DeepSeaGangster's blog

A slow boat and a short net

DeepSeaGangster — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 13:55:25 -0500

It's light outside twenty hours a day in Kenai, AK during July. This is good for those of us with 20-hour work days. Commercial fishing periods are generally open for drift-netters on certain days from 7AM to 7PM. This means we get up around 3AM to get to the boat and get out to the...

the beauty of expectations met in San Francisco

DeepSeaGangster — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:21:53 -0500

i always imagined that i would really like the city of San Francisco, and my visit confirmed this thought. the fact that i had high expectations and still left pleasantly surprised says a lot. now i just have to wait for some big company to offer me a 6-figure salary so i can move there,...

the craigslist connection

DeepSeaGangster — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:51:10 -0500

after wrapping up the fishing season in Astoria, i wanted to drive down to San Francisco to visit a buddy of mine. i checked out the 'rideshare' on craigslist to see if i could help anybody out. it was my first time trying it, and it worked out pretty well. the first few people i...

toughness has a soul

DeepSeaGangster — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 13:45:41 -0600

The inaugural Fisher Poets Gathering happened in Astoria, OR in 1998 with a few dozen people from the local area crammed into a little meeting hall, reading their scribbles to each other over coffee and cake. Last weekend, the 11th Annual Fisher Poets Gathering kicked off on Friday evening with a fancy...

The Crazy List

DeepSeaGangster — Fri, 1 Feb 2008 23:29:23 -0600

if i meet someone who is unfamiliar with commercial fishing, or with the ocean in general, and the topic of my livelihood arises, i can usually count on being queried about three particular subjects. you can probably guess what they are. first of all, there's the "Deadliest Catch", and...

"the more things change..."

DeepSeaGangster — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:23:37 -0600

this rainy afternoon(it rains here MORE than reputed) was spent at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. it's kind of small but it's loaded. the Columbia is an amazing natural resource, and its ebb and flow really shaped the development of the region, from the timber industry, to shipping and trade,...

weather & whiskey: a fisherman's tale

DeepSeaGangster — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 16:46:16 -0600

we haven't done much fishing so far this season. we've been plagued by consistently bad weather, the worst weather anyone can remember out here. it began with the typhoon on the second day of december that destroyed many people's homes and essentially stranded thousands more with road...

rain, sleet, snow, wind...and crabs!

DeepSeaGangster — Sat, 1 Dec 2007 19:32:02 -0600

dungeness crab season opened in Oregon on Dec. first. we started hauling pots at 12:01 AM. they were all full, and there was joy on the Melko. the freezing rain, however, managed to somewhat temper our enthusiasm. not to mention the fact that winds approaching 100 mph are...

Keys Disease or the American Dream

DeepSeaGangster — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:25:46 -0600

Yordy Martinez and six other people left Cuba one summer night on a poorly constructed raft. Even mild seas flipped their vessel with regularity. Within 48 hours they lost their provisions and one soul. Several days later another older woman succumbed to exposure and dehydration....

the price of progress

DeepSeaGangster — Thu, 8 Nov 2007 14:56:02 -0600

the commercial fishing industry in Key West used to be based right downtown, with a working waterfront supporting all the shops, bars, and restaurants that thrived on the tourist trade. now fancy marinas, hotels, and resorts dominate the waterfront of downtown Key West, and the commercial fleet...

stealing thunder

DeepSeaGangster — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:30:37 -0500

i know a bunch of halloween party posts will probably make it up here, but we just had the party to end them all down in Key West. Fantasy Fest is a week-long drive down debauchery road, otherwise known as Duval Street, culminating in the grand parade on Saturday night. actually it's a...

forget The View, watch The Gearshed

DeepSeaGangster — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 17:29:57 -0500

the hardest part of our season is over. the excruciatingly monotonous gear work is done, all of our traps are ready, the boat looks good. it's severely dull, but the thing is, this is where you make your money. if the gear isn't rigged properly or the boat isn't carefully maintained,...

tiny revelations

DeepSeaGangster — Mon, 8 Oct 2007 00:51:30 -0500

I'm in Astoria, OR for a couple of weeks of gear work to prepare for Dungeness crab fishing season. I just got off the Providence Wednesday afternoon, left Kodiak at 8 PM, and landed in Portland at 6 AM. I was psyched to drive straight out to Astoria and get to work, but my boss told me that...

The sharpest thing on the planet

DeepSeaGangster — Tue, 2 Oct 2007 16:45:09 -0500

The sharpest thing on the planet is a brand new Victoronox fishing knife. There's no question about it. The thing will cut you to the bone from across the room. The first thing that happens whenever I purchase a brand new Victoronox fishing knife is that it jumps from its incompetent...

the worst criminal ever

DeepSeaGangster — Thu, 6 Sep 2007 19:45:53 -0500

As I watched the soft red glow of my cell phone slowly curling to the depths of Kodiak Harbor, I curiously found myself feeling about as placid as the water itself. And I felt good about that, pleased with myself in a rebellious-freedom-satisfaction-type-of-way. Then I thought that it also meant...

The Bear Minimum

DeepSeaGangster — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 21:44:53 -0500

I’ve got work on a tender called Providence. The owner/skipper, Craig is a relatively calm but hard-driving man who tries to work his boat as much as possible. He resides in Kodiak and likes to “dabble“ in real estate. The other mate, Zack, is a sixteen-year-old kid on a work program to avoid...

better take that luck to Vegas, baby!

DeepSeaGangster — Tue, 7 Aug 2007 22:17:32 -0500

I’ve been completely out of digital reach, seemingly at the end of one part of the earth, for almost two months. I knew what I was getting into, and I thought it would be a spiritually rewarding bit of escapism, a comfortably temporary disconnect from the tele-techno-communication frenzy of...

Heroic...Homeric...whatever...

DeepSeaGangster — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 19:03:57 -0500

The Totem is ready. And it only needed somewhere between 500 - 600 man-hours. We’re loaded with gear and supplies for the fishermen already over in Bristol Bay - oil drums, lumber, big plastic totes of groceries, even an outhouse. I haven’t quite figured that one out yet. But the crew is...

Key West with mittens

DeepSeaGangster — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 01:36:40 -0500

A young former lawyer from Israel came around the Totem this week, looking for some work, or a bunk on a ship to Kodiak, or both. He says he’s done with the law game, he’s got a new plan. His father always wanted to be a fisherman, live the life, but a marriage and two kids put the kibosh on...

"a nice thing to be surprised about"

DeepSeaGangster — Thu, 7 Jun 2007 01:38:16 -0500

I’ve got work on a tender vessel named the Totem, an eighty foot steel scow straight outta Waterworld. We’re fixing the pluming, wiring, generators, hydraulics, everything. I have trouble eating lunch because my hands are a bloody, greasy mess. It’s a good thing my boss, Paul, doesn’t mind...

any second now...

DeepSeaGangster — Sun, 3 Jun 2007 00:59:01 -0500

A few weeks ago I was soaking up the warm sun of south Florida. Last week was perfect golf weather in Westport, Mass. Now, in Homer, Alaska, it's overcast, rainy, daylight for 20 hours, and 50 degrees plus a nice chill on the wind. What the hell am I thinking? Oh yeah...I'm in the hot spot for...

don't drink red Gatorade

DeepSeaGangster — Tue, 29 May 2007 11:51:06 -0500

Davie, FL - The seductive, glittery glow of downtown Miami fills the night horizon. The men gaze longingly at the sight. Anticipation pumps through their veins. They can sense the ripe vibrations in the South Florida air, still thick in late October. It’s after 8 PM, but these guys aren’t...

Portland promise

DeepSeaGangster — Mon, 28 May 2007 18:26:29 -0500

I ventured up to Portland, Maine to visit my little brother Mark. We ventured down to the waterfront in the afternoon to see what we could see. I know, I should have put him in the pictures, but the scenery there was classic. I'm excited to get back up there and do some fishing, hear what some of...

"love the Drake"

DeepSeaGangster — Sat, 26 May 2007 16:09:32 -0500

It’s hazy-light, just me and some ghosts down at Lees Wharf at 5:30 AM. A steady wind eases out of the east, like it has been for the last few days. Capt. Borden said they usually didn’t catch much during an easterly blow, and he wanted something picture-worthy. I told him I’m not that great...

The Baseline Truth

DeepSeaGangster — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:42:39 -0500

Head down Main Street toward Westport Point and it’s hard not to feel like a stranger. Despite the new cars parked on the road or in driveways, the scene feels drawn from another age. Moss-covered stone walls border the yards. The homes look like they haven’t been touched in a century. The...

"wicked" Westport

DeepSeaGangster — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:07:17 -0500

come to find out, stuff in Westport is either "wicked good", like lobster rolls, or "wicked bad", like some of the weather these guys fish in. one guy who lives in Westport, Grant Moore, is featured on the new Discovery Channel series, "Lobstermen". i might try to catch up with him. but first i...