Chapter 12: Approaching Storm
"Watch that line!" shouted Jake, as Jon tossed the buoys over the rail.
Jon leapt out of a coil of the line that had gotten wrapped around his leg. He gave Jake a grateful nod and turned to prepare the next pot.
Sarah watched the scene from her place up in the wheelhouse. It had been two weeks since they had left Dutch Harbor and the fishing was slow-going. They were pulling pots with averages of only about twenty keepers. They needed to speed up if they expected to meet the offload date.
Sarah had decided to move away from the rest of the pack and head further north. The weather radio blared loudly above her, warning her yet again about the dangerous storm that was approaching them.
Sarah sighed in annoyance and shut it off. She knew all too well the danger she was putting herself, the boat, and the crew into, but the possibility of striking it rich with Opilio crab overtook the danger they were approaching. The Northwestern was heading straight for the storm and the waves were beginning to show it.
Down on the deck, Jake began to worry over the weather system that was moving in. Sarah had called Jake inside the wheelhouse earlier that day to talk to him in private…
"I don't know what to do, Jake," said Sarah, running a hand through her hair, "We have to try to fish somewhere else if we're going to make this due date, but it could be disastrous. I mean, we're talking forty to fifty foot waves! This could be tantamount to suicide."
Jake sighed and took a second to gaze at his skipper. He remembered when he was her age aboard the Northwestern. He was so much more naïve and unsure of himself. Sarah was confident and knew who she was. Her heritage helped out a lot with that. Jake smiled to himself as he thought about her parents. His best friend, Edgar, was one of the best deckhands to ever fish the Bering Sea. Jack was the best greenhorn that ever stepped foot on the Northwestern. And Sig, her uncle, was the best skipper he had ever known. The man was a genius and seemed to always know where the crab were. It was a Norwegian thing, and Sarah had inherited a lot of that.
"What makes you want to go north so badly?" he asked her after a moment.
Sarah sighed and shook her head, her eyes troubled and shoulders tense with apprehension.
"I don't know," she murmured, "It's like an instinct. Something's telling me that's where the crab are…I just don't know if it's worth the risk."
Jake nodded and gave her another scrutinizing look.
"Well, if you're anything like your parents and your uncle, then you're right."
Sarah shot a surprised look in Jake's direction.
"Follow your instincts, Sarah," he said, leaning in to emphasize his words, "Take us to the crab."
And that was exactly what Sarah intended to do.
She turned to look down on the deck where her deckhands were prepping another pot to launch in a test string on the way to her chosen spot far north of the rest of the fleet. Just in case her instincts were off, they could always come back and fish their twenty average strings until they found better fishing.
Sarah smiled in surprise when she saw Jake and Alex laughing and joking around with one another. They both bit into a herring and ran around trying to gross-out the other deckhands. Amy ran away screaming and hid behind Jon. Jon cried out in fear as Alex ran over to him and tried to spit the fish head at him.
Andrew sulked on the other side of the deck. His best friend had changed ever since Rick and the Maverick crew pulled him out of the water. Alex had a new found respect for the man and had changed his views on the old rivalry. He also changed his on-deck attitude. Sarah had kept an especially close eye on him ever since they pulled out of Dutch Harbor. He had made an honest effort in making up for his earlier behavior. He began to encourage the deckhands instead of bringing them down or making fun of them constantly. In fact, since he had come back aboard, the entire attitude of the crew had changed.
Just then, a beeping sound came from the radio, jolting Sarah out of her reverie.
"This is Sarah Hansen of the Northwestern, who's calling?"
"The best daddy in the whole world."
Sarah's eyes lit up at the sound of Edgar's voice.
"Dad!" she exclaimed in surprise, "How are you radioing me? Are you in Dutch?"
"Yeah, you know your mom and I…we can't seem to keep away for too long. We're staying here until you finish out your season. We'd like to see you when you come back. That and we wanted to say hi to a few old friends. Sig, Norman, Nick, and Matt are going to come up too when we get word that you guys are heading back to port."
"That's great! I can't wait to see you all again! I know Jake can't either."
"Good old Jake, how's he doing?"
"He's amazing. He's the best deckboss a skipper could ask for. He's honest, sincere, and loyal. It doesn't get much better than Jake."
"Good to hear," said Edgar with a slight laugh, "Now I've heard a rather vicious rumor about you."
"Really?" asked Sarah, heart leaping into her throat, "What rumor?"
"I went to the Elbow Room a couple days ago," replied Edgar, "Someone there said you and Rick Painter are an item?"
Sarah did not reply for a moment. She had been dreading this for a long time now. It had been a secret she had kept from Edgar and Jack. She knew that they would not be pleased.
"Yeah, we are," she said, trying to sound confident, "And he's not like his father, I swear. You can ask Alex Mahone when we return to Dutch. Alex fell overboard and they saved him."
Edgar sighed, "Well I can't tell you what to do anymore. You're a grown woman. You can make your own decisions…just be careful, okay?"
"So…you don't mind?" asked Sarah, hesitantly.
Edgar sighed again, "No, but I still don't like his father…at all."
"Neither do I," replied Sarah, "And I don't really think he does either. So…are you going to tell Mom?"
Edgar laughed slightly, "Yeah I guess you'd better let me tell her, huh? She won't be as understanding as I am, I'm sure. I mean, after all, his dad did hurt her pretty bad."
"Yeah…that's what I'm worried about," muttered Sarah.
"Well, don't," retorted Edgar, "You have plenty of other things to worry about right now. Let me handle this one, okay? You keep concentrating on that boat and your crew. You're heading for a big storm, am I right?"
"How'd you know?"
"I checked with some buddies of mine at Dutch. They showed be where you were headed on radar. Just be careful and bring them back home safe, okay?"
"Yeah…I'll do my best."
"That's all I could ever ask for," said Edgar, warmly, "Take care of yourself Sarah…I love you."
"I love you too, Dad."
Sarah ended the transmission and sighed. Her mind had trouble wrapping around everything that was going on. Blake…Rick…her parents…the crew…the boat…the storm…the offload deadline…the crab.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned back to the helm. The storm was coming and she needed to have her mind clear to steer them safely through. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for what she knew was coming.
"It's going to be a long night…"
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And check out "She's Just Like the Ocean."
It's a short one-shot based on Edgar and Jack…
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