Sunday, August 31, 2008

Talking tuna

Quite frequently I visit the docks at Fishermen's Terminal in Seattle to see what boats are here and just check things out. Today I went down there after work and saw that some of the Salmon boats are back from their season as are a handful of the crab vessels that tender the salmon. While looking at a crabber I guy came out of his boat and said hello. He was docked next to the crabber and we started chatting. After about 5 minutes he asked if I'd like to come aboard, so I did and we continued talking in the galley. I learned that he was the captain on this tuna boat, the 'Deep Sea'. He's also enlisted quite a bit during non fishing times to run boats around for different owners. Recently he had brought a boat to Mexico where it was going to get modified for another fishery. He's been a fisherman for about 40 years and goes by the name Cap'n. His real name is Larry, but he hasn't been called that for many years he said.
Cap'n has fished for almost everything, from crab, herring, salmon and currently runs the tuna boat. I shared some of my limited fishing experience as I fished on a boat on Lake Michigan for 3 years as we hunted for salmon and lake trout. Cap'n explained how they fish on the Deep Sea and a bit how that all works.
In all I spent about 40 minutes talking with him before I had to head home since I was getting pretty hungry. He told me that the next time I come down, I should stop by and say hello to him, I told him it was a deal.

No comments: