Well, here we go! Allow us to roll out the red carpet for our grand introduction. I’m Rob Hulse, your trusty skipper, the proud owner, a full-time engineer, and the chief bottle washer – basically the jack-of-all-trades for the real captain around here, my wife Star!

My wife Star and I are practically Alaskan artifacts, having been dropped here in the late 1960s like a couple of wayward snowflakes. We spent our days teaching in the Anchorage School District from ’79 until 2008, which was our grand plan until summer rolled around and we traded our chalk for fish guts as commercial fishermen. After 2008, we dove headfirst into the marine life—who needs a regular job, right? Teaming up with my brother Scott, we own two boats: a 115′ F/V Alaskan Dream and the 83′ M/V Dream Catcher—because why not have two floating homes? Scott is at the helm of the fishing vessel, while Star and I tackle the charters. Sure, I’m the skipper, but let’s be real: Star’s running the galley and has all the qualities of a sea captain—especially when it comes to making sure I don’t starve!

Scott was a partner in a boat-building business in Alaska, where many of his vessels frolic around in those chilly waters. At that time, I was just your average volunteer shipwright, happily hooking up systems and pretending I knew what I was doing. Together, we tackled the construction of the Dream Catcher, building her by hand while avoiding any major mishaps—mostly.

Dream Catcher has been on more adventures than most tourists, sailing from the frigid arctic to the shores of Southeast Alaska where liquid sunshine pours over the land and even to the mysterious Aleutian Islands. Shortly after, we got ourselves a 79′ aluminum crabber. We stripped her down to the hull and poof!—extended her to 115′, pulling off the construction ourselves, because it’s what we do, right? Now, she’s proudly sailing as the Alaskan Dream.

Star often jokes that we could win awards for multitasking, carrying a skill-saw in one hand and a welder in the other, which is I guess sheer passion for building. Yet, she sometimes forgets just how much elbow grease she poured into these vessels, probably thinking her “contributions” were purely for fun and definitely not non-volunteer labor!

Star was basically yanked into the boating world by a current—talk about a splashy entrance! Her river rafting adventures kicked off during those delightful high school years, thanks to her then-boyfriend (who later became her husband) and his not-so-secret obsession with all things aquatic. It wasn’t long before the leisurely rivers felt like a snooze fest; we had to crank up the adrenaline with white water and try to catch fish while at it.

After a rigorous five-year training program—yup, that was just dating her boyfriend—wedding bells rang, though she swears there was no fine print about marrying into the wild world of commercial fishing. Fast forward to college graduation, and Star discovered that captaining the fishing vessel during dungeness crab season had its perks, especially when her husband was busy doing his best impression of a deckhand! She dabbled in the salmon gill-net fishery, but when her daughters arrived, it was like a scene from a sitcom!

As we sailed into the tourist cruising world, her culinary prowess truly took the helm—she became the head chef onboard, and I’m pretty sure the crew started calling her “Captain Cook”! Star tries to escape the boat more than a cat avoiding a bath, armed with her camera, chasing bears like a pro photographer, and hefting whale bones!

Like her husband, she survived a thirty-year stint in education, and for two decades, we were the dynamic duo dragging—err, I mean, leading hordes of students to the Alyeska Ski Resort. There was even a time—quite legendary, I must say—when a wooden plaque declared, “This marriage is temporarily on hold due to the hockey season!” Thanks to Rob’s 33-year obsession with coaching and playing, while the daughters skated their way through the chaos, Star laced up her skates for countless hockey shinny games!

While I may hold the prestigious title of skipper, it’s really Star who’s the true captain of camaraderie, serving up laughter like it’s the main course and whipping up meals so delectable they might just make the fish jealous!

During the mid-1970s and into the 1980s, I was a daring river explorer, guiding 14-day fly-in expeditions across Alaska, because who doesn’t love a scenic view with a side of mosquito bites? At just 17, I also took on the role of a boatman, navigating Class IV white water trips down the Nenna River—talk about a teenage rite of passage! Now, I’ve traded my oars for a clipboard and serve as an instructor for the Alaska Marine Safety Association, where I conduct USCG-mandated Drill Conductor courses for everyone from commercial fishermen to K-12 students. What’s the main goal of my classes? To ensure we all stay safe in the marine environment—after all, it’s better to know how to float than to learn by sinking! I’m also the proud holder of a USCG 200 Ton License and a USCG DC Certificate. Experience is a wonderfully effective but ruthless teacher; it always gives you the test first and the lesson afterwards! We still engage in river trips when the opportunity presents itself!

Commercial fishing was our grand debut in the Alaska Marine World way back in the funky 70s, where my father and I fearlessly set sail for halibut long lining from a tiny 16′ open skiff—talk about fishing on a floaty adventure! As the cash started flowing with flair, we leveled up to a mighty 47′ SunFjord—because who wouldn’t want a bigger boat for the inevitable chaos of tripping over each other? Fast forward a decade, and dad, Scott and I, were up to our necks in salmon gillnetting, pot shrimping, halibut, and crabbing—why limit ourselves to just one flavor of fishy mayhem? And how could we forget our circus act of Prince William Sound seining, coupled to dragging for scallops from the Aleutians to Cape St. Elias; we were basically the Ringling Bros. of the ocean!

Entering the 90s, we supported oil and seismic companies from Cook Inlet to Canadian Arctic Waters. We boldly ventured as far east as the McKenzie River Delta of the Canadian Arctic and north into the Ice Pack. Supporting CH2M Hill underwater archaeology, and whale research for NOAA, we explored the vibrant inside passage waters of Southeast Alaska. We helped map the Kuskokwim River and Bay for NOAA and have collaborated with the National Park Service, Forest Service, Alaska Fish & Game, BLM, numerous other agencies on other projects across Alaska. Two incredible summers were spent in the Aleutians on a clean up of an abandoned WWII secret naval base. Well, it was Top Secret in 1941!

Somewhere around 2008, we decided to mix things up and started taking cruises with photographers and tourists when not working on research. Now, we’re all about the tourist scene with our 83′ M/V Dream Catcher; except for the National Park Service Katmai research trips and Alaska Fish and Game Sea Lion outings!