El Capitan

4/22/09

Captain Ahab. Far from the monster depicted in Melville’s book, Jamie is a good skipper. He is better fisherman then all the guys here, and as far as I have seen, a better man to work for. He treats us with respect, and when we are not fishing we are friends talking about anything and everything with topics ranging from women and environment, to religion and politics.  On a lot of the other boats, the relationship between skipper and crew is strictly work related, an occurrence which I don’t even know how is possible, as we share a cabin space of 14 ft by 10ft and are constantly interacting whether we choose to or not.  Jamie is pretty hilarious. He is a joker. It is hard to take him seriously most of the time. But despite his lightheartedness, he is very concerned for our well being and constantly asking how we are doing. He is normally collected, yet when its time to fish, he changes into a maniac.  He has so much energy and he doesn’t quite have a handle on how to harness all of it, so some of it has to find a way out somehow-namely through his vocal chords. Yes, Jamie is a screamer, but not the bad kind. That word has such negative connotation because most screamers scream with no respect. They yell at their crew with every curse known to man, swearing to high heavens and to the depths of hell. I am not saying Jamie’s screaming is excusable, but at least he has respect for us and doesn’t put us down. His mind flies a hundred miles an hour, and there are constantly about 5 things to do at once, so of course he gets flustered. Although it can be so frustrating and hard to concentrate though the intensity of it all, I have been learning to get used to it and just focus on my own movements no matter how apoplectic he gets. Speaking of which, that is one of the many “jamie-isms” that are starting to become part of my vocabulary. A few other words that come to mind that he always uses are “hermaphroditic” : ugly, and “bubbacide”: the act of overeating as in “I just commited bubbacide”. I will be sure to mention the other hilarious words as they come to mind. Mike said it best about Jamie: “you learn to either hate to love him, or love to hate him”. Jamie has many enemies. He has been involved in the politics of Alaska fisheries since the seventies, and has been a sort of revolutionary in certain aspects. He set up some of the most successful combines(co-op fishing) in the state, and has been responsible for many other political developments too complicated for me to explain. Needless to say, he has accomplished a lot, yet in doing so created enemies. Many people are jealous of his success, his boat, his operation. He is probably the best herring fisherman in the state. He has been named “highliner” several years in the “National Fisherman” magazine, a prestigious nomination due more to his contributions to Alaska’s fisheries rather than actual fish caught. I respect him a lot as a fisherman, and more importantly as a person. He doesn’t let the petty criticisms and trash talking of others phase him. He is not interested in the awards or the image. He just loves to catch fish, and he loves being the best at what he does. And most important in my eyes is how much he loves his wife and kids. It kills him to be gone for so long, but he flies home at every opportunity, and they come live on the boat when they can in the summertime. He is a good guy no matter what people say,  and I feel honored to be working on his boat. I will write more about him later.