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Lost At Sea, Bering Sea, Sal DiMercurio
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ContinuousWave Whaler Moderated Discussion Areas
ContinuousWave: The Whaler GAM or General Area
Lost At Sea, Bering Sea, Sal DiMercurio
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| Author | Topic: Lost At Sea, Bering Sea, Sal DiMercurio |
| jstachowiak |
posted 08-08-2003 08:17 AM ET (US)  
This question goes to Sal DiMercurio. I see you are a commercial fisherman in the Bering Sea and I see you read a lot. Did you read "Lost at Sea" by Patrick Dillon and what were your thoughts on this book. http://www.morrill.org/books/dillon.shtml I loved it and recommend it to anyone who loves to read about the sea and fisherman. It is also a great study in accident investigation. Another highly recommended book for boaters is "Longitude" |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-09-2003 08:39 PM ET (US)
Thanks J, looks interesting. Sal |
| jimh |
posted 08-10-2003 01:17 PM ET (US)
The tragedy of "the A-boats". I think it was the event that trigger better regulation of vessels in the fishing industry by the Coast Guard. Sounds like a good read. |
| jstachowiak |
posted 08-10-2003 02:48 PM ET (US)
The regs are not where they need to be, yet. Still too many lives lost up there to put king crab on our tables. I found the book a better read than Perfect Storm, in that it really gets into the entire accident investigation as to why these two boats sank. Even after many years of research and investigation they are still not sure why, but there are some strong reasons and arguments as to what happened. Truth is far more facinating than fiction, in this case. |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-10-2003 07:53 PM ET (US)
Where I fish salmon in Alaska, there is no Coast Guard. The nearest Coast Guard is on Kodiak Island, some 450 - 500 miles to the southeast. We have a small ship [ like a small destroyer ] thats owned by the Dept of Public safety & they anchor near out fishing grounds, but they wont help you unless your in big time danger of sinking. They only give tickets to the fishermen such as the one they gave me in 1995. It was the 4th of July & our fishing period was from 6:pm on the 4th, to 6:am on the 5th, a 12 hour fishing period. Theres an A.M. radio station in Dillingham about 80 miles to our SW. It's the only station we can pickup on the water, it's called the fishermans station as they will broadcast a message to a boat if the boat is out of range for a vhf or cell phone. They also have the correct time & will broadcast to the fisherman that it's 5:55 P.M. & your period opens in exactly 5 minutes, then , right at 6:P.M. they will broadcast , the fishing period for the Naknek Kvichack eara is now open, it is exactly 6:PM. I watched all the gear being set out & didn't even see 1 single fish hit any of it, as when a fish hits the net, it brings the net up to the surface & you can see the fish or fishes splashing, but there was nothing happening. I cruised around for 5 minutes before I saw anything hitting anywhere. At 6:05 P.M. I yelled to my crewman "Molla" which means let her go & get the hell out of the way because it's coming & coming fast [ the 1,000 ft net going overboard ]. We say molla because it can't bne mistaken for ok, or do it, or just about any other word. Now our gear is in the water & were drifting with the 8 knt current & here comes a 20' boston whaler outrage to the boat just outside of me. One of my crew asks, whats he bothering that guy for, I told him that the boat was probably observed over the border yesterday & they got the numbers of the boat but couldn't find it in the 500 or so boats fishing, so they now found him & are writting him up. After about 45 minutes the Whaler comes towards my boat & soon a guy jumps up on my boat & says, "Your under arrest" & I say, yeh, right, for what ? He says my boat was observed with 1/2 of it's gear in the water, 35 "SECONDS" early,....... I laughed & said, you have the wrong boat because My gear didn't hit the water until 6:05P.M., a full 5 minutes "AFTER" the period opened. He said the state trooper in the airplane saw you & he's higher ranked then me, so I can't question his orders. I said, this is pure BS. His reply was, tell it to the judge. 3 days later I have to take a day off from fishing to go to court. The judge says, Mr. Di.i'm going to give you a break & only charge you $100,....pause "PER SECOND", for each man on your boat [ 3 men x $3,500 ] & the break is, i'll make it an even $10,000. This is what the dept of public safety does up there, not check boats for life vests or fire exstinquisers or anything that has to do with safety. This is how the small villages get most of their money beside state subsidies from oil. When my son-inlaw drown, it took the Coast Guard 4-1/2 hours to get there with a chopper & help look for him. As for the King Crabbers, they are far bigger then our salmon boats at maximum 32' & most are based closer to Kodiak then we are & the CG does make a reasonable effort to check them for safety gear. As far as the dept of public safety, it's a scam to fleece whatever they can for the fishermen. When we were boarded, my engine blew a water line &^ steam was shooting out of the engine room, I asked if they would stand by until I got it replaced because we were now getting close to the rocks on shore, they said, no, only if we are in danger of sinking. I told them, if I can't get it done in 30 minutes because you took over an hour to write me up, i'll be on the rocks. They said, it's not their problem. Sal
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| skred |
posted 08-11-2003 09:07 AM ET (US)
Sal, I fished Naknek in 1967! Seems the rules haven't changed! |
| jstachowiak |
posted 08-11-2003 09:36 AM ET (US)
Sal, I know you will enjoy this book. The major push for the crabber's safety came from the survivors parents who lobbied the US senate for safety. Many of these crabber's are college age adventure seeking "kids". It was very interesting to see how the whole system works (or doesn't work). You guys have a very hard job and somehow it does not translate to what is on our dinner plates when you look at salmon and crab prices in the store. Your competition (foreign) does not have as high a regard for safety or conservation as the US has which makes for not a level playing field. After reading this book, I now think about the work and lives that helped put that fish/crab I'm going to eat on my plate. Thanks. |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-11-2003 12:25 PM ET (US)
Red, which cannery were based at ? I was with Alaska Packers in South Naknek in 67. J, I was the senior director on the fishermans asscociation board of 33 directors for 9 years, & I fought tooth & nail to make it against the law for fishermen to advertize at the lower 48 colleges for college guys to make maybe $5,000 - $10,000 in a month. The reason was, 99% of the guys doing the advertizing would trick these poor kids into fishing for like %5 which is nothing, then they would make them sign a contract that stated, if you quit, you don't get paid &^ you pay your way back home, plus you may even owe for room & board. Then when the season slowed down & was almost over, these captains would make it so miserable for these kids such as make them work 24 hours a day without letting them change into dry cloths, or make them stand on the bow [ hanging on with their teeth & finger nails & everything else they could ]to throw the anchor while still 2 miles from an anchoage in very heavy weather, forcing these kids to tell the Captain to go to hell & quit, thus getting nothiong for their work. I lobbied for the state officials of Alaska to not allow this type of enticement to lure these un-experienced kids into just plain slavery, because thats what it amounted to. Unfortunatly it still isn't law. I grabbed one lousy no good SOB Captain by the throat slammed his head into the wall because he was just pushing this one kid to quit so hard at the end of the season. The boat had earned over $100,000 & the Capt. was so money hungery he didn't want to pay this kid [ a football player from a poor family at the University of Washington ], after working his rear end off night & day in a real heavy weather season. I told the kid to show me his check when it was time for him to go homem, & if it wasen't what the Capt advertized I'd settle it with the Capt. This was while I had the Capt by his throat. Many of those poor kids are just plain tricked into working & risking their lives for nothing. It still gos on today. Sal |
| SSILVER |
posted 08-11-2003 12:42 PM ET (US)
Is that type of deception in other types of commercial fishing, like long liners etc... Aside from the docks where is other information available about commercial fishing careers? |
| skred |
posted 08-11-2003 02:07 PM ET (US)
Sal, I worked for Cliff (Owned the bar/restaurant/everything else in So Naknek. Fished with Sam Agwiak. Watched Bumble Bee Cannery burn down that summer. Don't think we had more than 24 hours of open fishing that summer... Have to say, it's an experience I'll never forget. Had some young college kids came up thinking they'd cover their tuition that next year - a lot of them hitchhiked back broke. My partner and I were a bit older (27 or so..) and came up just for the experience - so the money wasn't the big thing. Sad for the kids, though... As I recall, '67 was a pretty crummy year for salmon, too. We sure didn't bring in much. Hired on as a stevedore/loader and packed the big ship with the canned salmon. Made a little cash there. Found a mastodon tusk on the river bank bluff, but it was too damn big to haul home... My kids love the stories, anyway... |
| newt |
posted 08-11-2003 02:37 PM ET (US)
I have to admit that I was taken for a little bit of a ride by the commercial fishing industry in Alaska also. After living and working in Boise Idaho for a few months, and making 1/2 the wage for the same type of work on the east coast, it wasn't hard for a recruiter to convince me that fishing in Alaska was the way to go. They flew me up to Dutch Harbor where I worked 12-18 hours a day on an old piece of crap crab proccessing ship that never even left the dock. The crabbers would pull up along side where we would off load and process (kill, cook, package, and freeze) the crabs. After a short stint of 18 hour days, one of my new friends slipped into the hot brine, and had to be airlifted out with severe burns on most of his upper body. I took that as a sign to jump ship. I cannot recall the name of the boat (read barge) that I was on, but you guys from up there may remember a boat that caught fire several years ago on the island of Unalaska...it made national news. Anyway, I signed up with one of the other ships in the harbor (Crystal Viking maybe?), and we went off to sea for 3-4 weeks at a pop with grand illusions of making tons of money. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up making only the base salary of $1000/month for working 12-15 hours a day, 7 days a week. Most of that money was spent at the bars when we would come back in, so when I finally left Alaska, I had no more money in my pocket than when I arrived. So, I didn't make any money, but I don't regret the experience one bit. For an 18 year old kid, the adventure was enough to make the whole trip worthwhile. |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-11-2003 03:32 PM ET (US)
Red, ha !, you were at the same place I was. Yep, good ol Cliff, 100,000 beer cans thrown in front of the "Bucket of Blood" [ name of the bar & believe me, it was ]. Theres no doubt we saw each other, as you know S. N N wasen't & still isn't much of a village, at most 50 - 75 natives. I remember Bumbble Bee burning like it was yesterday. They totally rebuilt it & I understand Bumbble Bee S. N.N. was sold last year, all 40 acers with new buildings , full operating cannery & all the bunk houses sold for $500,000. & I know for fact they paid $17,000,000.00 to rebuild, kinda says something about how the commercial fishing is going up there. I kew Cliff very well & his neighbor Carval Zimmin. I spent 28 years at that cannery. Newt, thats typical of what usually happens to the younger guys. Most usually go home broke or oweing money & have to send for some to get a plane ticket. Alot of money was made up there & alot was lost to. One year I spent 101 days up there & made $106,000 [ I owned the boat so I get 2 shares ], the following year, I had to take $27,000 out of the bank to cover the expenses. I absolutlt loved it up there for the first 12 years, then I hated it with a passion sooooooo bad. I didn't mind it to bad if there were alot of fish & the fish & game dept let us fish & the weather was nice, but as you very well know, if you don't like the weather up there, wait 1/2 hour, it will change. Never failed that we had at least 2 - 90 to 100 mph blows when we were out fishing during the season, & it would blow for days on end none stop. Man am I glad that part of my life is past. The old timers would point out to sea & tell me, the Devil himself lives there, I really didn't understand until I ran my own boats & under stood what they meant. When the fish are there & f&g allows us to fish but the weather is just howelling at 90 mph & the devil is calling you to come out to his pot of gold [ the fish ]& shovel as much gold [ fish ] as you can carry, then see if you can make it back with out dieing because he's gonna tempt you over & over until you put just a few to many on board & no one will ever see or hear from you again. I'v lost 1 son-inlaw, 2 uncles & 4 real close friends to that SOB. Sal |
| newt |
posted 08-11-2003 05:18 PM ET (US)
Sal, the first day out on the Crystal Viking we ran into a storm. The deck hands (mostly Norweigan) told me it was gusts to 90 mph, and 30' waves. I never actually saw the weather because I was in a forward berth trying like hell to stay in the bunk, and not plaster the entire cabin with puke. I have never felt so rotten and miserable as the first 12 hours on that boat. After that, I never got sick again. Now, this was on a 200' trawler/processor...I cannot imagine that kind of weather on a smaller boat! |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-11-2003 05:39 PM ET (US)
Newt, i'm familiar with the "Crystal Viking", as it was charted by our company to buy or pickup salmon from the smaller boats in our fishing ground. This was a fairly new boat in 1985 if it's the same one. About 200 ft, blue with yellow trim. Yeh, tell me about it in a 32' boat in a 90 mph blow. Usually get at least 2 of those per season & they last for days, then it slows down to 40 mph & everyone thinks it's water ski weather. I'v had 2 broken hands & a seperated shoulder because of big blows, God only knows how many broken fingers & chipped elbows i'v gotten in tough weather. I fished a place called Ugashik where the wind "NEVER" stops. Thats the Devils penthouse. Sal |
| Deanster |
posted 08-11-2003 10:10 PM ET (US)
Tough way to make a living. I spent two summers working salmon in Bristol Bay, one as deckhand and one as mate on tenders. Igigik, Ugashek, Naknek, Dillingham, etc. The tenders were 105' wooden 'boats' built in 1943 to no particular plan, and modified some unknown number of times since, currently with huge chilled water tanks to hold salmon (or other fish) caught by folks like Sal in small boats. Even on the big boats, its unsafe, dangerous and likely to be life-threatening. On the small boats, it's just that much worse. I'm pleased for the experience I gained on the Deer Harbor II and Baelena, but I think my preference for non-sinking boats came from the time we ran out of thru-hulls to pump water out of the boat... all 8 were already well employed - ended up pumping out the portholes... |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-11-2003 10:47 PM ET (US)
Dean, the Balena belonged to Alaska Packers, it is a briner like the Lois Anderson. All our tenders were black & orange. I fished all the places you mentioned. I really didn't like egigik & got in to waaaaaay to many fights in Dillingham. Seems like everyone in Dillingham has long hain pulled back into a pony tail, a 44 mag strapped on their hip & a 2 ft long macheti in a scabbard down their back, drunk & lookin for a fight. If you don't drink alot & do lots of drugs, you don't belong there cause your gonna get the beating of your life if your not one tough SOB. Being on the tenders isn't to bad but your kinda stuck [ isolated ] until the fishing slows. The mosquitos, no-see-ums, & white sox would drive me nuts if the wind didn't blow while on shore. I call that place the land of the outgoing tide, as it seems theres never any water in the rivers & more trucks & atvs running around where ships were 4 hours before. Amazing to see it go from a minus 4 ft tide to a plus 25 ft incoming ...a movement of 29 ft of water in just 6 hours. If you people don't think that current moves, figure how fast that water has to move, to move 29 ft of water in 6 hours, try dropping 5 ft every hour or rising 5 ft every hour for 6 hours [ tide changes every 6 hours, 4 tides everyday, 2 outgoings & 2 incomings, 4 tides x 6 hours = 24 hours ]. One of my older wooden boats had a Crusader gas engine in it [ dissplacement hull ] & we were coming in from fishing, the tide was ebbing at full tilt boogie from a huge flood tide, going into a big minus tide ]. I was darn near firewalled on the throttle , throwing spray 15 ft in the air as the waves were coming down the river with the wind, we were throwing a 5 - 6 ft wake. I tried hugging the shore in order to not fight the main middle current, there was a guy walking only 50 yds away on the shore & he was walking slow, but still passing us up, took me almost 1-1/2 hours to go 2 miles up to Alaska Packers dock, now Tridents company. When we you up there ? My Boats were Named ... [ new boat in 1980 ] "Jeannine Michele" [ Battleship gray with black trim ] after my 2 daughters & my wooden boat was "Shampoo" because I also own beauty salons. The only other briner we had was the Lois Anderson run by Ed Dunn, the dry tenders were the Sea Lion , the Manatee Bob Young ], the Catchalot, the Baleena & a bunch of chartered King Crab boats. Hope were not boring anyone on the general site or taking up to much space. Sal |
| SSILVER |
posted 08-11-2003 11:04 PM ET (US)
Keep posting. Hey Sal any idea what sort of money could one expect to make starting out? Not in the in Alaska maybe Montauk or MA. |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-12-2003 12:29 AM ET (US)
SS, Not enough to pay for the fuel. Don't even think about it cause it's a dieing breed. Sal |
| skred |
posted 08-12-2003 11:00 AM ET (US)
Sal, Just remembered Cliff's last name: Johnson. Had a daughter naed Arabella (extremely unattractive girl !) and a goofy son whose name I forget. I remember the son sitting on the bluff with his 300 Weatherby, shooting at the buoys in the center of the river to show off. Remember living in Cliff's little white shacks across the street from the bar, and the bar fights that would end up out in the muddy street, just like the old West.... |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-12-2003 03:19 PM ET (US)
SK, I knew Clif well, a real scuzz ball. $45.00 for a case of beer back in 1985 [ Rainier Ale only ]. What year were you there ? Clif rebuilt the dump into a pretty nice looking place, but still had the 100,000 beer cans just thrown in front. The cannery next door [ Alaska Packers, now Trident ] hasen't operated for about 5 years now so it's just a camp for the fishermen who now deliver their fish to the scows & it's canned accross the river at Trident N. Naknek which used to be Whitney Fidalgo. You might have known my son-inlaw that drown, Chris Bacone as he hung out there & also tended when not fishing. A good looking guy 6'4" tall, his boat was the "Hardtac". Sal |
| skred |
posted 08-12-2003 03:33 PM ET (US)
Sal, I was there summer 1967 - when Bumble Bee burned down. Cliff was certainly a jerk. I fished for him, and worked the bar, and odd-jobbed for 2.5 months, and he presented me with a bill for room and board at the end of that time, which ate up any pay I had coming, and demanded I pay HIM for the time I spent there. I told him to kiss off and scrounged a plane ride out and never looked back. Seems I remember the Hardtac and the name Bacone from the bar... I remember the cannery just upriver from the bar - Alaska Packers - so it's history now... Just remember being out there on the water in a leaky 18-foot wreck of a boat, cooking over a coleman stove, waiting for the "go" from F&G that hardly ever came... Best time I had there was going up to Nondalton to stay with Bill Ivanoff and his wife - and hunting bear and moose.. Ended up with the bears trailing us - so we gave up that idea, and hit the sweat lodge a lot... Too bad about the way the fishing has gone - but, I suspect left unchecked, there'd be no salmon at all by now.. The glory days are certainly gone. Would really love to cruise that whole area with a Whaler 25 or 27 for a summer, but I'm thining that 60 is a little old for that kind of bigwater adventure... |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-12-2003 10:25 PM ET (US)
Red, we were there at the same time, I started in 65. Back then most of the boats were cannery owned, the Alaska Packers boats were red & white [ all stern pickers ], the Bumble Bee boats were green [ mostly bow pickers with "V" drives ], the red salmon cannery boats were yellow [ all stern pickers ]. The bar was called Johnsons but we tagged it as the "Bucket of Blood" because there was more blood on the floor there, then the was in the cannery where they gutted the fish. I'll tell you a quick story. When I was in high school I was a ball player, football, basketball & baseball. I was 6' - 200 lbs & loved to fist fight. Whenever any of our friends had any problems & there was going to be a fight, we were there just for the fun of beating the hell out of guys. Theres a reason i'm leading to this. My first year that I fished Alaska for Salmon, I was the rookie so I got the worst room in the bunk house. The very first room as you enter the bunk house, so I got to listen to the door slam when ever anyone came in or left, [ theres 100 guys that sleep in this house ]. We had been fishing 24 hours a day for 3 solid days & nights & the f&g finally shut us down. We were absolutly exhausted as we didn't sleep for 3 solid days & we were working at 110% all the time, I could barely walk. We came in to shower & sleep & I was in never, never land dead asleep & I hear the door slam real loud & some guy yelling, ...you chicken $h!! Dagos don't have any guts. I sat up in my bed & wondered if I was dreaming or was someone dumb enough to come into the Italian bunk house yelling ...You Dagos are a bunch of chicken $h!!s. I sat there for a few seconds & decided it was a bad dream & laid back down & was instantly asleep. Maybe 30 seconds went by & I hear it again,...now i'm ready to tear someones head off & get out of bed & figure i'll give him & elbow to his head & kick him in his privates & when he folds over I'll knee him in the face & he should be asleep by then & i;ll drag him out & shove him down the 78 stairs that go down to the mess hall. I'm groggy & stumble to my door, open it & turn left & I can't see a thing, as it's about 11:pm & the sun is low & coming right through the windows. I can't see this guy but i'm gonna make hamburger out of him when I do. I put my hand up to shade the sun & i'm about 1 ft from this guy,....when my eyes focus i'm staring at the "MIDDLE" of his chest & the top of his head is every bit of 10 inchs above mine & his shoulders were another 10 inchs on each side of mine,....."HOLY POOP", [ this is family site ] it's Paul Bunyan himself or Son of Kong. This guy had to be 6'11" & 400 lbs with a huge beard hiding his face & long hair just hanging to the middle of his chest & back. I real woke up fast now & thought, ...ok big mouth, your up to your lower lip in poop & this guy is making waves, whats your plan,....ok, plan "B" ,..... no plan "B". Absolut;y "NEVER" in my life have I ever been concerned about going into a fight, even when we were out numbered 2 to 1 because I could really handle myself very well & was very strong, but this time it's gonna be different because this guy is going to have me for a midnight snack & spit me out a little at a time. I tell Paul or son of Kong, hey man, you really don't want to come in here yelling crap like that because theres some mean SOBs in here & quite a few from Italy & they all carry guns & knives & someone is going to just open the door & blow you away,.... Why don't you go down to the bar because the Fillipinos are just getting ioff work from the cannery & they will all go to the bar & they love to fight, so go have yourself some fun instead of getting dead. Whew !!!! he turned around & left. The next morning, I'm going down for breakfast & my good fillipino buddy Oscar is walking with me. We see Paul or son of Kong with a huge bandage covering the right side of his head, I was telling Oscar about him & asked, what the hell happened to him. Oscar say, Sal, you wouldn't believe this nut, he's the biggest person any of us has ever seen & he comes walking into the bar as were all there having a beer & he yells, you flips belong in the jungle swinging from the trees with the monkeys, because your all just a bunch of chicken $h!! monkeys anyhow. Everyone looked up & thought, this guy must be kidding, but he said it again & again & started pushing people around, so we [ about 10 guys ]took him outside, beat the living crap out of him & cut his right ear off & stuck it in his shirt pocket, he aint gonna bother nobody no more is what Oscar said. The next thing we saw was him getting into the company van & being driven to the air strip if thats what you want to call it, to fly him into King Salmon & put him on a jet to Anchorage to get his ear sewn back on. Man I had nightmares about that monster for months. Hell, the only way i'd of fought him is if I had a 50 caliber machine gun from a fox hole. Sal |
| diamondjj |
posted 08-12-2003 11:10 PM ET (US)
Interesting posts, guys. You folks have provided a first hand account as to what it is like being a commercial fisherman both on and off the waters of Alaska. I have enjoyed reading every one of them. |
| skred |
posted 08-13-2003 07:56 AM ET (US)
Sal, Great story! That's the way I remember Alaska! Bar brawls all the time - I carried my .44 everywhere and I was 6 foot 190 lbs. My partner was 6 foot 5, 225, and not too many folks hassled him - specially since he poured the drinks. You know, he confided in me that in addition to getting paid to tend bar, he skimmed over a hundred bucks a night off the bar top from guys too drunk to know they had left any money lay there. I have a picture of him behind Cliff's bar, and also one of us with one of the local "honeys". If I can find it, I'll email 'em to you. Hard to believe there was so little law there, but the country was so huge... Just reminiscing about those silver beauties sliding in over the stern, as we picked them out of the net with our hook. When we offloaded the fish, we used that single-tine long-handed thing they called a "Peu" (pew?). Never did figure out how that got it's name. |
| Sal DiMercurio |
posted 08-13-2003 11:57 PM ET (US)
I think you & I are the only ones who knows what a Pue is. We catch the fish in nets, take them out 1 by 1 after the net is on the boat. As we take them out we throw them into the forward fish holds to get the weight forward. These Salmon only weigh between 4 & 6 lbs & the boat is certified for 12,000 or 2,000 fish. When we unload we don't go to the cannery, if fact we never unload at the cannery, we unload on a tender or scow. We tie up along side & they drop a big basket that holds 200 fish. The fish are all loose in the holds so we use whats called a pue. It's got a handle like a thick broom stick with a semi straight metal tip with a slight bend to to it, [ tip is maybe 10" long. We stick each fish in the head & toss it into the basket with one guy in 1 hold & another in the other & we each pue 100 fish each, then the raise the basket & weight the fish & mark it down, when were done unloading we bring our fish book up to the Captain of the tender & he enters the weights & tears out 1 copy & you keep the book with 3 other copies until the end of the season. When the season is over & it's time to go home, we bring our book to the book keeper & he adds all the weights together & figures how much was earned, then deducts our room & board, fuel, & whatever was purchased from the cannery, no money changes hands for anything, just sign the bill & it gos towards your boats debt & is deducted from the gross earnings of the boat. Of coarse you had really check your bills because sometimes the book keepers finger slips & they charge you $10.00 for a package of oreos & you bough 10 boxes so they want $100.00 for 10 packages of oreos or $20.00 for 10 lbs of potatos, or $800 for something that should be $80.00 . It seems the book keepers fingers seem to always slip in favor of the company, not the boat,...if you know what I mean. Sal |
| skred |
posted 08-14-2003 09:16 AM ET (US)
It's all coming back to me now... Really go tired arms tossing those fish, I remember. Seems there was always "finger slipping" going on with the bookkeeping. Old Cliff Johnson was a master at it... Sal, it's been great reminiscing, and someday - maybe some day - I'll get crazy enough to go back for a looksee... My lady and I are planning an Inside Passage trip up to AK, and it's not that far out of the way to Naknek... Who knows? P.S. I've still got my Billiken - but somebody swiped my Oosik. |
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