Letter to Editor | Island living extends to on-the-water kindness

— from Alex MacLeod and Willie Williams —

There are few things more special to life in the islands than the opening day of spot-prawn fishing. And there are few things less welcome than having one’s line-puller stop working as the first of two pots is lifting off the bottom.

That’s what happened to us Thursday while shrimping north of Flat Top. Checked the fuses (actually had replacements on board from prior misadventures), but that wasn’t the problem.

The problem was in the motor itself. No solution at hand.

So I motored over to another boat, the aptly-named Skookum Tillie, to see if they could help. Sure, after we’ve pulled our pots, the skipper hollered back. They not only pulled our pots but carefully coiled (and zip-tied) more than 800 total feet of lead line, then delivered it to our boat — with the shrimp still in our pots.

This was yet another reminder of why we chose to live in the islands many years ago. The willingness of people to help one another, often without being asked, was a major draw, as was the opportunity to do so ourselves. Nowhere is that more appreciated than when problems happen on the water.

So I want to take this public opportunity to thank Derek Arndt, of Waldron, and his family/crew on the Skookum Tillie for making our opening day such a happy memory. May their pots always be full and their pot pullers function. If not, we hope to be there to offer assistance in thanks.