Captain Scott's Log ~ Sunday, August 10th, 2008

Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2008 10:52 AM
Subject: Dutch Harbor 2

The people here made this stop memorable. It is clear that there is little to do and so most made as much as they could out of what interested them. Bill pumped our gas on arrival and later that night picked us up on the road as we walked to diner. The next day he came by Pipe Dream in a 17 ft aluminum skiff with an ancient outboard, a fishing friend, and a dog. He was drunk as was his friend but his dog didn’t seem to mind. He also had a boatload of fish. He gave us several and asked if he could see the boat. After looking around he said "I got to get a better boat". Then after reflection he said "No, If I did my wife would want to go fishing with me." He had a real gift of story telling and as we were the only people on the island that had not heard them....We heard about the world record 650 lb Halibut that he could not get in the boat, climbing volcanoes, fishing, hunting fox (these are called the Fox Islands), his wife’s lack of cooking skills and winter in Dutch Harbor. "It blows real hard. We get 160 mile an hour winds. You call them hurricanes and we call them Tuesday." Bill also gave us 3 bottles of homemade wild berry jam. He cans 200 bottles every year. It must take a long time to pick that many berries, I asked. "Not that much to do around here"