The Daybreak

I have so many fond memories of working on our family's commercial fishing boat every summer. I started going out, just watching, since I was 8 or 9. When I was 12 or 13, I became a crew member. I started out stacking the web and then later I stacked the cork line. I loved trying to make the perfect pile each time. Our boat, the Daybreak, was an old wooden purse seiner, built in 1907. We fished for salmon every summer on the Salmon Banks off of San Juan Island. My Dad, brothers and I and usually Jeff Brown were the crew. My last season fishing was 1996 because in '97 I stayed in Provo and went to school year round and in '98 I married Jeff. Jeff and I were able to go out once before my parents sold the boat in 2000. That's part of the reason I wanted to rent a boat and spend some time out in the San Juan Islands. Because I have so many fond memories of being out on the boat. I remember sitting on top of the anchor box on the bow and playing the harmonica while we'd run to the next set. Or sitting up on the smokestack watching the fish swim in the net below when I was just a little kid. I remember stopping fishing while a huge pod of hundreds of killer whales swam right past and underneath our boat. I remember climbing up into the crow's nest and watching a whale swim right underneath. I could see it in the water below. It was amazing! I remember having hundreds of jellyfish fall on my head while stacking the net. I remember pitching fish until the wee hours of the morning while tied up to the tender. I remember spraying out the fish hold with simple green and washing out and pumping the bilge while Dad would run us back to Anacortes deep into the night. I loved playing cards and hanging out with my brothers in between sets. I remember scanning the water constantly looking for jumpers. I remember the excitement when we would have a big set and the disappointment we'd feel when we were skunked. I remember pouring over the nautical maps, trying to name every island and rock and bay we passed. I loved *almost* every minute of it! Even if I didn't love fish slime and long, long days, I loved spending that time with my brothers and my Dad. It really bonded us as a family and became a large part of our family identity and I want to pass at least a little of that on to my kids. So thanks Jeff for being a good sport and pulling out your "Man Card" every day on our trip so we could have a taste of the San Juan experience!