"A Close Call on Shellikof Strait"

We arrived with a lot of enthusiasm on the thirteenth of May. We put a lot of pots around Ken's favorite spots around Terror Bay, Uganik Bay and various places around Raspberry Island on Kupreano Strait. This same area had been very productive for Ken in the past, but after checking the pots a few times with hardly any crab we decided to move some of the gear to the mainland, hoping to find the crab that seemed to be hiding. Ken didn't really want to go that far but we needed to find the crab. This put an extra 4 to 5 hours each way to our trips to Kodiak. Not to mention the potential rough water of Shellikof Strait, a stretch of water with the reputation of being one of the rougher stretches of water anywhere!

Unfortunately, there weren't any crab showing on the mainland either. When we were in Kodiak on the 26th we found out that there was some crab showing on the other side of the island. We talked it over and decided that maybe we should move the gear. We knew it was a big move but we had to find some crab! Up to this point we hadn't even caught enough crab to pay for the fuel!

So we fueled up and got our supplies and headed for Kukak Bay on the mainland. We quickly got a load of pots and ran them to the other side and just put them any place we could so we could get back and get another load. Shellikof Strait had been good to us up to this point, even the day before as we returned for our second load of pots. We got on the gear at 7:30 in the evening and put aboard about half of the remaining pots. We decided to drop anchor and spent the night here and start fresh in the morning. We got up at 3:00 A.M, but the wind had come up so we went back to bed. By eight in the morning the wind seemed to die down some so we loaded the rest of the pots. We had all of the pots( 91)aboard and were ready to go but the wind came back up so we dropped the hook to wait it out the weather.

At 3:15 in the afternoon we decided that the wind had let up enough so we decided to get under way. When we got out into the strait about 3-4 miles it was a lot rougher and we had to stop to re-tie the pots on the back deck. (We never tied the pots to the boat, we tied them together. They seem to ride good that way and the theory is that if the boat should roll far enough that the pots could go over board before the boat rolls over, possibly sparing the boat.) After re-tying the pots we started out again. This certainly wasn't the worse of water conditions but we did have a leak in the lazerette to think about. This didn't concern us too much even though there wasn't a bilge pump in there. Because it was a sealed compartment the leak would be limited to the lazerette. But with the leak, the live tank pumped down and four and a half tons of gear aboard we did have a load.

Ken and Gene were taking a nap and I was on wheel watch. The boat was on auto-pilot and the big waves were hitting us square on the starboard side but we seemed to be handling it okay. About 6:30 we had about three quarters of the strait behind us when it seemed to me that the bow was higher than it should be. So be safe I went through the galley to check the back deck. We were in trouble, there was about 10 inches of water on the back of the deck, and we were loosing our buoyancy!

I hollered to Ken and Gene that we were sinking. Gene who was sleeping in the galley jumped up and said, "That's a hell of a thing to say considering where we are." I said, "#&*$!!, WE'RE GOING DOWN!!". This time they knew I was serious and we all started working on the problem. Gene went below to pump out the live tank. This would work because we realized by now that the lazerette was full of water but because it was a sealed compartment we should be okay after pumping out the live tank. We were getting hit broadside by the waves so the boat had to be turned down wind,(the wind on our stern). The reason for this is that once the live tank is pumped below deck level the water starts sloshing around in there and could bust up the boat from the inside. The only way to prevent that would be to turn the boat down wind.

Ken was in the wheelhouse taking the boat out of auto-pilot and switching over to hydraulic steering. Gene and I went out onto the back deck to move pots from the back to the front of the deck. We were hoping to help relieve pressure from the stern. Unfortunately, one of us hit the steering lever that was mounted on the power block on the back deck. When Ken switched the steering over to hydraulic the boat heeled hard over and just laid there on her side. We just stood there wondering what in hell happened. Then Gene started climbing up the stabilizer pole, I thought he was nuts but he was hoping his weight might bring her back on an even keel. He climbed up about 15 feet or so and nothing happened and even though I didn't like the idea I was preparing to go up behind him thinking my 200 pounds may help. About that time she started back only to over compensate and do the same thing on the other side. Fortunately it didn't roll so far this time so there wasn't any need to climb the pole again. It took about three of these back and forth rolls before she was on an even keel again. While this was going on Ken knowing what the steering problem was, ran back to tell us to center the steering lever so he could steer from the wheel house.

After the boat was back on even keel and Ken had the steerage back he eased the Dora H down wind and we finished pumping out the live tank. We then continued on to Raspberry Island where we pumped out the lazerette and then ran gear until dark.

This whole incident happened in the span of 5 to 8 minutes and could very well have been fatal but for the fact that we stayed focused and didn't panic. We did what had to be done and it paid off for us by saving our lives. You see we had no life raft, just a skiff and there were no survival suits, (I don't even know if they were available yet!) You may be wondering why was there a steering lever where it was, well, so did I because I never seen it used, and it was removed as soon as we dropped anchor!

This incident happened so fast that there wasn't any time to send out a mayday and we were about 6-7 miles out into the strait. Anyone familiar with Alaskan waters know how limited survival can be without the necessary equipment. So even if a mayday had been sent what chance would we have had if we would have lost the boat. In this case we all knew what we had to do and we did it, had we panicked it could have turned out different!

I have to add that at no time did "death" enter my mind, but after it was all over with and we had a chance to reflect back, the reality sank in that we came very close to loosing everything including our lives!

Ken sold the Dora H in 1970 when he had the 72 foot Point Omega built in Mobile Alabama. Today Ken Holland Jr. owns and operates the Point Omega out of Kodiak.

The Dora H had a couple of other owners after Ken sold her and she continued to work the Alaska waters and according to Ken she sank in 1980 somewhere in Alaska!

If there is a message in this story it would be to always be prepared for anything because when you are on the high seas, anything can and will happen!

NOTE: This article was written from the daily journal that I made entries in each day throughout the season!