The Traveling Widower

Tag: nature

  • Life On The Ursus

    A black fishing vessel anchored in a calm sea, with mountains covered in green vegetation in the background.
    The Ursus

    August 29th, 2026

    I’m sure anyone who started their first semester college career in a dormitory, remembers that unsettling feeling when you walk into your room for the first time, which probably has a bunk bed, limited space, and a shared bathroom down the hall or in your multi-bedroom suite. Now shrink that down to the size of a medium sized closet, and picture two adults in that same space, with a tiny bathroom shared with two adults in the adjoining tiny cabin and you’ve got the living quarters on the Ursus. It’s cramped but comfortable and functional. But you do have to coordinate showers and potty breaks with your neighbors – the doors lock on both sides so you have to remember to lock the other side upon entry, and unlock it on the way out. And remember to put the seat back down…..something most men learn after 48 years of marriage.

    The Ursus was formerly a crab boat, used in the Deadliest Catch TV series. When the boat was replaced on the series, the owner had thoughts about using it for tourism in Alaska. Eventually, he wound up in partnership with Natural Habitat Adventures, and it was modified for bear tourism. There’s not that much you can do with a small crab boat to accommodate a large number of guests comfortably – as you can see in the photo, there a small section of cabins aft on the boat for the crew quarters, the wheel house and a kitchen. The rest of the boat has holds for the catch, big winches and space for the crab pots, and other related activities for catching crabs. So what they did was build two structures in the middle of the boat, each with two small cabins and a shared bathroom. You can see that on the photo – the white structure, with two windows (the cabins) and a very small window in the middle for the bathroom. The passageway between the two structures (I call them shipping containers) is covered, so you can get over to the kitchen without getting too wet.

    A narrow hallway with wooden planks, lined with black and red boots on both sides, leading to a yellow threshold. In the background, there are two white outdoor chairs.
    Corridor and four cabin doors

    You can also see all the boots outside the cabins – no room to store them inside. Each cabin has a sink, a bunk bed, and a large cubby hole for your stuff. You can store luggage and bags under the beds. The beds are comfortable, with extra blankets if it gets cold. You get towels of course, which never really dry off. It is a lot like camping.

    That’s it for accommodations. They use the cranes to move the skiff off and on the boat, and the guests can hang round in the kitchen/dining area/lounge. Very cozy, and it’s kind of fun sitting and watching the cook/chef do her thing. The guide and crew all hang around – it’s like a big, family gathering. 

    Interior view of a cozy kitchen and dining area featuring wooden walls, a round table set with glassware and a laptop, and bear-themed artwork on the walls.
    Interior of a cozy wooden dining area featuring a large table set with glassware and utensils, a decorative photo of a bear on the wall, and a round window allowing light and a sea view.

    It works, as long as you are not expecting all the creature comforts you get on a cruise ship. No spa, no bar, no waiter service/room service and no internet. You are on the Ursus to be out with the huge bears, and enjoy the company of your fellow photographers. You are not there to be pampered.

    Another nice feature on the Ursus was the wheel house, which you could hang around in whenever you wanted – you get a 360 degree view of the world, and can chat with the captain while the ship is moving. They also let me steer the ship.

    A man steering a boat from the helm, wearing a black puffer jacket, with a view of the ocean in the background.
    Not really – an ornamental wheel

    So life on board was a lot different than being on cruise ship – you just need to adjust…quickly. Really, it was a lot of fun, since everyone is suffering with the inconveniences together. Everyone eats together at the one big table in the galley. We all gripe and laugh about pulling the waders on and off. It’s a group experience throughout the trip. My little shipping container group of my roommate and two retired school teachers, also had the pleasure of enjoying the initial ride out in the float plane that had to turn around in the storm. More good stories to laugh about. One of the teachers had been on the Ursus before, and the other group of four had one person who had been on the trip multiple times. We all had a great time on board.

    Here are a few more photos from the ship

    View from the cabin of a boat showing the water and distant mountains.
    Interior view of a boat deck with wooden flooring, featuring two gray chairs, life vests hanging on a rack, and storage areas. Mountains and cloudy sky are visible through the open deck.
    Boat's stern viewed from below with sky in the background

    Today (Monday) is our last full on the Ursus, and out with the brown bears. I’ve done some pretty crazy trips so far since my wife passed – this one is by far the most adventurous – and one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Jan would absolutely never have gone on this, but she would have enjoyed my stories for sure. 

    Peace.

  • Kodiak Day 3 – A Hard Lesson

    A brown bear walking along a riverbank with green foliage in the background.

    August 27th, 2026

    Today is the 28th – this will be my last day of internet for four days, since we are flying out on the float plane to join the Ursus, our home away from home while we go on shore to photograph the bears. 

    Yesterday was a beautiful day in Kodiak, perfect weather with great opportunities for photography. I enjoyed the day, but had one of those hard lessons when it comes to photography gear. I know I’ve written about some of the gear I’ve bought since I started traveling – two new Sony cameras, which I’ve been really pleased with (but are now obsolete), and two long lenses. I struggled buying both of those – for the longer lens, 200-600MM, I had intended to buy the latest from Sony, but after seeing photographers struggle with the size and weight in crowded Zodiac boats, I thought it might be best to get something a bit more compact, and wound up with a Tamron 150-500MM. That worked out well for me in Antarctica. Then I decided I needed something a bit lighter and more compact for trips like Iceland, where I probably would not be photographing wildlife. Once again, I chose another Tamron lens based on the weight. It worked out sort of OK on that trip, although I wished that I had a longer lens for photographing the puffins. 

    Well, yesterday those decisions came back to haunt me. I brought along the Tamron 50-400, based on what one of the Natural Habitat experts said on a Zoom call – we will be so close to the bears that you do not need a long lens. Unfortunately yesterday, I did. We started our day, with perfect weather, on a small boat wildlife cruise in the waters around Kodiak – aside from whales, there are otters and a variety of birds, including my personal favorites, puffins. We did see a lot of them, but never close enough for my pitifully small 400mm lens. My soon-to-be roommate on the Ursus has a 400-800mm Sony lens, and captured some incredible shots of the puffins, one in flight carrying a bunch of fish. A classic shot for these birds. I came away with zilch. The same goes for the otters. I really needed a 600mm, or a teleconverter which boosts the reach (1.4 or 1.6X). Sony makes one of those, but only for Sony lenses. There are also a lot of features you only get when hooking up Sony lenses to Sony cameras which are useful for serious photography. 

    Our second outing of the day also hit home on making better choices on what lenses to buy and to bring along on trips. We drove around some of the local river parks, looking for bears – the salmon run is in full gear now, and the rivers are packed with salmon….and fishermen. The bears try to avoid people, which is a good thing – there’s a lot of room in the rivers, and plenty of fish to go around. We hiked in and spotted a bear that was heading to the river, and then followed it upstream to spot where we could hopefully photograph it feeding. We never got too close, and it was an awkward spot, so I never got the monopod hooked up. I did get one or two OK shots, but the majority were a bit blurred. The bear got annoyed with all the people, and headed off to the woods after a few minutes. Darn. A longer Sony lens would have been better for this situation – better stabilization, and more reach.

    I did get some nice shots of a juvenile bald eagle when the boat returned to the harbor – there’s nothing wrong with the lens, it’s great for some situations. Just not for distant puffins. 

    A juvenile eagle perched among lush green foliage, with its beak open as if calling out.

    I’m not disappointed at all – it was a fun day, got to see some amazing scenery, lots of wildlife, and my first look at the Kodiak bears. Every trip is a learning experience. I think I’ll be buying myself a Christmas present from my favorite camera store this year. 

    Peace

    Can’t beat the scenery here….