“If it wasn’t for my bad luck then l would have no luck at all. The curse of my bad luck is in my head but my good luck is always on the horizon where the sun rises every day. I head that way but the sunshine is all the time in the same place each morning when I wake. Now I am old and my bones are creaking like the bending trees in the wind I thank my good luck each day I see the sun rise from the horizon of my dreams.” Chief Eagles Fist of the Huna.
So I got a call from Braden to say there’d been a really heavy snowfall and Sänna was much too low in the water. He said many of the fishing boats in Hoonah harbour were bad but not to worry, because they’re gonna get their shovels and clear the snow as best they could. Then he called to say everything was OK but a few days later he called and said there’d been another bad storm and this time everything had froze over… meanwhile we’re sitting in the sunshine of sunny Norfolk all stressed out wondering what the hell we’ll find in a few weeks time when we get back onboard…
Then our good friend Braden called to say he and his dad Scott, with Dennis and the boys from the Hoonah town council had set to with their shovels and that Sänna was fine. But then he called again late one night to say another heavy snowfall had come by and they’d chased the brown grizzly snoozing in Sänna’s frozen cockpit away. Everything’s fine and not to worry he said…
Thank God for the fishermen in Hoonah! That’s what I said. In my new euphoric state I happily told Braden I’d book everyone in Hoonah a top-wack sunshine holiday in Barbados. He laughed and told me Barbados was much too hot, that he’d heard sunny Norfolk was good and he’d really like an English girlfriend with curly-blond pigtails, with freckles and a giggly laugh, a nice girl his mother would like, a girl he could take back to Alaska to fish and cook and…
So, you nicely freckled English girls out there, if you’d like to get together with a handsome early twenties Robert Pattinson lookalike, GSOH, non-smoker who likes long walks, fine dining and cosy evenings by the fireside then please don’t call. If you’d like a wild carefree life onboard an Alaskan fishing boat working hard for the occasional big haul, well hooked-up with a genuinely nice guy who really is a Robert Pattinson lookalike, then you would really help us out…
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sailing vessel Sänna 
Judging by that first sentence, Chief Eagle Fist was a fan of Albert KIng, or maybe the other way round?
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Oh yes, a very big fan indeed Bob. I could tell you Chief Eagles Fist of the Huna told me this in confidence – or I could say it is listed on Famous First Nation Quotes but that it lacked that extra bit of something needed to grab instant attention… the important first two second rule of story telling. Or perhaps, intriguingly, the late, great Albert King and Eagles Fist of the Huna were both one and the same… they were each 6ft 4″ for starters and both could uniquely squeeze incredible bends out of a guitar string.
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Good story Dave !!! Glad your boat’s Ok but you might be in trouble for disturbing a sleeping bear lol. PS, always glad to see an e-mail from you.
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My good friend Ted Bergen! We’re gonna get down there to see you in British Columbia Ted. Hope you’re well.
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Dave, Thought Santa was in Hong or are you promoting Sitka with that harbor picture at the bottom… maybe it’s been to long since passing through God’s country that I forgot how wonderful S.E. Alaska is…
NWP in 2017?
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Yep, that footer pic is Sitka. We were there for around four weeks last year. Braden & Scott were fishing from there too for a while in Icy Queen, offloading their catch at the processing plant there. Fantastic place is Sitka with the volcano and the old Russian town. Headed from there through the Peril Staits to Angoon and then Tenakee Springs before finally making Hoonah. If you ever want a wacky place to turn your head inside out try Angoon… if you can ever get in through the rapids!
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Dave, you may have just created your next dispatch and a huge problem for Braden! How many curly blonde haired English Lasses can you fit in a float plane? or running down the gang plank of a docking cruise ship? What have you done?!!
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Marie’s obsessed with finding Braden a girl Eric. We’ve made such good friends with Braden, his dad Scott and their little terrier Henry who fish from their seventy five year old fishing boat Icy Queen based out of Hoonah. They’re as tough as nails but as soft as grease with Marie.
Joke – How many curly blond English girls can you get in a Mini? None, but you can get…… (you won’t get it as a yank Eric).
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