Jack the Skipper Part I- A Story by John Mickman

PART I:
This story is third in a series of some of my adventures working as a commercial shrimp and crab fisherman in the North Pacific and Bering Seas in the 1970's and '80's. I had taken a quarter off from my senior year at the University of Minnesota, and hitchhiked to Kodiak, Alaska with just a hundred twenty dollars in my pocket. At this point in the series, I had just gotten back from my first trip on a shrimp boat, The Pacific Pearl, that my buddy Tony Jones had helped me get.

The Pacific Pearl

Tony Jones' older brother Chris arrived in Kodiak to take the second deckhand position on the old wooden shrimp trawler, The Pacific Pearl. After spending almost two months trying to find a job on a fish boat,  I had been secretly hoping Chris wouldn't arrive and that I could sign on to work with Tony. However, after meeting Chris I quickly changed my mind. Like Tony, Chris was an a great guy and the three of us became fast friends. After the shrimp were unloaded off of the Pacific Pearl, I helped them take on ice for their next shrimp fishing trip and watched them steam out of the bay while I watched from shore, once again without a job. (A year later, the Pacific Pearl sunk in Shelikof Straights and two men were lost.)

However, now I had a couple of new things going for me; I had experience on a shrimp boat and dozens of shrimp boats were now fishing. Certainly one of them could use another deckhand!

Kodiak, Alaska Harbor in 1972

So, I continued my daily route, covering the harbor, cannery row, Sutliff's Marine Hardware and the fisherman's bars - multiple times each day. It is a full time job getting a full time job, and I was on the docks by 7 AM and stayed with it all day and evening for another two weeks. I always wore my hip boots and now wore what we call a 'Halibut Hat', to keep the perennial drizzle off of my head. Although I had met over a hundred fishermen, no one knew of any jobs. It was becoming difficult to hear the same rejections time and time again, dozens of times daily.

One chilly, wet day as I walked along the dock of King Crab Cannery, a shrimp dragger named The Sogn had just finished being unloaded; I knew because I had been there earlier in the day while the cannery guys were unloading her. However, this time one of the deckhands was straightening the deck in preparation for another trip. It was low tide, so this guy was about 20 feet lower than I was while standing on the dock.

I called down over the noisy din of the cannery operation behind me, "Hey, do you guys have a full crew?". The guy sized me up as he craned his neck up to see me; yet another young deck hand looking for a job. After looking me over, the guy yelled up to me, "Yeah, we're one man short. Do you have any experience?"

I couldn't believe my ears; these guys actually needed to hire a deckhand! "Well sure", I called back. "I've fished with Dick on the Pacific Pearl!". The guy stopped what he was doing and said, "Dick is a good skipper. Come on down on deck." Oh man, this was it; if this conversation went well, I might get a job!!!

The MV Sogn - A combination shrimp dragger & crab boat

After scrambling down the ladder to the deck of The Sogn, the guy held out his hand and introduced himself as Ron Tennyson, the boat owner's son. Ron was a couple of years older than me and kind of hard looking, but had a real easy manner.  "Come on in the galley and get a cup of coffee", Ron said. "Let's get out of this weather." After he poured a couple of strong cups of 'ships coffee', we each fired up a cigarette and Ron explained the situation. "My dad is in poor health and hired a guy named Jack to run the boat for him. I'd run it, but I'm already committed to working on a salmon seiner in a week or two, so someone has to take my place on my dad's boat. Jack has promised to give a chance to another guy named Rick, but Rick doesn't have any experience like you do. I think you'd be a better deck hand than Rick. I wish you'd been here earlier", he explained.

Unbelievable! After working at keeping tabs on all the boats I could for almost two months, there had been a job opening and I didn't know about it -  and now it might be too late. I had an idea. "Well, I do have experience on the Pacific Pearl and I know I'd do a great job for the boat. How about if I went out for free this first trip and Jack can decide who he wants to keep; me or Rick", I suggested.

"Boy, that's a good idea", Ron said. "Rick is going out for free too because of no experience. I think Jack will go for it. He will be back aboard in a couple of minutes. Why don't you wait around and when he arrives and I'll talk to him about it?"

"OK, sounds like a plan. If Jack wants to talk to me, just let me know", I said just as I saw someone coming down the ladder from the dock. As this new, older guy walked past me on deck, I tried to say hi but he brushed by me without acknowledging my existence. Not a good sign, I thought to myself. 

After Jack the Skipper went into the galley, I stayed on deck, kind of close to the split Dutch Door of the galley to listen for Ron to call me in. I couldn't hear much of what Ron said, but I could hear that Jack was upset because he was yelling at Ron. "By God Ron, I'm the skipper; you have no authority to hire anyone when I'm in charge. I'm the Skipper and no one can hire crewmen except me. Just because your dad owns the boat doesn't give him the right to hire my crew." Ouch, I thought to myself. This may not work out after all.

Then Ron started yelling and he argued that Jack had hired an inexperienced guy and his guy (me) was obviously better because I had experience fishing with Dick on the Pacific Pearl.

I was nervous, no one has asked me just HOW MUCH experience I had - less than one day. When Ron called me to come in the galley, I was nervous. As I closed the lower half of the Dutch Door, I got my first good look and impression of Jack. In one word; ferocious! He was about 35 years old, had jet black hair, dark chiseled features and had an enormously strong looking upper body. His sleeves were rolled up exposing the most muscular forearms I had ever seen; they looked like Popeye the Sailor's forearms . He wasn't that tall, maybe 5' 10", but he had an extremely commanding presence. "So you've fished with Dick on the Pacific Pearl. Is that right?", he growled at me with one of the most intimidating looks I had ever seen.

"Yeah, that's right", I said. "Tony Jones was the other deck hand."

"Well the strike just ended 2 days ago", Jack said. "How long were you on board?".

This was the dreaded question. "I just fished one trip with them, but there were only the 3 of us on board; I know all there is to know about handling the deck work of a shrimp dragger. I was the Iceman, and we didn't lose one shrimp. I know Dick will give me a good word if you want to ask him", I said to Jack and looked right at him in the dim light of the galley.

"Ha", Jack said with a sneer to Ron, "You've only made one trip, and a short one at that. I don't call that experience. You're only a beginner. You're also a college kid aren't you. We're working men in this fleet; we do this for a living. I've already hired another guy".

After over two months trying to get on a boat I was not going to let this guy back me down. I used all the recently learned fishing lingo I could remember and told him he would never find a harder working deckhand than me. "I'll go out on the first trip for free", I suggested to Jack. "I know there is another guy you're looking at. Why don't you let both of us go out and decide for yourself after the trip, who will make more money for you?"

Jack said, "You're a long haired, hippy kid just looking for a summer job. I'm not interested."

That's when Ron jumped back in. "Jack, I've got to get off my dad's boat after next trip, and although you're the skipper, this is my family's boat. I want to see the best man get this job; it's important to all of us. Give this guy a chance. I'm going out on this next trip and we'll just see who the best guy is. Come on - doesn't that make sense", Ron said in an extremely convincing manner. It sure sounded good to me!

Jack pulled out a Lucky Strike and lit it with his well worn Zippo lighter. After taking a deep drag, he announced, "OK, we'll take the college kid this trip, but understand Ron, this is my decision, not yours. Fair enough?" Ron agreed.

So, the deal was struck (although I couldn't think of a more negative way to get a job). But, no matter; I had a job (even though I wasn't going to be paid). What neither Ron nor Jack knew was how motivated I was to prove myself. I had no idea who this other guy Rick was, but I knew he wasn't going to out-work me, and although I didn't have much experience, I knew the drill of a shrimp dragger. I was going to be the permanent deck hand on The Sogn, not Rick. There was no doubt in my mind.

Jack looked at me and said, "I don't like this idea, but I'm willing to give you a shot John. Get your gear; we're leaving for the ice dock in 20 minutes." Jack had a certain way of smiling at me, and this was the first time I saw it; the smile was more like a sneer - like he knew something that I didn't know - but should. I really couldn't read this look at all. Yet.  

"OK Jack", I held out my hand. He shook it with a vice like grip while looking at me with his spooky smile and told me I'd better hurry; he wasn't going to wait for me. I left the galley of The Sogn, scrambled back up the ladder and ran back to Paul and Sam's house to get my gear. I hadn't been this excited for a long time. Even though I was going to do it for free again, I HAD A JOB AS A FISHERMAN!

When I returned to The Sogn, the other guy, Rick, was on board as was the Iceman, Bert Parker. The engines were already fired up, and Jack told us to throw off the lines; we were underway.

Watch for next week's edition of 'Jack the Skipper' and find out if Jack chose me or Rick to work the deck of The Sogn.