HOMER, ALASKA

There is a Japanese term that is more and more applying to me as this cruise continues:  NORO-NORO.  Means sluggish action in English.  In my case, it's closer to out to lunch, or someone who is just out of touch.  In any case, this morning is a good example.

Mind you, the daily time changes and repeat of the same day can confuse anyone.  Always, when we need to add an hour to our clock, there is a card placed on our bed and repeated in Current, the daily newsletter.  Yesterday, there was no such notice.  We have only one more tour left, to Anchorage.  I looked at our reservation notice, and I thought we were supposed to be off the ship and near the bus at 10:30AM.  

Woke up at 7AM and went to breakfast at 8AM.  Back to our room at 9:15.  Happened to glance at the time on the telephone, and it read 10:15AM.  It takes at least 10 minutes to get from our stateroom to outside on the pier.  Rushed to dress, got off on the wrong floor twice.  Finally made it to the departing point at 10:32AM.  Okay, for the bus never leaves on time.  There are long lines.  Where do we go?  Found a staffer, and learned that our tour was not until tomorrow, May 8.

First, we are not in Whittier, but in Homer.  So the photos yesterday are of Homer.  Okay, an embarrassment, but we stroll back to the ship.  I film a long video of this return to ship.

Return to our room and take a nap.  Then lunch.

The view of snowy mountains is gorgeous.

For first time on this cruise....whole trip, actually....it is sunny.  I never yet had a chance to see much of the ship outside the heated areas because it was windy, rainy and close to freezing.  But the sun is out, so I went to the top deck, #16, and took videos of the top floors from the outside.

Then, the captain at 3PM announces that the ship is due to depart.  So I went back to our veranda, and awaited.  Took at least 20 minutes, and while sunny, it is still windy and cold.  Finally the ship leaves Homer, on our way to Whittier, where tomorrow we go on this Anchorage tour.

After a few minutes of this absolutely scenic departure, tea time is on at Horizons, with the Amadeus String Quartet playing classical pieces.  Had tea, some tidbit and Hennessey cognac.

We stay into the cocktail hour, with the house band playing popular tunes.  The view of those snowy mountains continue.

Homer, Alaska.

• Settled by early Alutiq people.  
• Named after Homer Pennock, a goldmining company promoter.  He came in 1896, around the time when coal was found.
• Known as the HALIBUT fishing capital of the world.
• A halibut is like a giant flounder.
• The average weight caught is between 20 to 50 pounds.
• Dutch Harbor has the world record of 459 pounds, caught in 1996.
• But Homer boasts the highest number of halibut fishing charters than any port in Alaska, for most of the caught halibut comes from here.
• Furthermore, a 466-pounder (right) was caught here on 14January2025, but it took 4 people to land it, disqualifying this behemoth from being any kind of record.  It was nearly 8 feet long.

• 
  Season is from May to October.
• The word is that it takes from half an hour to several hours to land a 400-pound halibut.
• One of my dreams is to hook on to a 500-pounder, who gets so aggravated that it zooms to the surface, leaps in the air, and suffers a heart attack.  Mind you, I now think that sport fishing is cruel, and last time I actually went fishing was half a century ago.  But I did grow up in a Honolulu fishing camp, Kakaako, and spent many a day fishing for sayori, aholehole, weke, etc.
• 
  In 2019, a German fisherman caught a 515 pound Atlantic halibut (right) in Norwegian waters.
• Actually, according to NOAA, a likely 700-pound halibut was taken off Cape Ann, Massachusetts.
• Can live up to 50 years and reach 15 feet in length.

• 
  Homer had a population of 325 in 1940, and is today around 5600, up from 5000 in 2010.
• Only snows 50 inches/year, with an average rainfall of 25 inches/year.

• 
  The only road into the city is the Sterling Highway.  5-6 hour drive from Anchorage.
• Jewel the singer was born here.

Dinner was sashimi, sushi and pork, with a German Mosel and American Cabernet.

Walked 4532 steps today.

Tomorrow, we finally get into Whittier for our Anchorage tour.

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