The Master

This is about my father's mastery of everything that makes life worthwhile: ships, boats, airplanes, families, oceans, pets, and alcohol. Some of these he managed better than others. A master mariner whose unlimited licenses covered all oceans and any ship's tonnage, he learned to fly airplanes in order to land on docks next to his ship, tamed a kangaroo by playing the organ aboard his vessels, threw good parties and disastrous ones, sailed a 50-foot ketch from Fiji to Juneau, and made "good times" during most of his life, along with a notable failure. He was a Sunset Magazine Chef of the West. He also was a water witch, discovering that he could use dowsing sticks to discover water resources for his community on tiny Orcas Island, off the West Coast, where he treated his friends to cases of Scotch that he dumped overboard in the Strait of Georgia.