Is such a delicious time,
season’s over,
salmon in the can
cases loaded on the steamer.
Time to pull traps,
tug away at one and a half knots,
beach them for the winter.
Easy overtime!
Mid-September arrives,
wind chilly, sharp,
Parades of Grummund Gooses
empty the cannery,
superintendent pulls his shades.
We take fuel, lash the boom,
throw off the dock lines,
push our way down Kaigani Straits.
Listen to the weather forecast
from Lucy Island,
cloudy, light southeasterly,
we take a direct course across Dixon Entrance.
Frank wakes me at 11:30 PM.
Groggily I stumble into the galley,
cup of coffee, clam chowder.
I step into the blackness of the wheelhouse.
Pt. Marsh light blinks
on the port side behind us,
I take the wheel, stare at the compass.
The Rolfy pushes up one side of the swell,
slides down the other side.
I am giddy.
Going home.
Dawn comes slowly,
shoulders droop,
eyes won’t stay open.
Dixon entrance behind us,
Grenville Channel ahead.
Two and a half days from home.
Thanks for sharing Dave and Tim. Those lovely pictures make me yearn for commercial fishing…Those surely were the days and both of you and Ken got in on the previous generation(traps and all) from when I entered the trolling scene. I always will think of SE Alaska as being my home…always felt at home there with the peace and rugged people there. Too much work for me now physically but I can relive the “good” ole days through daydreams.
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for the kind words! I’ve been surprised at the number of visitors to the blog who enjoy reading the posts about Alaska (both Lorelie’s Sitka Scenes and my posts about working on the boats. And there is more coming. Another of Dave’s stories about his season on the Golden West and a follow up from me on Waterfall days with some character sketches and about life in the cannery during August. Might be awhile before I get to the seining years on the St. John & Glenda Fay.
Tim