Life's Memorable Events

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Catman

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Today I woke up thinking about this day 40 years ago. On the morning of May 1st 1978 I sat on a weathered old dock near Georgia Pacific in Bellingham, WA. It was a mild, sunny May Day, though the blue sky was partially obscured by GP's smoky, yellowish discharge. That's how Bellingham was back then, when the pulp mill operated at full speed and was the town's major employer.

I was waiting for an ugly, old, 26' converted seine skiff to haul me aboard and motor slowly off to Ketchikan. I'd met the captain a day earlier off Whidbey as I caught up to him in my 10' Hi-Laker. (I was buzzing my little craft from Renton north to Gooseberry Point.) The 28 year old skipper said he could use another deckhand, and at that time I could spontaneously detach from life's simpler expectations--unthinkable today.

That 21 year olds' willingness to change course in one day and go somewhere he'd never been, with people he'd never met, rewarded him with a 6 knot drift northward through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Once in stunning Southeast Alaska, my eyes were opened to a splendid new world of beauty I'd never known. I was sure to visit this dazzling wonderworld, probably next year. Surely by 1985!

My goodness, it's been 40 years. And though I've still not returned, I will one day, as I've never forgotten the power of that five month experience.
 
Brock, ain't that funny - time flies on the west coast the same as it does here in Ontario! Don't remember what I was doing May 1, but I do remember 2 weeks earlier - around April 18, 1978 we had a freak snowstorm here and I plowed snow with my new 1977 Landcruiser for 2 days straight! I still have that truck and watching it rust away in the back yard reminds me how time is passing by.

Regards, Rob

PS. thanks for the story.
 
On May 5, 1955 (5/5/55, a date that doesn't come around that often). I graduated from the Navy's hospital corps school. at the age of 18. That was the beginning of my life's work in public health retiring in 1999. I wanted to be a bos'n's mate, but they had lost a lot of corpsmen in Korea so that's what I did. Looking back, I couldn't be prouder.
 
Wow. Brock, what an adventure. Life was simpler back then. Time is getting short for our generation. Time to start working on that bucket list. Best wishes. T & A.
 
Catman; Alaska Air flight from Seattle to Sitka (enough miles). Charter boat for 2 days fishing $500 (tips to crew $100). License (don't remember). Taxi about $50 shared. Share a cheap hotel for 2 days about $100. Meals about $150. Experience priceless. Still eating salmon, Halibut and Ling Cod from last year. I suppose Ketchikan would be similar.
 
Brock, You put that story so well. Brings back memories I don't even have :lol: On May 18, 1980 I left the house in Portland about 0500 headed across the Columbia working my way up towards Mt St. Helens. I was planning on a camping night to watch the lava flow up over the crest and down the north side like the lava flows in Hawaii. I was distracted for a while by a flock of hot air balloons of to the left of I-5 at La Center and spent some time with them, (The bright colors are always an attraction for a photographer), and at 0832 one of the balloons that was giving tether rides and was at the top of a 400 foot line, called down that the mountain had blown. I scrambled of with my gear, heading up into the "forbidden territory" and spent the day photographing the biggest thing I had seen in my short lifetime. Every second was worth it, then and later.

That distraction saved my life and ever since then I have celebrated May 18 as my second birthday. Thanks to good guardian angles I am still here to remember that day, those sights, the smells and sounds. Lightening, ozone and sizzle from miles away.

Sorry, that one was not on the water. Watching a cougar on the lake shore at Big Lake in WA Cascades from a canoe at sunrise. That one was on the water and still brings memories of the morning chill, the sun rays bending around Mt Washington, and the early morning mists rising from the water.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Catman":92r0vaq8 said:
. . . And though I've still not returned, I will one day, as I've never forgotten the power of that five month experience.
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Do it Brock! You've got the perfect boat for it.

Unlike you, I can't remember the exact date, but sometime around May of 1965, I was unexpectedly invited by three fellow recent high school graduates to take a cruise north on the 28 foot sailboat of one of their fathers. Just the four of us 19 year olds were going to sail off up the Canadian coast. I'd never been in anything other than a canoe or skiff. I could not have been more shocked to be included.

That trip changed my life. A crash course in sailing was not enough to keep me from being the most junior member of the crew by a wide margin. I was the cook. And the guy tethered to the mast to watch for logs as we plowed across the Strait of Juan de Fuca in a pretty good blow. I remember so many things about that trip - like lying on my back on the foredeck looking up through white sails at the blue sky as we cruised through the unbelievable beauty of the San Juan Islands. I'd never experienced anything like it, and swore that some day . . .

Well, life intervened for a while, but I held onto my memories of that one trip and my hope of having those experiences again. When I retired from work in 2001, I bought my first boat, a CD 16. In 2006 I bought a 23 Venture, and a year later made the first of three round trips up the Inside Passage and back.

Trust me, you've got the perfect boat for fulfilling that dream!
 
Wow, guys, I sure didn't expect such an active, warm response so quickly!
But considering the age and quality of the guys on this site, I don't know why the hell I wouldn't. Safe to say we share a few things.

Anyway, gee, I really appreciate your replies and I sincerely like reading the tales of your lives. I think we have a lot to teach one another--beyond boats. Hey, Marty and Harvey, those 5/5/55 and 5/18/80 dates would be seared into my memory as well. I seem to remember the numbers (dates) of my life, as a way of holding on, I guess, because this experience moves so quickly.
 
And here's another noteworthy date--two, actually-- one most of us here remember and another some might. Fifty years ago today Bobby Kennedy died, and Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy on "D-Day" 74 years ago on this day.
I remember the first one very clearly. That was a sad day.
 
dotnmarty":7bocda9e said:
On May 5, 1955 (5/5/55, a date that doesn't come around that often). I graduated from the Navy's hospital corps school. at the age of 18. That was the beginning of my life's work in public health retiring in 1999. I wanted to be a bos'n's mate, but they had lost a lot of corpsmen in Korea so that's what I did. Looking back, I couldn't be prouder.
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Marty, this old Marine has a lot of respect for Corpsmen! Thanks! You have reason to be proud!
 
Marty: I was a 20 year old marine in 1950, landed in Korea at Inchon. Went to Seoul, then to N Korea and the frozen Chosen. That's where we lost all the corpsman, plus several hundred more Marines. For you young guys you can read about by typing in Chosen reservoir USMC. I picked up a purpleheart and may the Corpsman RIP. Hard to believe 68 years have gone by. OLD GUY.
 
I just read this now, but I second that. Thank you, Old Guy, for your service to our country. So many men's lives were cut short.
 
Qualified in submarines aboard USS Nathanael Greene 50 years ago in January 1969.

Joined the Navy in 1966 and with broken service, retired from the Navy Reserve in 1995.

Would do it again in a heartbeat.

"Only at sea, is a man really free."
 
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