October 11, 2014 — Veterans of Alaska's commercial fishing industry will shudder and remember, while those who have never experienced the perils of harvesting on the high seas will get a reality check on why the capture of wild seafood may pose danger at any turn.
Author Dave Atcheson, of Sterling, Alaska, tells it all in his new book, "Dead Reckoning," with stark descriptions of navigating a life on the high seas of the Last Frontier, and narrow escapes from Davy Jones' locker.
"Alaska may have at times kicked my ass but in the process it has taught me a great deal," Atcheson writes, in the book's epilogue. "And as I look back from this vantage point I know Karl was right that night on the deck as we surveyed our damaged boat: what doesn't kill you, if you let it, may just make you stronger."
Karl was Atcheson's shipmate aboard the ill-fated Iliamna Bay in the spring of 1997, on a fishing trip that went quickly from a major payday of a herring catch to disaster on the edge of the Bering Sea.
The day's work done, with the pursed seine full of tons of herring, the crew was in a celebratory mode, but fortunately decided to wait until the harvest was completely delivered to tenders on the way. The tender tied alongside had already reached its capacity of 85 tons of herring, and the crew was awaiting the arrival of a second tender to take more herring when, without notice, the tide began shifting, rocking the Iliamna Bay.
Read the full story at the Cordova Times