Another day of trial and tribulation for the Dutch Master. Spent all day doing my first ever removal of a transmission. Lots of bolts in places I can’t even see to remove in cramped quarters of my engine compartment. To top it off, as I was applying pressure to a bolt with the wrench, when it gave way, my hand flew past the tag end of a hose clamp, which promptly cut a 3 inch long gash in the meat of my right palm. I thought it was stitches and out of commission to finish removal of the transmission or to fish, as I need my right hand to gaff fish aboard. Luckily, if you can call it that, the gash was in the deep skin part of the palm just above the wrist, and barely bled and little pain. My friend doused it with rubbing alcohol, we put on a pad, some gauze, taped it up, and I slipped on a rubber glove and finished getting the tranny out. I hope my mechanic finds a clear issue when he dismantles it tomorrow so we know what the problem is and that it will be fixed through repair. Otherwise, all this work and pain and suffering could be for nothing if there’s no clear breakage inside the unit. Just hope to get back out fishing by the end of the week, as the fish are starting to show and every day on the beach now is a day of work lost that I can’t make up.

–
Mark Stopha and Sara Hannan
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
F/V Dutch Master
Hook and Line Fresh, Frozen, and Smoked Wild Salmon
Salmon Pet Treats
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com

Today was a typical day in fishing boat repair. The welder who called me last evening told me to bring over the pieces for him to repair in the morning. I met him about 9 am. We talked about what needed to be done, he said he understood, and that he’d get to it this afternoon. Along about 2 pm he calls back saying he didn’t have the right pipe, his partner didn’t show up to work, and that I might want to get someone else if I wanted it done today. Of course, that was not likely since the work day was about over. I took it to a nearby welder who I would have gone to first had this guy not called me back the previous evening, and he said he could probably get to it this afternoon or tomorrow.

My next issue was finding a heavy duty hose clamp. I bought a 3 inch clamp, which was a tad too big. Then a 2.5 inch clamp which was a tad too small. Then spent the rest of the day calling or going to store in town. Either they didn’t carry the clamp type I need, or they did not have the 2.75 inch size.

So, here I sit another day on the beach and not able to do a thing about it. One good thing is that today’s our 9th anniversary, so a good day to be home. Hopefully all this maintenance and repairs will pay off and I won’t have any major issues later in the season when daily catches will be much higher.

–
Mark Stopha and Sara Hannan
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
F/V Dutch Master
Hook and Line Fresh, Frozen, and Smoked Wild Salmon
Salmon Pet Treats
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com

Received the muffler yesterday on the jet. It was an easy fix, although I need
some additional welding so hope to get that done in the morning, then get fuel,
ice and groceries, and back out fishing.

Mark Stopha and Sara Hannan
Owners, F/V Dutch Master and
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
www.goodsalmon.com

Stuck in town waiting for a replacement marine muffler
for the boat. In a larger town like Juneau, with so
much commercial fishing activity, you’d expect there
to be someone who would carry them, but there is not.
I called a store in Juneau who referred me to a store
in Anchorage who referred me to a firm in Oregon. I
tried explaining what I needed and even e-mailed a
photo only to not have my phone call or e-mail
returned. So, I called another business in Seattle
(Hamilton Jet) and about 5 minutes after Dave the
Parts Guy received my e-mail we were in business.
He’s shipping up the part air freight, so it should be
here tomorrow or the next day at the latest, which
pretty much blows fishing this week. However, my
anniversary is May 26, so if I’m gonna get stuck in
town, this is a great time to be so!

Spent the day moving remainder of my catch to my
processor, got things ready on the boat for the new
muffler, mailed out orders of our pet treats. In a
business like ours, the work starts from the minute
you tie up to the dock coming in from a trip to the
minute you untie to leave again. It’s always a great
feeling to feel the tension of town melt away as I
motor away from the dock and back in search of more
salmon.

I’ve been noticing a lot of large white squid eaten by
the big salmon I’m catching. I read in the paper
these are California squid, and they’re catching them
right off the dock in Sitka now. I’ll try to rig up a
big white spoon with a hootchie skirt to see if I can
imitate the things. I’ve been using big white
hootchies behind a flasher, and they have been
producting any better than the other gear I’m fishing,
so maybe a spoon/hootchie combo will work.

–
Mark Stopha and Sara Hannan
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
F/V Dutch Master
Hook and Line Fresh, Frozen, and Smoked Wild Salmon
Salmon Pet Treats
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com

–
Mark Stopha and Sara Hannan
Alaska Wild Salmon Company
F/V Dutch Master
Hook and Line Fresh, Frozen, and Smoked Wild Salmon
Salmon Pet Treats
4455 N. Douglas Hwy
Juneau, AK 99801
907-463-3115
www.GoodSalmon.com

A good trip turned sour in a hurry yesterday. I had a fire in the area of my
ceiling where my exhaust stack goes through. It smelled like a fish smoker,
and took me a while to find it. More smoldering than a fire, but would have
burned through the ceiling had I not caught it. In between running fish around
today and selling from our boat, I removed the cowling cover on the roof of the
wheelhouse, and was relieved to find that the problem was a muffler that had
rusted or burned through in a few places. Always like the easy fixes, rather
than going on a rabbit hunt. Hope to be able to get the part in short order,
as I have to order it from Oregon as none in Juneau or Anchorage. I’m sure the
fishing will be fantastic every day I miss…