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When we got to Dutch Harbor Alaska in the middle of August 2003, we were tired, lost and unsure of what we were doing there. The first person that we came across, or I should say came across us was Sam Valenti. Sam spotted our surfboards from a ways off, and being a surfer, came over to chat. Over dinner, he talked about his adventures surfing on the spit in Dutch Harbor in the middle of winter with howling winds and snow on the ground. He talked about the addictive and lucrative life of fishing, and how he fits into what that is. He talked of travels, both past and future, and spoke of the importance and educational values of traveling and meeting new people. Sam gave us a tour of the island as well as a tour of the trawler boat he worked on. Sam's helpful ways taught us much of what we learned about the small fishing port of Dutch Harbor, as well as the lucrative industry of fishing. Sam Valenti was born in Rochester New York but grew up mainly down in Southern California where he spent his youth surfing and enjoying the ocean culture. Sometime in his mid 20's Sam left California to do some traveling and as he puts it, Òtake one last stab at childhoodÓ. He finally wound up in Dutch Harbor Alaska looking for fortune in the fishing industry. 6 years later Sam still finds himself spending the seasons fishing for Pollack off of the Bering Sea. The Bering Sea is renown for being some of the most dangerous and rough waters in the world to fish, making the job extremely difficult as well as life threatening, but Sam sees the bonus of this job as the time off. 8 months a year he is on the boat working, but the other 4 heÕs traveling, visiting friends and surfing in unique destinations. Fresh off of a trip from El Salvador, we traded stories of Central America, and talked about the dangers of fishing, and his plans to visit Ireland later in the winter. Here are some quotes from our interview with Sam. Scott: What is important to you in life? |
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Sam: "I think the four most important things in life are loving, laughing, learning and teaching. You can't say enough about teaching people things and what a great gift that is." Scott: What troubles you?Ó I guess there is a lot that troubles me, but I guess most of all its the overcrowding of the world. You look at the big cities in the world and see the poverty and the overcrowding, and I think that most of our environmental problems would be solved if there were a lot less people. Not saying that we need to start getting rid of people, but a push in education on the dangerous problem we face with exponential population growth." Scott: What is an American and the American dream? Sam: "To me, the American dream, and the very essence of what I consider to be an American is a person whose goal in life is quite simply just to make their children's life better than theirs was. I use the example of all the immigrants that come here and make America the great place that it is. To me, anybody that is perusing that is a great American." SamÕs word association: Alaska=Cold Argentina=South! Paradise=The Beach Future=North Past=Onward Fishing=Income Native=Aleut Destination=Unknown America=Home Contact Sam sundsurfswell@hotmail.com |
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