Captain Nick Alvey aboard the Alaskan Adventurer, an 80-foot luxury fishing vessel in Sitka, Alaska. The boat and captain made their way from Port Aransas to Sitka, where Alvey has started a charter fishing business.
Once a private fishing yacht docked in Port Aransas, the newly named Alaskan Adventurer now charters fishing and wilderness charters from Sitka in southeastern Alaska. Under the guidance of Captain Nick Alvey of Corpus Christi, the 80-foot sport fishing yacht provides anglers with customized fishing and wildlife adventures from May to September.
The budding business got its start last year when Nick and his father, Dan Alvey, owner of Texas Publishing Co. in Corpus Christi, decided they needed a new challenge — a bold, beautiful, exciting, outdoor challenge.
The family owned the boat for 10 years before turning it into a business. They spent months redecorating, upgrading and expanding living and fishing areas to accommodate a three-member crew and six clients.
With three staterooms, three heads (two with shower stalls), a full-size kitchen and spacious salon, the Alaskan Adventurer is set up to provide both the lodging and fishing accommodations.
“Everyone has plenty of room to fish and relax,” said Nick Alvey, noting the fishing deck is partially covered to allow for angling in all kinds of weather. “It’s your boat. You’ve got two-to-one crew-to-passenger ratio, so you are going to be pampered. Your needs are the only ones that matter.”
The 39-year-old captain brings more to his job than the skills of a skipper. A longtime adventurer himself, Alvey has traveled the world kiteboarding and paragliding — skills he learned on Coastal Bend beaches.
Fishing is another passion that makes Alvey the perfect guide of an Alaskan wilderness adventure.
“I grew up fishing in the Highland Lakes and in the Gulf of Mexico,” he said.
He has been behind the wheel of different motorboats since he was a youngster. He now holds a 100-ton master’s license issued by the U.S. Coast Guard. Other experience includes working on a cruise ship in Hawaii, as captain of a sailboat charter and as a trained chef with an associate degree in culinary arts.
His longest trip came last spring as he left Port Aransas headed for Sitka aboard his newly renovated vessel. He traveled straight through the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, through the Caribbean Sea to the Panama Canal, then on to the Pacific Ocean, up the west coast of Central America and the United States to Alaska, where he immediately began chartering fishing adventures. The 6,300-mile trip took 42 cruising days to complete.
As one of the larger boats available to charter in Sitka, the Alaskan Adventurer is also one of the most flexible. Typical trips are four days and five nights, but the ultimate decision belongs to the guests.
“We have the ability to customize trips,” Alvey said. “We can go as long or as short as you want. We can add hiking, paddleboating, kayaking, all from the boat.”
A typical day on the Alaskan Adventurer begins anchored in a secluded cove with guests waking up to the smell of coffee brewing and breakfast cooking. Over a delicious meal, the discussion centers on whether to chase a monster halibut or hook into one of five different species of salmon. Later, lunch is served on deck as anglers cast their lines.
“You can fish from eight to 10 hours a day if you want,” Alvey said. “If we catch our limit, we change what species we are fishing for. Everything is so abundant; you’re not going to not catch something. That’s seldom ever a complaint.”
As for the fish, guests can have it prepared on board for lunch or dinner or have it cleaned and packed to transport home — or both! Also available on the menu are crab and shrimp, caught in pots placed from the boat.
Dining on freshly reeled-in salmon while watching the Northern Lights brighten the sky, soaking sore muscles in a hot springs or taking a side trip to a glacier can all be part of your Alaskan Adventure.
“There are so many bucket-list activities and naturally occurring events that happen in Alaska,” Alvey said. “You just can’t live your full life and not spend time in Alaska.”
The awe-inspiring beauty of the vast Alaskan wilderness is what guests will remember most about their trip, Alvey said.
“What’s going to stand out is seeing something you’ve never seen before,” he said. “You may have seen it on the pages of National Geographic, but here it is, up close, personal and real. You’ll never forget a trip on the Alaskan Adventurer.”
To find out more about booking a trip on the Alaskan Adventurer, call (907) 251-7112.
