Wilderness Blues- Ramblings from the Great Land

I hadn't planned on doing an update on the progress of the boat so soon, but I haven't had much chance to get out and around to get any pictures and since my son Ben called this morning asking to see what's been done so far, I opted to post the most recent development. Both boys used to fish with me when they were growing up, so the ol' Bonnie J holds memories for them, many of which I'm sure they would rather forget. I used to take them out to the ocean, on the outside coast where there was always a swell, and they would both get seasick. I truly felt bad for them, but I needed the help. You can imagine what a nightmare it was, being confined to a rolling platform that smelled of diesel and exhaust with a clown who yelled all the time, being away from your friends with nothing to do, and knowing that in the morning the first thing you would do would be puke your guts out. I can't imagine why they didn't enjoy fishing with me. Anyway, we somehow all managed...

Bulwarks, bowstem and some planks removed  Planks removed to access the bow stem  John Kveum- the shipwright and my good friend  Still intact  It's been almost twenty two years that I've owned the Bonnie J. I first saw her tied up to the transient float in Hoonah in the fall of 1989. She wasn't much to look at, but she was for sale and the price was right- $16,000. I really didn't want  a wooden boat. I know the amount of work that they entail, but she only had 1600 hours on a new Isuzu deisel engine and I was in the market for a bigger boat, so I purchased  her. Since then I've done so much work on her I can't help but wonder if I couldn't have bought a fiberglass boat by now- but I've never failed to come home from a fishing trip and I've been in some fairly ugly water from time to time so I guess I can't complain too loud. Last year when I hauled her out for maintanence I noticed that some of the planks wouldn't pull...

Ok, I'll admit it... I do know the crazy looking lady in the top two pictures. She's actually my daughter Autumn. She inherited the wonderful ability of entertaining herself with just whatever piece of flotsam or jetsam happens to be drifting through her somewhat clouded mind at the time. I don't have the slightest idea  what she was thinking when these two pictures were taken. I do know that she was in the process of baking a wedding cake for a gal here in town and incredibly, it came out looking great. She also took the wedding pictures. She's quite talented in the art department and has been commissioned to bake a number of different cakes for assorted functions. I've seen pictures of the cakes  and they really are wonderful, which is somewhat surprising considering the attire she has chosen for a baker's cap. However, I guess I have little to say when you consider I started off the new year wearing a chicken hat. I should point out though, that Jennifer was...

While much of the world is mourning the loss of Whitney Houston, Hoonah is mourning the loss of one of our long time residents, Windy Skaflestad. I attended a memorial service for him yesterday in the old school gym. The fact that the gym was filled pretty much to capacity is evidence of the impact that Windy had on so many people, not just here in Hoonah, but around the state. He worked throughout  the state  as a construction supervisor for the U.S. Public Health Service and after his retirement, put in several terms as mayor of Hoonah. He was as tenacious as a bulldog when it came to pursuing funding for various projects that would benefit the citizens of Hoonah. I always enjoyed talking to Windy- he'd take time out to speak to you no matter what he had going on. His family has an intimate knowledge of Port Frederick and the surrounding area, and periodically he'd share some of his fishing secrets with me. I did an interview with him a few years ago for an upcomi...

I used to read comic books when I was growing up. Like many kids my age I had quite a large stack of them. I was a paper boy and on Friday nights when I was out collecting the money, I would always drop down to Meister's drug store, eat copious amounts of junk food, play pinball for an hour or so and peruse the comic shelf for the newest edition of Superman or the Flash or perhaps Metal Men. The back page of comics always had an ad for something like Charles Atlas who could build your body to be the envy of all the other guys, thus preventing getting bullied, or my all time favorite ad- X-ray specs. I desperately wanted a pair of those.The ad led you to believe that you could see right through clothes with a pair of these. As a young lad entering puberty, I couldn't think of a better gift to give myself, but they cost a dollar, and I didn't believe they would really work, regardless of how much I wished they did. Boy's Life magazine, which was affiliated with the Boy S...

 Wahoo! It finally started raining yesterday and already the snow is starting to melt. I feel like a new man. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather have sunshine and sixty degrees right now, but as long as it's not snowing, I'm a fairly happy camper. I've tried unsuccessfully to  get a good picture of the collage that we have hanging in the dining room. I know this isn't very good at all, but it's the best I can do.  Somehow Brian has a huge picture and is centered right in the middle. Don't let it go to your head Brian. Obviously my picture is the smallest- let me be clear- the size and order of things has nothing at all to do with the standing of any of the individuals pictured here. If that were the criteria we were using, I would probably have a picture that took up half the wall. Oh well... in terms of people who seemed to be having a good time in these pictures, if you observe closely, you can see in the picture on the left hand side that I'm sm...