:38:00
Or it can sneak up on you
when you're not even looking.
:38:04
Like Joe Gastineau.
:38:07
Fuck. Ever a guy had the world
by the balls, it's Joey.
:38:11
The basketball player?
:38:13
He was headed for a full scholarship,
some university in California.
:38:16
Senior year, he blows out his knee.
Kiss that goodbye.
:38:20
Had a jump shot that'd make you weep.
:38:22
So he gets on one of Torgeson's
crab boats up north...
:38:25
...back when that was
a fucking gold mine.
:38:28
Makes enough to put a down payment
on this little gillnetter...
:38:31
...the Arctic Dawn.
:38:33
Gets some friends, Lester Pope,
who used to work with his father...
:38:37
...and this kid, Oley.
:38:38
Jack Johannson's brother.
:38:40
He'd never been out fishing.
:38:41
He's like a high-school buddy.
Played hoop with Joe.
:38:44
They were gonna go out with Joe
and make a big score.
:38:47
I was crewing on the Cape Fox then.
We hooked into this run.
:38:51
We were barely moving.
It was flat calm, no tide.
:38:53
We were picking fish as fast
as we could to keep the net wet.
:38:57
By nightfall, we were all plugged,
waiting in line at the tender.
:39:00
About six boats ahead of us,
maybe eight behind, Joey's on the end.
:39:04
It was party time.
:39:05
Everybody that wasn't unloading drops
anchor, and they start boat-hopping.
:39:09
So about 1 , 2 in the morning,
Joe gets back on his outfit.
:39:13
Him and the Johannson kid,
they go below to sleep it off.
:39:16
And Lester racks out on deck.
:39:18
It would be morning before
the tender could get to them anyway.
:39:22
Maybe the boat was out of the water too
long. You get cracks, things dry up.
:39:27
Or they were so plugged, the water line
rose up to where it'd never been before.
:39:31
Whatever.
:39:32
Without a sound, the boat fills like
a sponge and sinks in 30 seconds.
:39:36
Damn.
:39:37
So Joey wakes up, it's pitch-black.
He's underwater, right?
:39:41
He's upside-down,
completely disoriented.
:39:43
Swims out through the galley, yells loud
enough to wake me up on the Cape Fox.
:39:48
We fished him out okay,
but the other two, not a trace.
:39:52
Lost.
:39:53
Yeah, he lost his friends...
:39:55
...he lost the catch, there's no
insurance on the boat. That's gone.
:39:59
And Joe....