Paul Corbin came to Alaska many years ago to commercially fish for salmon. The lifestyle suited him and he had many boats, caught many fish, raised a family and maintained a wilderness homestead in a remote area of southeast Alaska that would become Lisianski Inlet Lodge. Here is his story, enjoy!
GUS
Old Gus lived on his boat and mostly kept to himself. He was
getting on in years but still was able to untie his troller from
the dock and go out and fish in the pass for salmon. When he got
tired, he would come back into the harbor, tie up the boat and
disappear down into the focsle. Nobody knew much about Gus except
that he liked to read what books people gave him, and newspapers,
and old magazines. Once in awhile, he would come up to the
general store to buy a few groceries but that was about it. There
was no doubt that Gus was a man of few words. However, he was
always polite in greeting somebody on the boardwalk saying not much
more than a good day with a nod of his shaggy head. One day Gus
headed out of the harbor but did not return. After several days,
people began to wonder if old Gus was alright and where he might
be. For days the other fishermen kept an eye out for the missing
boat but with no luck. Several weeks went by but still no sign of
Gus or his boat. More time went by until finally one day another
fisherman spotted the boat anchored up in a remote cove. The
fisherman dropped his anchor and rowed in his punt over to Gus's
boat to see if everything was alright. When he came alongside, Gus
stepped out of the pilot house. The fisherman said,” Gus, are you
alright?” Gus replied, “Yaaah, I'm fine.” Gus then explained why
he had not returned to the boat harbor. It seems that he had
decided to drop his anchor and take a nap for awhile. It was then,
after the anchor was down, that Gus discovered a bird’s nest
directly under the anchor roller on the bow of the boat As he
looked into the nest, he saw several tiny birds eggs in it. It
wasn't long before the mother bird flew by and landed near the
nest. After awhile, Gus decided to spend the night there and see
what would happen. He knew that if he raised the anchor, there
would be a good chance of destroying the nest and crushing the tiny
eggs in it and so when morning came, he decided to stay a while
longer. It wasn't long before Gus resolved to wait until the baby
birds hatched. This decision would prove to turn out to be a long
wait. Ole Gus hardly had any food left or water either but he was
set on sticking by his decision. Fortunately, the other fisherman
who discovered Gus and his boat gave him some food and water before
returning to the boat harbor. Word got out about the nest and the
baby birds that were due to hatch. Soon, some of the other folks
of the tiny fishing community would bring food and water to where
Gus was anchored and look at the eggs. Everybody, it seemed, was
waiting for the baby birds to hatch out of those tiny eggs. The
day did arrive of course. And Mama bird was busy feeding her young
babies. Gus had to wait for the young birds to grow up enough to
learn how to fly. He didn't seem to mind though. The good ladies
of the fishing community were mother-henning those baby birds
bringing Gus some pretty nice home made pies and cakes. He probably
never ate so good or had so much good company in his entire life.