Fishing community members gathered on the Homer Spit on May 22 to participate in the Blessing of the Fleet, an event where people pray for safe passage for boats and remember seafarers who have died.
Boats honked at mariners on the Homer Spit as they re-entered the harbor during the event.
Greg Sutter owns Captain Greg's Charters and was one of the organizers for the blessing. He said that part of the event is to honor people in the fishing community who have died.
“I've spent most of my life working on the sea, and had a lot of commercial [fishing] friends that have worked out there tell me some very, very, very sad stories,” he said, “At times it turned into a cry fest, and it's to pay homage to them.”
Sutter said the blessing has happened inconsistently in previous years. This year’s goal was to extend the invitation to the entire fleet in Homer. They also honored veterans as the event was held near Memorial Day.
During the event, members from the local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars chapters formed a color guard at the Seafarers Memorial, a domed pavilion that remembers people who died at sea. Pastor Jamie McBride led the ceremony. Before leading a prayer for boats, he read the names of community members who died last year, with a volunteer striking a bell for every person.
One of those people was Kurt Stjean, a fisherman who died in a plane crash at the end of last year.
Scott Adams rang the bell as McBride read out the names. He maintains the memorial throughout the year and is closely connected with it.
“It's a sacred place for me, so blessing the fleet is a nice thing to do,” he said.
During the ceremony, all types of boats, from sailboats to seiners, surrounded the Spit. Some were decked out with flags as part of a boat decorating contest being held at the same time. At the end of the ceremony, “Taps” was played on a bugle, followed by a rendition of “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes.
Afterwards, the boats slowly filed back into harbor. Sutter said each one had the opportunity to be individually blessed by a pastor of their choice, or to simply return to the docks.
Shannon McBride was one of over 40 attendees at the blessing. She comes from a commercial fishing family. Her uncle, longtime commercial fisherman Patrick McBride, died recently. She said many of the people at the blessing were family members or friends of fishermen.
“It's important for people to remember the importance of the marine trades and the commercial fishing, and remembering the risks that our loved ones and our friends and our neighbors in Homer take when they go out to Bristol Bay, out to the Aleutians, out into the Gulf, out to Prince William Sound and beyond,” she said.
Once all the boats returned to the harbor, everyone reconvened at the memorial for a potluck, and the best decorated boats were announced. Sutter hopes the blessing will continue happening as an organized event in the coming years.
