it into the appropriate fish boxes, hauling trash and recycling, cleaning vans, and preparing for the current days’ catch to come into the processing room.

On arrival days, which are generally Wednesdays and Saturdays, the beach crew is especially busy. The client coordinator picks up our clients at the airport and brings them back to the lodge for orientation. Theresa, the owner, goes over everything they need to know during their stay—from where to help themselves to coffee, to salmon and halibut fishing tips, to what time the boats leave for fishing in the morning. We all pitch in, showing the clients around the lodge, moving luggage, and driving them to various points of interest in Sitka.

In the office, they’re always busy: answering the phones, taking bookings, replying to emails, working out lodging and boat schedules, and attending to many miscellaneous office tasks. With six boats running, 23 employees, and up to 34 clients at one time, it’s an incredible team effort, to keep everything running smoothly. We take pride in our work, and we always do our best to ensure that every single client has the best possible fishing vacation, on and off the water.

Written by Evelyn, marketing and Catch of the Day gal.

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