So You Want To Be An Alaskan Crabber?

As I mentioned in one of my last posts, I just love to see the law of attraction in action.  For those of you who are not familiar,  the law of attraction is when you put your thoughts and energy into something and then you begin to attract people or circumstances about that same thought.  If you feel like you have never experienced this,  you have but may not have been aware of it.  A great example is this blog.  I started this journey without knowing much about Alaska, well other than it has the most stunning geography,  that they have some great fishing, and that my grandfather fought up there in WW2 and oh, Northern Exposure, I loved that show.  And now on a weekly basis,  I either get emails or run into people who are connected to either WW2 in Alaska or those who previously or currently live there, have family there, work there etc…   It does not matter how often it happens, the excitement of the discovery never gets old.  It makes this large world we live in seem so small. 

Crab fisherman, pilot, throttle man, Captain , and all around good  guy- Travis Lofland at last year’s book signing.

One of the great, Alaskan rooted, people I have met in the last year is Travis Lofland.   If that name sounds familiar, it should.  He is one of those brave Alaskan crab fisherman who for the last 10 years, has entertained us weekly on Discovery’s hit show The Deadliest Catch.   Turns out, when he is not on the Bering Sea, he lives near me and thanks to the magic of social media, we were able to connect and become friends. Travis is an incredibly inspirational guy who wears a lot of hats besides the burly tough guy crabber.  

It was about this time last year, I discovered that Travis and his Corn en Bleu trained chef of a brother, Jason Lofland, collaborated to create a very cool and manly Cookbook titled CATCH. I got wind that he was going to be on our local radio station and simply contacted him.  You see, I had this big idea of a book signing/cookout featuring him and his book.  He was delightfully onboard so I happily set up a big ol’ book signing (a.k.a. party) which was put on a by a great company in our community, Anna Maria Island Accommodations.  They cooked up and served over 200 of his delectable fish tacos (page 134) to all who were willing to wait in line.   Needless to say, the turn out was huge and he nearly ran out of books.  It was the most fun I have had in months!

Click here to order.

Since then, Travis and I have remained in contact.  I love hearing about his shenanigans.  And by shenanigans, I mean the guy never stops.  He moves from one adventure to the next.    He dreams big and goes for it.    I love it.  Besides working at one of the most deadliest jobs, crab fishing in the treacherous Alaskan waters for the last 13 years, he is also a proud pilot- his plane, a Mooney, stays here in the lower 48… for now.   And when he is not flying or fishing, he is zipping around at ridiculous speeds in the warm Florida waters as the throttle man in the big boy power boat- The Instigator.  Now that, my friend,  is some craziness.  They placed first in their class this past July. 

Sarasota Powerboat Parade, July 2013

On land, with both feet planted, you can find him in the back country tackling wild animals then turning them into mouth watering dinners for segments in his own aspiring TV travel/cooking show called “Catch Em, Kill Em and Grill Em”.  A concept I dig.  I’m no hunter but I love to eat meat!

As if that is not enough, his latest venture is starting a charter fishing company out of Key West which will open when he gets back from the crab fishing season working on board the legendary F/V Cornelia Marie.  

Travis, last week, with a big ol’ King Crab on board the F/V Cornelia Maria.

All that bravery aside, the best part about Travis, is his enormous heart (oops sorry Trav, secret’s out).  He gives his limited time to different charities around the area including a fishing tournament for the physically and mentally challenged, “The Friendliest Catch” which raises money for the Suncoast Charities for Children, “Charlie-palooza”, to raise money for the The Angelus, a home for severely handicapped individuals, and “Hugs for Kids” which raises money for kids with cancer.  And at last years book signing we combined efforts to raise money for a good friend of his who was battling cancer.  This month, we are doing another book signing but this time to raise money for the Honor Flight Network,  which I am very excited about.   For anyone who does not know, the Honor Flight flies WW2 vets to Washington, D.C. to visit the War Memorial.  I plan on being a guardian this year for our local chapter.

Yeah, you.  Are you going to be there? Friday, November 29th,  2013

Last week, as Travis was all the way in Unalaska, Alaska (Dutch Harbor), where on June 3rd, 1942, Japan launched the first ever air attack on North American soil to begin the WW2 Aleutian Campaign, we were working out the details for the next big book signing.  I could not help but be awestruck with the process of life and the way in which things always seem to tie themselves together.
   
It also made me wonder what would have become of the our continent if it had not been for those courageous American and Canadian soldiers who withstood the worst possible conditions in a deathly cold and desolate place to fight for our freedom.  

Wow.  The profound appreciation of just how connected we all are, no matter where we come from, just got even deeper.  Darn cool, I’d say.