Ship’s Log September 18-22 2019
Off to Jail
Lots of questions about what happened in Ilwaco at the end of trip 5. I will protect all involved and simply say there was a somewhat aggressive parole violation.
We fished for 5 days and gottem pretty good. I was really hoping for those end of season days up north of the Columbia with lots of surface action. Normally this time of year the albacore are hot on the surface, boiling on baitfish with jumpers all around, heavy bird action, and a generally easy to find bunch of tuna schools as far as the eye can see. We all hope for that… But this year it just has not materialized that way.
There was another heavy weather pattern coming. Mostly blowing from the south, so I could not simply slide down toward home where there were still lots of fish being caught. The forcast was very mixed, hard to read, changing daily and entirely crappy. So I began our 60 mile trip back to Ilwaco.
“Do we HAVE to go to Ilwaco?” asked Walker.
“Yes. Thats where our market is, and the only port to get fresh live bait… We are going to Ilwaco!”
Silent acceptance.
About 11am on the 22nd of September, my Satellite phone rang. It was my fish buyer calling.
“You coming in with this storm?”
Yes
“Today?”
Yes, I am 7 hours out… Why??
“Trying to plan my offloads and timing etc. Whadya got on?”
About 5 tons
“Ok I want to unload you about 9am. See you when you get in.”
Hmmmmmmm… Usually I make the calls and he responds to me on that. Something is up.
Near 7 hours later and we are passing the Coast Guard dock about a mile from entrance into Ilwaco harbor. There is a zodiac with a hard top all loaded up with Coastie guys and they motored directly behind us. It’s near 6pm on a Sunday.
“I don’t think these guys are going to get fuel at this time on a Sunday.” I said to Walker.
Silence.
We hit the dock, Walker jumped out to tie off, the zodiac sped to a spot nearby and 4 crew literally ran around my bow and hit Walker full force. He barely had a wrap. I left it in gear and turned the wheel to hold James Lee steady, climbed down off the flying bridge and said…LOUDLY
“You guys should have at least let him tie the f#@$%!ng boat down!” While I tied the boat down.
Then there stood a giant Sheriff dude, and next to him my fish buyer. “So this is why you called me!”
The main Coast Guard guy and the Sheriff had some questions for me, and I had some for them. I’m irritated. Why here now? This should have happened a week ago. I’m guessing someone finally called the cops.
After a thorough inspection by the authorities, and a clear “You are free to proceed” given to me, I sat and scratched my head. Then I gathered all Walkers stuff, organized it, and stowed it safely. It looks like Walker will be spending an unknown amount of time locked up.