I think everybody has a uncle that you loved and were a little scared of at times. In my family that was uncle Rollie. He did have a heart of gold but if you crossed him, you better get out of the way.
Boy did he catch his fish as a captain and then as a boat owner. He started as a captain on the Liberty Bell, to the Neptune then to the Cape Cod and the Ana Maria. Uncle Rollie one of the first to go fish in Africa with the Neptune and later the Cape Cod. He owned the Mary Lucille which was the old Louis Seaver. Later after he did well with the Mary Lucille and fixed it up as nice as he could the unthinkable happened, it sanked.
He then bought the City of Lisbon and renamed it the “new” Mary Lucille. I was young when uncle rollie was running the boats so I do have a few memories but one of the funniest memories I have was when the first Mary Lucille was coming in to customs. If you’ve ever been to customs it use to be at the end of broadway pier. Well there just about getting ready to throw the lines to tie the boat up when “Prince“ decides to go for it. Prince was my uncles German Sheppard, you know the type with a head the size of a horse weighing about 100 lbs it seemed. Well Prince saw the familys on the dock and decided to jump he did so good except he was about 2 feet short. Into the bay Prince went. Well after all the screaming and yelling they plucked Prince out of the water. Here comes the funny part. Whenver a boat would come to customs so did a harbor police it seemed. Well this cop decided to stop and get out, but he maded one mistake leaving his door open. Yeah Prince thought it would be great to jump into the front seat and shake it all off. he just sat there and wouldn’t move. Ofcourse their was more yelling and screaming and maybe a ticket I don’t remember all I do remember was Prince was wet and he wanted to dry off in the police car.
The boat got cleared at custums they moved the boat and we went home with a story that the whole family still remembers. Uncle Rollie soon retired from fishing and has know moved on to heaven. He will never be forgotten. God Bless you Uncle Rollie your missed ….
