Looking Ahead.....

All,

It is an old axiom that everything is for sale if the right buyer comes along. Such has been the case with the Lodge for at least the past 15 years. There have even been some serious inquiries during that time, including one corporate group. Looming economic issues in 2008 made them reconsider.

I am well into my seventies now, still healthy and not too senile and there are lots of things left that I would like to do, including spending time with my seven grandchildren before they disappear over the horizon in search of their dreams and aspirations.

Owning a top-notch lodge in Alaska, going fishing every day, and rubbing elbows with some of the greatest people on the planet is the best job in the world, and an enviable life-style. But it’s time to get serious about some of the other things in life before it is too late.  

In the past we have hesitated to openly advertise the sale of the Lodge or even list it with realtors for fear of making our loyal and treasured guests nervous. It was always our hope that a like-minded investor would come along that would ensure a seamless transition, so the Lodge could continue on just as it always has and one day several years later someone would look up and say, “What ever happened to Captain Mac and Miss Patty?” Finding that buyer is still our goal, but the passive phase, waiting for him or her to show up, is changing.

With that in mind, we wanted you, our valued guests and “Friends of the Lodge” to be aware of the attached ad that will be tested in Boats and Harbors and perhaps other media, beginning next month.  It represents a new phase in our desire to sell, in that it is being advertised for the first time. 

There’s another reason for bringing you into the loop: You know who we are. You are aware of our business philosophies and how we operate. Our guests are successful people. You may know someone, or some entity that would be interested in the Lodge that would appreciate and carry on our traditions of Service and our quest for excellence.

In the meantime I wouldn't get too excited about any differences in the operation in the foreseeable future. In this economy I don’t expect people to come beating down the doors. Even if a buyer stepped up tomorrow it will take many months to put together a sales agreement, and I expect a transition period of at least a year, possibly more. Also, if we are carrying any of the contract it will mean we will be watching our investment very closely and monitoring management decisions for years to come.

So…now you know what’s going on if you see the ads. Don’t worry. We are not going anywhere anytime soon and the hope is always that we will find a buyer that appreciates the Lodge the way we all do.

See you in the summer,

Captain Mac and Miss Patty

Eat, sleep and fish

Update to the Arne Fuglvog Situation....

The first article gives the status of Fugvog's release from prison. The second article is a commentary on why all of this matters to the American people. Take the time look at these articles, it is important to our industry.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Former-Murkowski-aide-to-be-released-from-prison-3766499.php



http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/why-fuglvog-matters-america

Keep Fishermen Fishing - Where we are and where we’re going

Something I wanted to share with all of you................
The 2012 Keep Fishermen Fishing Rally in Washington on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol was a great success. The organizers’ expectations were exceeded in the number and the range of the federal and state legislators and other public officials who interrupted their busy schedules to address the assembled fishermen, focusing on the NOAA/NMFS excessively rigid interpretation and implementation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. This rigidity is unnecessarily forcing so many fishermen and folks in fishing-related jobs off the water and out of work while our fisheries are more productive than they’ve been for years.

In 2012 it’s hard to imagine as politically diverse a group of Senators and Representatives sharing the same platform and repeating the same message. There were 21 Democrats and Republicans, ranging from the most liberal of the liberal to the most conservative of the conservative, and they were all there to support commercial and recreational fishermen and to get the Magnuson Act back to where its original authors intended it to be, with a reasonable balance between commerce and conservation with an emphasis on keeping fishermen fishing. The paucity of research dollars – and the diversion of those too few dollars into Dr. Jane Lubchenco’s catch shares program – also received prominent play.

We have to add here that a significant number of those 21 federal lawmakers, and the other speakers as well, were calling for the removal of Dr. Lubchenco as the head of NOAA and refuting her agenda of “fewer boats, fewer fishermen and never enough fish.”

In statement after statement our elected officials were echoing the thought that, considering our fish stocks are in better shape than they’ve been in for over a generation, they were committed to retooling the Magnuson Act – and the federal fisheries management process – to stop the ongoing destruction of the traditional fisheries in U.S. waters. That was and remains the whole point of Keep Fishermen Fishing.

As a result of the 2010 Rally, there were eight pieces of Magnuson reform legislation debated inside the House Natural Resources Committee in late 2011 that could each help to keep fishermen fishing through 2012 and beyond. On March 21, 2012, organizers just about tripled the number of federal legislators who committed to tackling this reform initiative. Rally organizers say that’s a great foundation to build upon, but the job is still not yet accomplished and the commercial and recreational fishermen who have united to defend the coastal heritage will not be able to do so without the active support and participation of independent fishermen of every stripe.  In response, the foundation-funded environmental non-government organizations (ENGOs) and their ‘bought and paid for’ fishermen’s organizations have already started a counter-offensive based on distortions and half-truths.

Keep Fishermen Fishing is going to be an ongoing campaign. Currently, key organizers from both the recreational and commercial side are in the process of deciding how the ongoing campaign to reform Magnuson Stevens will be structured and how the initiative is going to proceed.

Those supporting national efforts to Keep Fishermen Fishing should check back to the group’s website (www.keepfishermenfishing.com <http://www.keepfishermenfishing.com/> ) regularly to keep up with the ongoing activities.  More importantly, the website will help let you find out how you can help by uniting with like-minded coastal fishermen.

Things have to change at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, at the National Marine Fisheries Service, in the regional fisheries management councils and in the Magnuson Stevens Act which controls them all. Those changes aren’t going to come about spontaneously.  We’re only going to make them by working together.

Jim Donofrio
Nils Stolpe

Arne' Fuglvog Update

Follow the link; Fuglvog sentenced to Prison.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/former-murkowski-aide-fuglvog-gets-5-month-prison-sentence

February Calendar Photos

Peaceful!

The time has come to plan for the new year......... We are here for you come snow or high water!