Wisdom of a College Drop Out (part two)

In the spring time, I had found myself in a space of confidence that I was going to land a commercial fishing gig and would make enough money to drive back down the coast and connect with friends in the Northern California/Southern Oregon scene that was developing as a new take on the Wild West and gold rush. I kept my mind strong and true to my goals. One day I got an unexpected call.. A contact of mine in Humboldt County offered me 10 grand a month and a place to live if I left Alaska and moved to California. It was time sensitive and I needed to make a decision, but my mind was already made up… One year, no matter what. So I played the slow game, endured some hardships, developed some grit and some character, and landed myself on the island of Kodiak.

I guess I could back up and summarize what happened to lead me there: I went through some things I had to learn. I was still young and my naivety landed me an uncomfortable situation where I owed on borrowed money that was stolen from me. My close friends back home were able to round up $8,500 to send me in the mail on what I thought would be an easy come up. I got scammed. This was hard for me considering my current situation of living in a church basement, but honestly I didn’t fret too much. The vision I was holding at that time was strong and I was trusting the process. I knew this was a part of my initiation and test of heart. I feel like I could paint a detail with many micro details but at some point during this time, I ended up with a second dog in this process.

This is around the time that I was asked to find a new place to move to by the end of the month. The church was hesitant to have a dog stay and now I had two of them.. In the midst of everything that was happening I was still volunteering at the local food shelf and got to talking with a man in his 70s. He wanted to ensure that he did not need to be taking free food for financial reasons, but because he knew the food was going to go to waste anyway, he was sure to show up on a weekly basis. We hit it off pretty well, I had the feeling that I reminded him of himself some 50 years prior. He wanted to meet my dogs and invited me to visit him in his home. The pieces started to fit and the keys opened the door as we were offered a free place to stay, and on top of that - he offered to watch both dogs while I went out to Kodiak Island to land my first commercial fishing job.

This is where it starts to get interesting. The more I remained open and surrendered to the process, the more life seemed to open up and present synchronicities within the challenges. As I continued to observe the unfolding, the more my life came together with ease. Over the couple weeks that I lived with the gentleman who I met at the food shelf on April 20th, I was able to work and save a small amount a money too get myself to Kodiak to figure out a opportunity to hop on a commercial fishing boat. By the first week of May, I purchased myself a ticket on the ferry to Kodiak. I had no idea what it would mean to work on a fishing boat, but I had practiced tying some knots some said were important if I were to actually land a gig. I met some people on the ferry ride who were also hoping to get a deckhand position on a lucrative boat. I was told that there was a shelter I could stay at that would feed me dinner and give me space to sleep, but at every morning at 8am I would need to be out of there until 8pm at night. I worked that 12 hour chunk of time with efficiency as I made it known to every fisherman on the island that I was looking for a job.

Over the course of a week and a half I pounded both ports, three times a day. I would talk to everyone who had a boat and let them know that although I had never fished before, that I was excited to show up and work long, exhausting hours. Every day I walked up and down and talked to the same people, found ways to be myself, and just trust the process. One night, this guy Neil asked for my phone number, he said he only fishes alone but it would be good to have my number in case he comes across anyone who would be a good fit for me to pair with. That night I was invited onto a long lining boat where this guy was cleaning black cod. he gave me some beers and sent me off with some fish in a bag.. This was the night before my 22nd birthday. The next morning, I woke up as the sun was rising, I walked over to the further port in the city and set up my camp stove to cook the cod I was gifted. It was my birthday and here I was - on an emerald green island in the ocean off mainland Alaska, so far from home - I had at this point made it 8 months into my stay and was feeling myself. I had become me. I had done something a lot of people hadn’t, I took a chance on myself and it was working out. The phone rang… It was Neil. “Mike I got a job for you, meet me at my boat.” The phone clicked and I smiled. Happy Birthday, I thought to myself.

I packed up and made it over to the other port to meet Neil and get to work. He revealed to me that he still indeed only fishes alone, however he wanted help painting his boat and was willing to pay me $15/hr cash to smooth out some rough edges of a boat that goes out into the gulf of Alaska without seeing land in any direction. Although I was hoping to land a fishing gig, I was grateful for the work. After a few hours of painting and some small talk with Neil, I revealed that it was my 22nd birthday that day. He offered to take me to lunch once I finished up the section I was working on. At the port, there are long aluminum ramps to help haul gear from the road down into the boats sitting in the water. As we were half way up one of the ramps, the timing introduced a fisherman by the name of Bruce. “Hey Neil, do you know anyone who wants a job?” Without skipping a beat, “This guy.” Neil shot back. “He’s been pounding these docks every day, multiple times a day, for weeks.” Bruce looked me in the eye and said “Are you ready?” We shook hands. I could feel his missing pointer finger in the exchange. “Meet me at the Briana Holly at sundown.” He trailed off down the ramp. Neil congratulated me, “you just landed a job with the highliner of this island.” The fisherman who was ‘2nd place’ by weight, caught half of what Bruce’s boat was able to pull. It was like hitting the island boat search jackpot. Happy Birthday, I thought to myself as we continued up the ramp and off to lunch…