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Return of memories of a sailor. (part 2)

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In the last episode we left our hero living on a sailboat and eking out a living as a commercial fisherman and in doubt of his future. Brought to you by none other than Beefaroni! By 1986 I was living in a sailboat in Dog Bay, Kodiak. She was a small boat, 24' 7" and capable of crossing oceans even if it wasn't going to be comfortable. I was single, working mainly as a fisherman except that now I was incapable of working on fish boats in the Bering Sea during winter. I had fished salmon, herring, Black cod, halibut and King crab. While I was capable of fishing the first three, my winter crab fishing days were behind me. I had seen the elephant. At thirty-five I had been to about fifty funerals and memorial services and only about three weddings.  Not all of the deaths were from the boats, proper. Some of these were from the businesses and lifestyles that ran with it. Spotting herring from a small plane can be deadly. With that much money at stake spotting pilots seem to fo...
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Memories of a sailor.

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Please note. I am writing from memory and may make an error or two here and there. For example, I am not current in whatever the current rules and regulations governing the fisheries are as I have been away from fishing for over 35 years. I am also not a maritime attorney.   I begin. A country's Merchant Marine is it's collection of vessels used for trade and commerce. As a general rule of thumb if it's on the water to make money it's part of a country's Merchant Marine. For a practical use here the term 'merchant mariner' is those mariners that are required to have either a license or document in order to be able to sail. The people that man these various vessels are called 'merchant mariners'. The term 'merchant seamen' is also often used. Commonly we are generally called 'sailors'. It shuld be carefully noted merchant seaman are not a part of the US military. A lot of what the public hears and knows about the United States Merchant...
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