My son Ed has always had a great deal of enthusiasm. He is inclined to trust everything and everyone regardless of who it may be. This faith in people has led to some disastrous experiences. Certain types of people quickly learn of such trustfulness and natural honesty and do not hesitate to exploit it to the utmost. Ed being so honest himself finds it very difficult to believe that others may be dishonest. He has been cheated and swindled repeatedly and often by the same person.
He called me one day asking me to meet him in Seattle for an interesting adventure. Ed had a friend who had his complete confidence. He had led Ed financially astray many times. Upon this occasion he came with an enthusiastic tale about a commercial salmon gill net fishing boat. The boat, complete with nets and all necessary fishing gear could be purchased for a comparatively modest sum as commercial fishing boats go. It was reported that this would be one of the best salmon runs in years. Ed's enthusiasm rose but he had to decide quickly, since other purchasers were eager to buy the boat. Very soon he was owner of a gill net fishing boat. I never learned how much commission Ed's friend made on the quick sale.
When I met Ed he proudly took me down to see the boat moored at a fishing dock in Seattle. The boat was most unique. It was very old and floated in the water at a peculiar angle. The stern was rather higher than the bow, making it appear to be going down hill. When I remarked about this strange attitude, Ed cheerfully said that this was deliberately done so that when the boat was loaded with salmon, they would bring the stern down to a level position. Ed's plan was to take the boat up Puget Sound from Seattle to Blaine which is next to the Canadian border. I was invited to join this expedition.
The power plant on the boat was an ancient Model T Ford engine, which had been modified in some respects to give it a higher reverse speed than normal. There was also a water cooling system which differed from the original such as I had used more than 40 years before. Full of enthusiasm, Ed began cranking the engine, but to no avail. We tinkered and cranked for what seemed to he hours. Finally we started to take the engine apart, and found a broken cylinder. This did not dampen Ed's enthusiasm, for he said "I know where I can buy another Model T engine and we can change it in no time."
We drove to a wrecking yard which Ed was familiar with and inquired if there was a Model T motor. Several men held a consultation and they finally decided there was an engine. They thought it was buried among some brush and weeds. It was found. A truck with a crane picked it up and deposited it in the trunk of Ed's car. I think the cost was $40.00. We hurried back to the dock and removed the old motor. It was difficult to install the new motor, as the old one had been modified in some ways. We worked away until quite late in the evening and had to give up. I drove back home to Tacoma and heard no more for a period of time. Ed once more invited me to go with him to Blaine and go on his first fishing trip. I was interested in hearing his account of what had happened since I had last seen him. After working on the replacement engine for a couple of days he got it running. Since the reverse gear had not been altered, it ran so slow, in reverse, that you could hardly see the boat move. When all was ready Ed contacted the man who had arranged the sale of the boat to him and arranged for him to run the boat from Seattle, north to Mukilteo. Ed and Chester would meet him there and they would all take the boat to Blaine. When Ed and Chester met the boat at Mukilteo, Roger said "let me out of this thing, and I don't want to see it again."
He explained that after starting the boat at Ballard it went so slowly they couldn't get anywhere. A huge freighter cane straight for him and nearly ran him down. It took hours to get to Mukilteo. He left in great disgust and Ed and Chester took over. They had a gas station highway map which was not very good for finding channels between islands. With the enthusiasm of youth they putted along all night, sometimes running aground and pushing off again. At times there were swift tidal currents which took them backwards. Sometime the next morning they reached Bellingham. Ed grabbed a bridge pier and told Chester to continue while he would climb to the bridge and hitch a ride to Bellingham to arrange to sell the fish. Soon after he reached the bridge deck he was picked up by a man who oddly enough was a salmon buyer. Ed arranged to sell all the salmon he could catch and proceeded on his way.
The boys finally reached Blaine with the boat, where Ed made a deal with a fisherman to take the boat out on shares. He then returned home. He next heard that the fisherman had given up in disgust and tied the boat up to a dock. Still full of enthusiasm, Ed called me saying that he was going to Blaine to take the boat out fishing and wanted me to go along. I said we should take Jerry also, who was working for Boeing's at that time. Jerry arranged to get the next day off and we all started to Blaine. Gill netting was only legal between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM. Seiners fished during the day. It was nearly 6:00 when we reached Blaine. The boat was checked for gas and oil and off we sailed. Ours was the slowest boat and everyone passed us, much to Ed's disgust.
The water got rough and it got dark, but we sailed on, not knowing where to go. We finally saw some other fishermen with their nets out and decided we should do the same. A float made of a truck innertube was used for a signal light to show where the net was. Ed and Jerry started to let out the net, but found that the last fisherman had reeled it in without any care and left it tangled in knots all of which had to be untangled. Ed and Jerry worked at this while I ran the boat ahead a little as the net was untangled. It was a slow tedious job. After a while I started to get seasick. There were gas and oil fumes plus pitching and tossing which I could not take. I told Ed I was getting sick and had to lie down.
After a while another fisherman came alongside and offered some help getting the net out, which was appreciated. When the net was finally out everyone lay down for some sleep. There was not enough room in the cabin for three of us, so Jerry went to the stern and got into his sleeping bag. The storm got worse and spray from waves splashed all over. Jerry began to get soaked, and crawled into the cabin with us. We were so crowded that Jerry fell asleep across my legs, which soon became numb. I did not want to move him, as Jerry was so tired and sound asleep, but in time I had to break away to save my legs. After a while Ed woke and said "let's start to pull in the net." We got the motor going and began reeling in. First came some dogfish and then a salmon. Ed said "there is the leader of a school, let's run the net out again and catch the school." We did this and snoozed the best we could for a couple more hours. We woke suddenly and found we must hurry in order to get ashore by 6:00 AM. When the long net was reeled in we had less than 20 salmon. In the meantime the boat had been leaking a good deal. Ed had crawled down into the hull and tried to fix the pump. He took it apart and put it together again with no success. He found another pump and installed it with no better success. As the water was rising we formed a bucket brigade and lowered it to a sager level. Ed next made arrangements with another man to take the boat out on shares. However he was soon notified that the man had found a full time wage earning job and was no longer interested in fishing. When the season was over, Ed had another hair raising trip back down to Seattle. He moved the boat to a dock, but got tired of paying monthly moorage, so he took it out and tied it up at a private dock. After a while it was turned loose. The coast guard picked it up, towed it in and called Ed. He said he would be right down, but of course he forgot. They called three times and started to get mad. Ed than rented a big trailer which he hooked to his car, backed it down into the water and brought the boat over it. It was enormously heavy and Ed had a hard time pulling it up. Finally it got up so far and then slid forward, buckling the frame of the trailer and smashing into the back of his car, caving in the rear lid and breaking the rear window.
He could not get any further, so backed it all down into the bay and tied it up again to a private moorage. He then went home a sadder and a wiser man, I hope. Well, they say virtue is its own reward and Ed finally got the break he was looking for. He got a letter from a Bellingham load company saying they had a loan against the boat put on by the previous owner and they had just found out who had the boat. They asked for about $800.00 balance due. Ed cheerfully told them that the boat was theirs and come and get it, which they did at enormous expense. They say that all is well that ends well. Ed was happy when he saw the end of the boat.