Letters Sent from the Arctic Rose

June 27 -- Following are letters and e-mails sent home by members of the crew of the Arctic Rose during her last voyage. The fishing boat sank mysteriously in April 2001. All 15 men aboard perished.

Jan. 28, 2001 — E-mail From Capt. Dave Rundall to his Wife in Hawaii

Aloha, Kari Ann. I missed you when I called. We left town and the weather is still crap: blowing and snowing in Dutch [Dutch Harbor, an Alaskan port] like muthafk. This morning we will start fishing and try our new gear. I hope you all had a good weekend and doing good. I love you XOXO.

Feb. 5, 2001 — Letter From Rookie Fisherman Jeff Meincke to His Parents

Mom & Dad,

Things are going good. I'm over sea sickness now. We are almost halfway through our first trip. The fleet is having a hard time finding fish. It's not cold enough to drive the fish into the fishing grounds. I'm learning lots of new things out here. I'm practically a deckhand. I do everything the deckhands do & then go into the factory and do what the processors do....

The weather hasn't been bad, rather warmer than usual. Nothing extraordinary yet. The captain says there's a big storm coming in tonight, but it won't effect much. We are steaming to a different area so our nets won't be out, which means we have downtime?.

Things are good. It's exciting to really be fishing. A lot different than the barge. More fun so far. We have a good crew. If we find the fish soon we should make some money. Well gotta go start my next shift.?

Say hello to the beasties and my spider for me. Try not to scare my girlfriend please if you have any contact with her. She's really a nice girl and one I'd like to keep around for a while.

Till next time. I'll try to call when I can.

Love, JeffYour fisherman

Feb. 7, 2001 — E-mail From Dave Rundall to His Wife

Aloha, Kari. How's it, sweety? It was sure good to hear your voice today!... We did not fish today as we are in some stormy weather and just jogging into it. I got no sleep today and now got the headache thing going on. I love you and tell the boys to behave on their trip to Oahu. I hope they get time to check out some babes while they are there! I love you and miss you. D.