The Fishing Boat

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Oh, sure. We’ve all heard the stories. You can’t fish these waters - or probably any waters - without someone trying to spook you with a ghost tale or two.

I’ve been fishing out here since I was a kid. No one was eager to enforce any child labor laws back then. Not around here.

The first tale I heard of a ghost ship was of the Kathy Muldoon. It was a cannery boat out of Ketchikan. The story is that the ship went missing for months. When the crew of another boat - The Alaska Diamond - saw her, she was adrift northeast of Graham Island. A couple of fellas from the Diamond boarded the Kathy Muldoon, and didn’t find a soul onboard. What they did see was a table set for supper with four place settings, lit candles, and a steaming hot bowl of soup in the center of the table.

The Diamond crew mates got back on their boat and headed back to port. When they got back, one of the men told his friends in a bar that there was also a note on the table that said “Join us for a meal. We’ll be disappointed if you do not.”

Of course neither of them ate any of the soup.

But, the story goes, within a week they both died of a mysterious and painful death. Some folks say it was like they suddenly had tuberculosis, only more painful.

Now, legend has it that anyone who boards the Muldoon either has some soup, or they die horribly within the week. But here’s the thing. There are stories of men who found the Kathy Muldoon and boarded it. They found the bowl of soup, still steaming, and had themselves a spoonful. They died immediately, but had contented smiles on their faces and seemed to have gone in peace.

I think the whole story is bunkum. I’ve never seen the Kathy Muldoon in all my days at sea. But, I have a friend who has a friend (isn’t that always the way?) who claims to have been onboard the vessel and he’s still alive to this day. He also says he didn’t see candles, plates, or soup. And certainly no smiling corpses.

Still and all, not a bad story. And I think the ship does or did exist. I assume it’s underwater by now.

The other tale I hear is more recent. In the late 90’s, Gaulway’s Jewel, worked out of Juneau. The Jewel was a six-man long haul fisher that would stay out for two to three months. The story goes that after about a month underway, the crew of the Jewel mutinied against Captain Gaulway, who, as you probably figured, owned the boat as well. The story goes that he drove the men too hard and that he treated them like dirt. So, one night, the five members of the crew surrounded Gaulway on the deck and tried to tell him how the cow chewed the cabbage.

But Gaulway wasn’t going to give up his ship or his command. He grabbed a boat hook and fought them off. The story is he knocked three in the water and managed to kill another with the hook. The final man - his first mate, John Greene- stabbed him as the Captain lunged forward, knocking the man off balance and into the cold water.

Captain Gaulway died from his wounds.

They say the boat still floats in these waters, and that those who find her and board her will more like than not be knocked into a watery grave by the ghost of Captain Gaulway.

it’s a lie, of course.

Truth be told, Captain Gaulway did die onboard the Jewel that night along with his crew. But it was no standoff and dramatic battle to the death. No, John Greene simply murdered the captain and his fellow crew members in their sleep. He slit their throats with his fishing knife.

Why?

It was dumb and it was simple. Gaulway had made a joke at Greene’s expense and the crew had a good laugh. The joke doesn’t matter, but it set Greene off and sent him into a bottle. And when the bottle was done, the blade came out, and the deck boards were painted red with blood.

So, there was no mutiny. No struggle. Just the killing.

As for Greene, well here’s the absurd part. He slipped on Gaulway’s blood and stabbed himself with his own knife. It took him hours to die.

So, those who chance upon the Jewel don’t get pushed into the deep by the captain.

No, they met their end at the hand of the cursed spirit of John Greene and his knife.

This knife.

Welcome to the Jewel, friend.