I'd rather not write too much about today.
It was horrible.
This has been the worst day I've had so far in America, possibly the longest and most difficult I've had in my life. I should have realised this morning that it wasn't going to go smoothly, and that I should have stayed at home.
I had arranged with Andy that I would try some sea-fishing, and with my expert instructors I'd try to master the basics of the sport. I don't know who first came up with this idiotic idea, but, according to Andy, sea-fishing is so "Alaskan" that I had to give it a try.
To start with, I couldn't find the boat. I was running up and down the harbour for ages, until I finally
Chapter I.: Arrival
Page 52
learnt that it had all been re-arranged and the boats were moored in a different place.
A helpful lady tries to call the organizers to ask them not to leave without me, but she can't get through. We are running towards what might be the right dock when she asks me, en passant, whether I have a fishing permit. Of course I haven't; I don't even know what it is. In theory the organizers should arrange everything. But not this, unfortunately: I have to buy it myself. I'm pouring with sweat, and running back to the place I started from on the quay. I rush into a grocery store where the permits are sold. They rip me off for $20, but it doesn't matter, I have the permit in my pocket, and I run back along the harbour. Luckily, the boat is still waiting for me, but the fishermen crammed on to the dock do not seem very happy about the delay.
It's a high-powered boat with an engine the size of a doghouse. The captain is revving the engine, and we are flying over the waves; the best fishing waters are a long way from here.
I first threw up an hour after we had left.
And after that I couldn't stop.
I couldn't even hold a rod, I just staggered about the deck. I would have loved to go back at once, but it was impossible. They wouldn't waste another couple of hours going back and forth, just for me.
hey gave me some medicine, but it was useless.
I spent the next eight hours slouched over the table in the cabin, as I couldn't even lie down. I was half-awake and half-asleep, and basically in some sort of coma. I only ever stood up to throw up. I thought the day would never end. I don't want to remember it, ever, even in my worst nightmares. I've never felt so bad in my life, and I hope I never do again. At last I got back to dry land and the Van Guilder Hotel.
I cancel all my late-afternoon and evening engagements.
I feel like death.
Room 852, Hotel Alyeska
1000, Arlberg Avenue
Girdwood, Alaska