Very sorry to hear of your loss. I have been through the same experience a few years ago, however there was no shared legacy between my father and I. I was the first mariner in our family, and with my now adult children following other paths, it looks as though it ends here. I will be out on the west coast this weekend in that most maritime of California cities, and will toast both your father and yourself in the most nautical dive I can find. . . .
Think about what the two of you shared for it is a very rare thing indeed. I am not sure that time will completely heal the pain, but it will numb it quite a bit. . .
Sorry to hear of your loss. We can at least agree on one thing. The ones that taught us what it means to be a man and to stand for what you believe in will surely be missed…
I’m sorry to hear of your loss. Doesn’t matter how old and “wise” we get… we are still children when it comes to our parents and losing one at any age is difficult.
[QUOTE=TugNtow;151845]Sorry to hear of your loss. We can at least agree on one thing. The ones that taught us what it means to be a man and to stand for what you believe in will surely be missed…[/QUOTE]
please don’t take this as a challenge or some way to renew any fights here now but my views towards the rich and social welfare were instilled in me by my dad. He was a gentle man who felt pain at inequality and injustice in our world. Although not a loud voice or activist by any means, he taught me to be strong in the face of opposition as well as to fight for the welfare of a vessel’s crewmembers against owners’ desires to earn more. He taught me that a master of any ship must be the strongest man aboard always and he provided a spectacular example of that to all who sailed with him. More than one mariner who sailed with me at some point who had sailed with my father previously would to a man tell me what a fine master he was and even a better man. He also had the ability to win over all in a way that I somehow haven’t yet been able to grasp. Captain Mario could manage to be strong without being combative. I envy his inherent talent in that regard…he was the best!
[QUOTE=c.captain;151847]please don’t take this as a challenge or some way to renew any fights here now but my views towards the rich and social welfare were instilled in me by my dad. He was a gentle man who felt pain at inequality and injustice in our world. Although not a loud voice or activist by any means, he taught me to be strong in the face of opposition as well as to fight for the welfare of a vessel’s crewmembers against owners’ desires to earn more. He taught me that a master of any ship must be the strongest man aboard always and he provided a spectacular example of that to all who sailed with him. More than one mariner who sailed with me at some point who had sailed with my father previously would to a man tell me what a fine master he was and even a better man. He also had the ability to win over all in a way that I somehow haven’t yet been able to grasp. Captain Mario could manage to be strong without being combative. I envy his inherent talent in that regard…he was the best![/QUOTE]
It’s called charisma and it seems to be a rare few who are blessed with that gift. Especially in an industry where the master’s word is law. To possess Charisma and Authority (along with wisdom) is rarer still and the essence of true leadership.
He was a fine man and a great mariner. He taught me so many things about wind, weather, tide, shiphandling, and more. I cannot captain a ship without thinking of his words of advice on a daily basis. He taught me how to enjoy a good cup of coffee, and good cigar, and occassionaly a good glass of wine. We had many years together, me as a deckhand then bosun and finally mate as he pushed me into a maritime career. Those early days were pre GPS and very basic radars and he drummed into me the need to take multiple radar fixes and taught me how to read the clouds and the wind. We watched Hale Bop from crystal clear Bering Sea night skies and we watched endless days of sea spray over the bow on that fine ship Galaxy. We talked about beaches and women endlessly. I am glad you are no longer in pain and I hope you are on a beach finally resting peacefully. You are sorely missed Mario.
you are so right that is what he had in spades but it has escaped me (maybe it is my high shrill girlish voice?) My dad knew of the noise here and often warned me of consequences of being too damned opinionated and vocal of those opinions which does not make me a winner of any popularity awards amongst the Joe Boss set. My dad had his own strong opinions but knew how to temper his words to not make people feel they were being assaulted. A rare talent indeed and one I wished I had inherited…but it is what it is I guess…
I would have liked to work for your Dad.
I know he would have enjoyed teaching you…as my friend LaMancha1 says below, he would generously impart wisdom and knowledge to any young eager man who wanted to watch, listen and learn from someone who was a master at being a master…
you were a good friend with and shipmate of my dad and I am proud to call you a good friend and ex shipmate of mine. It is a unfortunate he left before he could get back to the waters of Alaska which I knew was somewhere he wanted to return to. The three of us certainly shared that passion for such an awesome and spectacular land. Sadly, in 2014 when he became ill I knew neither you nor I could give him that gift we both wanted so badly too. Never waste any time in life…no matter how much time we are granted by our maker, it’s never enough and we’ll always be gone too soon.
I can respect that. I don’t agree with your views or how you present them most of the time and I would suspect that’s why you fail to win over as many as you would like but that’s is a conversation for a different time. I just wanted to offer my condolences and sincere respect for your father.
again my gratitude to all here for your very kind words of support and brotherly fraternity…
I am now with my mom and she is baring up to the loss of her only love but my mother is quite tender so with her sons now around her, we’ll provide the ballast she needs to keep her from capsizing during the tempest.
(and if this thread doesn’t actually show that this hard barnacle encrusted old curmudgeon is inside a soft hearted sentimentalist, nothing will…so EFF the lot of ya if you still hate me!)
When we lose a loved one here on earth, we gain an angel in heaven that watches over us. I extend my most sincere condolences to you, c.captain.
When my father passed away, I was sailing onboard a Panamax Crude Oil Tanker, upstream the Rio San Juan, Venezuela, toward Caripito. One of my father last wishes was that I hanged about onboard. Maybe his desire was to join me instead. Besides, the planes that called the local airport had feathers. So really, I had no other choice but to stay onboard and live the memorial service, alone in the jungle. That was one of the toughest I’ve experienced.
I haven’t thought of a way to send my condolences in a way that would be worthy of your memory to him. After thinking about it all I can say is I’m sorry for your loss. He sounds like he was a great man, or at least a rotten old bastard like you.
[QUOTE=LI_Domer;151964]I haven’t thought of a way to send my condolences in a way that would be worthy of your memory to him. After thinking about it all I can say is I’m sorry for your loss. He sounds like he was a great man, or at least a rotten old bastard like you.[/QUOTE]
no, my dad and I had different personalities so I did not inherit my grouchy curmudgeonliness from him so I can’t use that as an excuse. I don’t actually know how I ended up becoming the rotten old bastard you’ve all come to tolerate since 2008?
Must have goten all my reptilian charm from dear old mother or maybe is was something I ate?
My father was the Radio Officer on the Marine Electric which caused his departure earlier than expected. I raise a glass in toast to your father and all the others who have crossed the bar.
[QUOTE=sfmariner;151988]Sorry for your loss, c. captain.
My father was the Radio Officer on the Marine Electric which caused his departure earlier than expected. I raise a glass in toast to your father and all the others who have crossed the bar.[/QUOTE]
I want to take this opportunity to ask my brothers here who else followed their father to the sea? I would love to hear some of the stories you might have to share especially how you and your dad each being mariners brought you closer to each other?
let’s take the opportunity of my dad’s death as an opening for a way to share our experiences we might have in common…my dad and I talked boats, ships and the sea endlessly and that is something I will truly miss.
[QUOTE=c.captain;151998]I want to take this opportunity to ask my brothers here who else followed their father to the sea? I would love to hear some of the stories you might have to share especially how you and your dad each being mariners brought you closer to each other?
let’s take the opportunity of my dad’s death as an opening for a way to share our experiences we might have in common…my dad and I talked boats, ships and the sea endlessly and that is something I will truly miss.[/QUOTE]
I stated earlier that my father was not what I considered a mariner, however he has always had an interest in the sea. He did serve two years in the Navy in the 50s as a yeoman and did try to get into Cal Maritime around that time, also, but was turned away. We moved quite a bit growing up, and most of the places we lived were either on the coast or near to it. He did talk of ships and boats and made many models, including wooden ones right up to his somewhat untimely passing. Many of our adult conversations were about my work at sea, my surveying as a Class Surveyor, and any claims that I was handling, especially maritime related ones. I remember that our weekly conversations while he was still alive would include questions about certain maritime incidents that would be in the news and him asking if I was involved. . . and there were times that I was. Now when I do get work on something that I also see in the news, I do think of him. . .
[QUOTE=Capnklump;152011]Sorry for your loss. I’m sure he will be greatly missed.[/QUOTE]
he will indeed as is his brother…the other captain who I chose to follow to the sea. The photo shows the three brothers taken on a ferry at Zadar, Croatia in 2009. The last time the three met at their birthplace. I was there and many tears were shed that day.
My dad is on the far right and my uncle Tommy in the center. Rasio on the left is the oldest and although started in fishing, went to university and earned a degree in Slavic languages going on to a professorship at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Tommy was a deck officer with National Marine Fisheries Service (the only not NOAA Corps master until his retirement from NMFS in 1991…he was for many years mate and then master of the same JOHN N COBB I am trying to save as a museum today). He later went to work for Icicle Seafoods as master of the processor DISCOVERY STAR for many years until he officially retired for good in the late 90’s. After gillnetting for salmon in the 60’s and 70’s, my father sat for his license in 1976 and went to work as a mate at Crowley Maritime and stayed with the tugs till the mid 80’s when he went to work for Dutch Harbor Seafoods(Unisea) and ultimately ran the GALAXY as the permanent master until the vessel was laid up in 1997 and worked some afterwards but a major heart attack in 1999 caused him to leave the sea for good. All three came to the US after WWII from their birthplace on the small island of Iz and I heard many stories of hunger and deprivation on their small island during the war years. After coming to the PNW all brothers followed their dad into the then Croatian dominated salmon and sardine fisheries all the way from False Pass, Alaska to San Pedro, California and I heard many tales of backbreaking work of men hauling heavy seines aboard set after set by hand in the days before power blocks. Somewhere I have a list of all the boats my dad worked on in his life and I intend to find photos of all of them. Boats with names like KANSAS and MARCONIA with slow speed Atlas diesels that required a man to manually oil every 20minutes. Boats were all the crew lived in one common fo’c’sle with no such thing as a shower so you all stunk the same for weeks on end with bleeding calluses and aching arms. But at the same time also hearing tales of all the immigrant fishermen drinking wine in the evening and singing songs of the land they left. You have to have come from such “old country” stock to appreciate the heritage of your forefathers. These men truly knew the meaning of the term “working at sea”
