4th of July, 1968, Ketchican Alaska
Nathan B. Spooner
Began my commercial fishing experience for the first time on the
“Billy and I”, a 58 foot limit seiner, a salmon boat in the Pacific ocean
waters just off Noyes Island in Southeast Alaska.
Typically fishing season opens for a few days, closes for a few
days and opens again as the migrating salmon return to their ancestral stream
beds where their progenitors some years earlier laid and fertilized the eggs.
Anyway, with fishing closed for 4th of July I found myself in Ketchikan
with friends as we walked around town, observing the logging contests, music
events and general celebrations.
I think it was Tom who offered me a small half pint bottle with
clear liquid inside. “Here Nathan, try some of this.”
I took a sip, felt a burning sensation going down my throat and
laughed with the group of young men and women. We kept walking around, Tom
didn’t ask for the bottle back and I took another sip and put it in my pocket.
Some were sipping beer, some drinking other stuff. Don’t remember
much after that except that later on, I’m lying on the gravely sand under the
city dock somewhere near Thomas Basin. The 16 foot tide coming in has my
clothes partly drenched. I don’t know how I got there, don’t know where I am,
don’t know why I can barely get up and walk. Can’t remember anything except the
next morning.
Sunday afternoon, next day, Tom and Ember come by to wake my up.
“Hey man, did you drink the whole bottle of Everclear? I should have told you
it’s 190 proof grain alcohol”.
The moral of the story, that’s the last time I ever consumed
alcohol. Beer will do just fine from now on. And oh yes, they assured me that
we all had a great time.