I almost never post but I couldn’t leave this one alone.
Who would I choose for company in a survival situation? Does it have to be someone famous? I know a group of men. I would be comfortable trusting my life to any of them. Indeed, I have already done so. In an earlier lifetime, I spent ten years fishing for halibut in the Gulf of Alaska. A little like “The Deadliest Catch,” except in smaller boats.
Anyone on this list of superb former shipmates:
Pat - tough, tireless, one of the three best-read people of my acquaintance, willing to argue all night.
Joel - tough, tireless, owns two degrees, one of the three best-read people of my acquaintance.
Leo - tough immigrant kid, impossible to out-work, ran his own boat for years. Deceased.
Ron - strong, can’t feel pain, has a degree in French literature, spent his entire working life at sea.
Jack - madman, near-genius at getting into trouble and then out of it, superb at sea.
Glen - born to shine at sea, possessed of an uncanny sixth sense. Deceased.
Henry - strong, hard-working, hard-drinking Norwegian, always smiling, seemed not to notice hardship, deceased.
Vic - full-time commercial fisherman since age fourteen, quit after fifty-six years, an encyclopedia of arcane knowledge about the sea.
Dave - skipper, served on merchantmen in WWII convoys. Acting third mate at nineteen. Good at dealing with those unexpected, screwball, sideways, deadly situations mommy ocean loves to throw at you. Deceased.
All of the above had smarts, killer senses of humour, intelligent fear and an ability to get along in tight quarters and work as part of a team. Give me any one of them. Anywhere.
he is an outdoorsman 100% Lives to hunt/fish & loves to camp !
