It seemed inevitable. Of course I’d end up going fishing. One of my favorite things about Newport is the working waterfront. I love watching the fishing fleet come and go under the bridge, the trucks and forklifts maneuvering outside the fish plants on the bayfront, and the anticipation in the air right before crab season opens.

But I didn’t want to just wander down onto the docks with zero experience and start asking around for work. On Shimada last summer, my friend Melanie mentioned commercial fishing. When I saw her at sea safety training this spring, I asked her about it.

Timing is everything: her captain was looking for crew! She told me that it was a nice boat, meticulously maintained. She said Don was a great captain and a great cook. She described the custom memory foam mattresses that he made for the bunks and said that she slept like a princess. I already knew that I wanted to go.

F/V Summer Place in Newport, Oregon.

The next day, I met Don at the boat. He was planning a quick two-day trip out of Newport to start getting the boat ready for the season, and he invited me along. A few days later we were trolling for salmon!

I’m not just watching the fishing boats under the bridge anymore!
We came back into Newport with a couple of nice king salmon, and I had a job offer.

We would leave Newport at the end of June, taking the boat up the inside passage to Sitka in time for the king opener on July 1. I took a few weeks to think about it. I don’t know why I didn’t say yes right away.