This is Richard's boat. He built it 52 years ago here in Ketchikan. Richard just arrived here to "take care of some business." Thing is Richard is 83. I ran into him hauling a load of laundry up a steep dock ramp. "I'm getting too old for this shit," he said grinning. "I was at sea for 89 days." All I could say was "Wow" and "Where did you come from?" As my brain kicked in I thought, "damn, I should have come up with a less typical question." He said "the Marshall Islands, past Japan, along the Aleutian Islands, and finally into a port town north of here. Got in around midnight, dropped the anchor, and cracked open a bottle of whiskey I have been saving. I had not been feeling well." Made sense since his boat is named Firewater. I bet that tasted damn fine after 89 days.
Richard continued, "damn typhoon chased me the whole way. 85 knot winds for days." I responded with something stupid I'd rather forget, "Bet that was fun....." He said, "yeah, I've been around the world on this boat but I'm too old for this shit. Spend a whole week just 100 miles off the Dixon entrance waiting for the right weather to get inside. Probably be at this dock 1 or 2 weeks." Brilliantly I said, "where to next?" His response, "Death." Now I was thinking "that's dark," but he smiled and went on...."first I am going to park my boat on the tidal grid. When the tides out I'll clean and maybe paint the hull. Then I'll head to Newport, Oregon and see my sister. Plan to spend winter around La Paz, Mexico. Sure as shit not spending winter here. Did I mention I am 83?"
I thought, so that's what it means to be "done with this shit?" La Paz is easily another 3000 miles south. About then it started raining so we went for cover. He asked about me. "Me?...oh, see, Jay and I are walking a 1/4 mile to get a 5 dollar latte. It's a busy street, but not that hard. After all, I deserve it after cleaning the boat tied to the dock all morning. We'll explore around here another month or so and then leave it for the winter about 40 miles from here in Thorne Bay." Jay was getting a little wet and bored, so we said our goodbye to Richard.
It is always interesting meeting people on the docks. Each boat has a story to tell if someone's around to tell it.
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