The Crew
The Captain
A couple of years later he bought steel and welding rod for his next project, the 39′ Miss Judith. Then came the 58′ Royal Pacific. Then he built (with help from son-in-law Mike and son Eric) the 68′ EZ1. His last fishing boat, the 47′ Koko (named after their African Grey parrot) was already built, but needed extensive renovation.
The Navigator
One time, heading south across the Gulf of Alaska, Judy sat on the back deck watching the water go by when a massive whale slowly lifted the upper part of its body out of the water, its belly toward the boat. Judy had no idea what kind of whale it was so made a point of memorizing the curvature of the top of its head so she could find out. It submerged, but being curious, as whales tend to be, it lifted its head out of the water again, this time positioned so the eye could look at the boat and her. The whale watched her watching it for a few minutes, as if it was trying to make out what in the world she was. Judy greeted it, “Hi, Whale. What’s happening?” Then it quietly sank again. Judy ran to the cabin and sketched the rounded off belly-view and the squared-off profile and later learned it was a sperm whale. “We’ve seen many whales and they are usually as curious about us as we are of them,” Judy says. “Once while travelling though Whale Pass by Kodiak Island a small whale circled our boat several times, its eye out of the water so it could look us over. One memory Judy has about a not-curious whale, was out in the deep ocean … the water was fairly calm, luckily, because she suddenly realized there was a whale sleeping right in front of them. Judy had to hit the Dodge button to avoid running into it. If the water had been rougher Judy wouldn’t have seen his back peeking above the surface.” A favorite memory is of a foggy night crossing Prince William Sound. The water was calm and the moon was bright enough to light the fog. A pod of killer whales surrounded the boat and quietly escorted them for half an hour or so. The shining fog, calm water and the whales dipping alongside … It was an amazing, unforgettable experience.”
Judy never set out to be part of the fishing industry — she had set her sights on teaching. But once it was clear that Harvey wasn’t the sort to be on land much, and she didn’t particularly like the idea of living alone most of the year, she joined in.”When I saw the name of “The Reluctant Fisherman” restaurant in Cordova, AK it kind of resonated with me.” However, she’s found being at sea more interesting than being land-bound, in most cases, and she treasures the fishing friends she’s made.
The Deck Boss
The Bird Who Rules Us All
Koko is Harvey and Judy’s African Grey parrot. Koko has been fishing since before she had real feathers. She’s a real talker, keeping them up on events like “It’s raining outside” and “Where’s Harvey?” When she wants Harvey or Judy in a hurry she makes the ‘emergency engine room alarm’ beep. They always come running to that one! When it’s stormy she’ll ruffle her feathers and yell, “Hang on!” When a bell rings she’ll yell, “Fish on!” She has good hearing, so even if no one else hears the bell, someone goes to check! This bird has it good. She has a big cage in the main cabin that has a clear view of the albacore fishing action, a smaller wheelhouse cage for those long night watches, and a sunbathing cage on the upper back deck. Best of all, she has 24-hour companionship with her humans. While ashore, friends often drop by the boat to visit Koko and have a cup of coffee while watching her play with her own mug on the table. She loves to entertain people walking by the boat in the harbor. She’ll whistle and talk and if she gets a reaction she’ll up the volume and action. Recently she almost got Harv into trouble. One guy heard wolf whistles each time he went by the boat and didn’t realize Harv wasn’t alone … luckily, he later told Harv, he realized it was Koko whistling at him, not Harv. Judy says, “If we have Koko with us, people remember who we are, the boat, etc. If she’s NOT with us, a lot of times they don’t know us.
The Cannery
In 1998 we were frustrated with the albacore markets — we had to rely on big canneries to buy our fish, but these canneries much preferred buying cheaper long-line albacore when they could. That particular year the EZ1 sat in Ilwaco Harbor with a load of excellent albacore. In fact, the harbor was full of boats unable to unload because the canneries had bought enough foreign-caught fish for their needs. Judy, not being a particularly patient person, was at first angry when she thought of all the fishermen who needed to sell and the fish that needed to be canned — and the fact that the Big Three canneries were blocking albacore caught by Americans from getting to Americans who wanted to eat tuna. Then she realized, “Those canneries are in business, too, AND they have to do what makes sense for them financially, AND they aren’t obligated to buy from American boats. On the other hand, we’re not obligated to wait around for them to buy from us. I think we should start a cannery and process albacore ourselves. ”Luckily, friends decided that was a good idea and joined in, taking over the reins of building and then operating the custom cannery, which now processes albacore, salmon and other seafood for northwest fishing families and cooperatives.
The Boats That Kept Us Afloat
For twenty-four years our boat was the EZ-1, a big red steel boat out of Ilwaco, Washington. The EZ-1 carried us from Alaska to Hawaii and beyond. Harvey and son-in-law Mike built the EZ-1. It was hard, hard work up in a cold cavernous shed in Blaine, Washington. Mike, who until he married Stephanie had been a computer technician in Silicon Valley, wore himself out trying to keep up with Harvey. The EZ-1 was a great boat, but after 40 years of fishing Harvey was ready for a boat that was smaller and easier to maintain. So last year he found the perfect one — a 42′ fiberglass boat he named “Koko”. The EZ-1 was sold in early 2013 and is headed back to Alaska to be a packer in inland waters. But the EZ-1 will still be with us in our logos, website, and labels.
The 18' Fat Cat
The 39' Miss Judith. There were only two bunks on this boat, so us kids got to sleep on the floor under the galley table.
The 65' EZ1. Actual bedrooms with doors! To Alaska to work oil spill. Fished all the way to Hawaii.
The 58' Royal Pacific. Now we had our own bunks and a shower. The Royal Pacific took us hundreds of miles out to sea, to the Bering Sea and Prince William Sound.
The 42' Koko. You'll noticed it's named after their bird, not their daughter.
turtle Safe
Dolphin Safe
Tasty
Lower Mercury
Protect Ours Wild Seas
