WELCOME ABOARD FOR A SPECIAL JOURNEY
Stan and I, on a memorable sail under fair skies and favorable winds, imagined making a journey together up the inside passage to SE Alaska. Didn’t happen! Stan, this post is for you and invites all of you to enjoy my memories of multiple passages over 47 years on the inland passage from Puget Sound to Icy Straits.
Tim
FIRST PASSAGE
My first passage was in 1944, the world was at war, I was five years old, dressed in my sailor suit and entering the Great Northern Railroad Station in Minneapolis. The Empire Builder carried the Olson family to Seattle and the Prince Rupert took us up the inside passage to Ketchikan. The picture is a reminder for me of how early experiences foretell the future.
NAVIGATING THE INSIDE PASSAGE
NAVIGATION TOOLS
Following in my three brothers’ footsteps, in 1955 at age sixteen I began my pilgrimages up the inside passage to spend summers working on a salmon troller, tenders, and seiners.
Unless weather forced a layover, the trip took about 72 hours running day and night to Ketchikan and another day or two to reach Icy Straits and the beginning of the fishing season.
In the 1950’s traffic on the inland passage consisted of other work boats. Cruise ships didn’t exist and pleasure boats were a rare sight. Sometimes I wouldn’t see another boat on a six hour wheel watch.
Navigating the passage required seamanship skills and tools different from today. Tools included: charts, parallels, dividers, compass rose and degrees. Captain Farwell’s Handbook with suggested compass courses was a helpful aide on most boats. Each boat had a ship/shore radio and a depth sounder but neither radar nor dependable electronic steering.
My brother Ken said of the passage, “Within three days your world becomes the boat.”
THE BOATS
TIM ON THE BOATS
Good times for me on the sea were a sound, seaworthy hull beneath my feet, a skipper who knew what he was about and how to do it, and a cooperative hardworking crew. Oh, it’s quite all right if the salmon run makes fishing fun and I make a few bucks!
Every April I would yearn for the trip north and every August I couldn’t wait to head south for home!
INLAND PASSAGE
My journeys north and south on the inland passage mirror the process that takes place in making transitions in how we live our lives.
The journeys from Washington to Alaska consisted of three parts. The first section was leaving the life I led through the rest of the year. In the second part of the journey, while I’m adjusting to the life on the boat, I’m often reflecting on the life I led previously. In the third part, my life becomes centered on the boat and the work to be done.
On the return trip south on the inland passage, the same steps occur but in reverse order.
I am grateful for both of my lives.
PUGET SOUND TO QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND
FITZ HUGH SOUND TO TONGASS NARROWS
SUMNER STRAITS TO ICY STRAITS
I thank each of you for joining me on the journey from Seattle to SE Alaska!
There’s an old idiom that reads, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll wind up somewhere else.” I would add, “That is not necessarily a bad thing.” When Lorelie invited her choir friend Glenda and her husband Larry to dinner, I had no idea I would return to fishing in my forties. Larry, however, that same year was beginning his first year as skipper of a seine boat. That same night, I signed on . . . And that was neither the first nor the most significant change Lorelie made in my life. I am at a loss for words to express how grateful I am to her for all of them!
Tim
CREDITS:
Photographer: Doug Jones, Tim Olson, Rolf Hildre
Writer: Tim Olson
Graphic Designer: Tim Olson
Editors: Lorelie & Tim Olson
NESTER url: https://notesfromanester.com
To trad & view more of Tim’s salmon fishing years – Click Here
Thanks for the memories!
That little boy in the sailor suit melted my heart. Enjoyed the twists-of-fate adventure story too.
Tim,
You didn’t mention getting seasick. I would have flunked the first shift! You’re a real man, MIT.
Tim,
You didn’t mention getting seasick. Had i signed on to such a venture, I would have flunked first shift. Uffda. You’re a good man, Mit!
Tim – Boy did I enjoy reading this. Great job. It was fun dreaming about our trip. We would have made a great team as we did sailing Freya from Mystery Bay to Everett. I will never forget that wonderful sail we had down the sound. I will need to get my charts out and plan another trip up the inside passage. I guess that is what makes exciting dreams.