A Life Wasted

Sewer to Kodiak

While repairing my boat Billy convinced me it was time to fish Kodiak.  Billy had grown up in a remote Kodiak native village and fished around the big island his entire life.  He barely knew the waters around Seward, but claimed to know every inch of Kodiak Island.  With the long trip agreed on, we provisioned the boat and planed to leave after the bars closed.  It was either wait until then or leave without Billy.  I'd lost the other two crew members after our collision with the freighter, so it would just be Billy and I.  I would never consider making a trip of that distance without a crew, but felt comfortable doing so with Billy.

When the bars closed I had the boat ready.  It was low tide, which meant I'd have to fight the incoming tide on the long run out Resurrection Bay, but I didn't care: I was eager to put to sea.  I'd warmed up the engine and crew quarters, made coffee and sandwiches, even untied all but two mooring lines.  All I needed was Billy, so I left the boat with the engine idling and went to collect him.

Due to the low tide, Seward's floating docks sat thirty feet below the shore.  This meant the long rolling ramp that connected the docks to the shore was at an extreme and dangerous angle.  I was loathing the trip up the ramp and praying it had been salted when a wild shout drew my attention.  At the top of the ramp, with an empty beer bottle raised as a sword, stood Billy Bear.  Before I could even think to shout at him Billy assumed a surfer's stance and stepped out on to the smooth side of the ramp.  (The left side had slats to give foot hold, but the right was smooth for things with wheels.)  As I watched Billy made a perfect standing slide down the long ramp making it all the way to the bottom without faltering.  It was an impressive feat.  That changed when he reached the bottom.  Because the ramp rolled with the tide on large metal wheels, the ramp ended with a two inch drop to the dock.  That drop caused Billy to stumble.  Momentum carried him four clumsy steps and into the cold black water.

I ran towards him so fast that I nearly fell in myself and even startled a sea otter sleeping on the dock that I always worked hard not to disturb.  It took two minutes to reach the place Billy entered the water.  He'd have been dead if not for the Coast Guard Cutter Mustang's permanent berth near where Billy went into the water.  Two Coast Guardsmen on duty witnessed Billy's slide and reacted immediately.  In the two minutes it took me to reach them they'd pulled Billy out of the water and were already rubbing him down.  It was only after I explained that I was former Coast Guard that they allowed me to take him rather than sending him to the hospital as their policy required.  Because of the trauma of extreme cold water, Billy slept for the next thirty hours.  He woke fully recovered so I gave him the helm and hit the sack.  After driving the boat for thirty straight hours through heavy seas I was exhausted.  We reached Kodiak in another six hours but I slept through it.  When I woke the boat was securely tied to the Kodiak Village dock.  Billy was long gone.  He wasn't difficult to find as he was in the first bar I came to.

Kodiak is a small village, but large for an Alaskan fishing town.  It was said to be the largest commercial fishing port in the world.  I don't know if this is true, but it's twin harbors held more fishing boats than I have ever seen.  Meaning, up until that point I don't think all the commercial fishing boats I had ever seen equaled the number moored in Kodiak.  Kodiak Village was a fishing community, which was clear when realized there were more boats than houses.  

That night I was able to get Billy out of a large and dangerous bar without a fight, but did witness several fights.  This was a win, but later encounters in Kodiak's bars would be different.  We picked up another crew member, refueled, bought bait and ice then went fishing.  Now that we were on Billy's turf he wanted to pick our course, which I readily agreed to.  So far our catch had been so small I lost money on every trip, so I was pleased with Billy's confidence.  Before he passed out the previous evening Billy explained that we needed to leave through the north entrance of Kodiak harbor and travel west between Kodiak and Afognak Islands.  When we reached the Shelikof Straight, the twenty mile wide channel between Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula we'd turn south but travel south by south west.  Our target was the Alaska Peninsula.  Billy warned me to wake him before crossing the Shelikof Straight.