My hands are swollen, my arms are sore, I'm getting out of a chair like an old duffer. I seem to be sore all over my body.
The guides are walking around like zombies. We greet each other with hollow eyes and smiles that just don't reach into the eyes.
I've had three days off since starting on the 15th of May, it is now the first of August. A typical "day off" means you haul the boat out of the water, pressure wash the bottom, change the engine oil, change the lower unit oil, repair anything that is not function properly, like downriggers, reels, wash down pumps on the boat... the list seems endless. Of course, there is also a list of projects at home that need attention.
I raced into the hardware store for some parts and was greeted by Joann, "Hey Earl, a day off?"
"You got it," I replied sagging against the counter in exhaustion.
"Hey Joann, do you come back into the store here on your day off to fix the computer and stock shelves?" I asked.
She shot me a look that would have taken my head off but I was sagging so low it went right over me.
"Ha! she snorted, "this is the last place I come to on my day off!"
"Yeah, I thought so," I mumbled, grabbing my bag of parts and heading back into the rain to go fix the boat on my day off.
We are in the mid season grind. Half the summer behind us and still facing half a summer to go. I tell the new guides, "When you feel the most tired, you have to be the toughest!"
I was heading to the fuel dock the other evening and passed a Bering Sea crab boat. The crabbers leave the deadly waters of the Bering sea each summer to pack fish for the commercial salmon fleet.
We see some of the boats in Sitka that you see on the Deadliest Catch.
This beautiful crab boat named the Handler looked so calm and peaceful tied to the dock, but I know the brutal danger they face each winter.
I idled past and could see some writing on the side of the wheel house. I grabbed my binoculars to read this little quote:
"The only easy day was yesterday" - Handler
I chewed over that little saying for some days. I even read it to my wife.
I have been through some very tough times, having a fish hook take the sight from my eye, crashing my boat onto a rock, and just the grind of trying to finish a fishing season. Running on empty day after day.
The mindset of that crab boat, my easiest day might have been yesterday. I know each day is a battle with the wind and the ocean. Jelly fish is swarming our waters, and fish seem very hard to find. Clients relentlessly push for more and more, all of my equipment seems to fail around this time of the season due to daily abuse, and the endless rain that never seems to stop driving into your very being.
Yes, it is the mid season grind. I know I will make it. I just need to toughen up a bit. When I am the most tired, I need to be the strongest.
"The only easy day was Yesterday" thank you, Handler
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