Jim,
That's quite a love story between you and the Tacora :) Where do you keep her moored? Are we going to see her in Pelican this summer?
LOL, yes Ajax is a curios fellow. :D
-Jon
tacorajim
2008-03-17 01:21:22
Roger Jon, it is a love story. I called Billy Mork before deciding to rescue the Tacora. He had good things to say, and I always respected him and Alice.
I'll go out for tuna if they come within a hundred miles in June and July, icing out of Ilwaco here. The plan from there is to take her back to Pelican. I know myself well enough not to plan beyond that.
Congrats on your new (thunk) glass vessel. Looks like a producer with all the comforts of home.
Floater
2008-03-20 08:38:21
Greetings from The Columbia River
ust posting to say howdy...found your cool site here while looking for trollers for sale...(I'm not crazy, just nostalgic for the glory days of my wayward youth charging up and down the west coast fishing)....seeing the pics sure brings back some memories and some good feelings....I dont think I've ever been happier in my working life than when I was fishing salmon alone or with a lady friend off of Oregon and Washington. I miss it and I miss the people...perhaps I'll get back into it before I get too old, I dunno. But seeing the pics of the Alaskan people with fish on deck really heats up my wires!!
tacorajim
2008-03-20 16:40:54
Ahoy Floater,
Did you notice? . . . this site tends to polarize fishermen, newbies, and old nostalgic lurkers. Bravo! this site.
I can relate to the power of fishing nostalgia. I trolled 20 yrs., then took 20 yrs off ., thought for sure I was cured of it until finding myself drawn back to some West Coast port, walking the docks, drooling.
Then I'd get a few pictures developed. Then I'd keep the pictures on my nightstand. Then I'd pretend to be interested in some particular troller for sale. I'd make a ridiculous offer. Then i fell in love with one, her lines I mean, made a ridiculous offer (accepted, OUCH!), relocated 'cause she was in no shape to leave the dock. Now 6-7 years later I have no regrets. I hope a lot of boomers decide to save an old troller. Good luck.
Floater
2008-03-20 22:11:40
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head there, Jim... I read you loud and clear...Im always prowling around, too. Almost got a steal on a little boat here a couple of months ago-but it wasnt meant to be so Im halfassed looking, for sure. You sure got a pretty boat there. I used to admire the hell out of her in Ilwaco back in the early 70s when she was tied there close to Jessie's....I was over in Ilwaco a couple of weeks after the big blow in December and say the Tacora up in the dry yard...she loookin a little rough but with those nice lines still a beauty for sure.
tacorajim
2008-03-21 01:04:38
Sorry, Floater, but I haven't hauled out for almost two years. The Tacora's on C Dock, looks great except the starboard guard has grown a rusty beard amidships. I have the purple heart, and my shipwright is scheduled to replace that in May, along with other improvements -- new transducer, keel bolts, and plumb the new head. I'll do zincs and so forth before tuna.
And let's see. I'll replace the poop deck break timber bulkhead so I can pack 6 tons of iced tuna this year. We removed it to re-rib, refasten and recork aft. I took her out anyway last September, but could only pack 4 tons without the after-crossing.
Then this Fall, my new old growth CVG fir from Canada will be air dried enough to redo the well deck in the traditional manner, corked and pitched seams. (No plywood with kitchen nails over bear shit). Then I'll be 90% back to new.
Feel free to email me at tacorajim@yahoo so we don't plug up Jon's site with chatter.
Floater
2008-03-21 20:48:17
well, like they say...in old guy's the memory is the second thing to go...maybe I saw her out of the water a couple of years ago...gosh, way way back in '05-06 or so...
Good luck with the boat-hope the tuna come in this coming year like they did this past summer...
tacorajim
2008-03-23 02:06:32
What else special about this site . . . is that this forum links SEAFA and ATA, and intrinsically, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, NPFMC, the Co-Op, and Alaska legislators . . . to this group of small boat fishers. Some users can relate back 3-4 generations fishing Alaska.
We didn't have that in the '70s. No internet.
Bravo! This site.