I happened to look out the kitchen window and noticed that the Puratich have some of their nets in the driveway ready to be taken for loading on their boats for the summer fishing season. It reminded me that it would be a good time to revisit another of the early fishing families of Gig Harbor. With that in mind, here is Lee Makovich’s story.
The Men of the Marauder
The New Generation
(Out of The Past by Lee Makovich)
The Fishermen’s News February 2002
“In the operation of their combination-fishing vessel Marauder, Joe and Bob Puratich characterize a new age in the modern, commercial fishing industry. These men demonstrate a truly impressive representation of the new generation that has risen to the forefront in the fishing community. Joe piratic is the talented skipper of the versatile, Gig Harbor based Marauder, and his brother Bob is an equally important contributor in the vessel’s operation.
“I’m the skipper,” says Joe, “but Bob handles just about everything else. He takes care of the maintenance of the boat and all of the fishing gear. He also deals with the bookkeeping that is involved in the operation and he is an equal partner in the boat. It’s a fifty-fifty partnership, and as skipper, I probably receive more credit than I deserve for the accomplishments we achieve. But along with that, I also take the blame for anything that might go wrong. We consider ourselves to be a low profile operation, but we have a good relationship and we’ve done pretty well over the years.”
“The Marauder is as finely equipped and as modern a fishing vessel as any in the industry. And Joe might like to refer to his operation as ‘low profile.’ But I think that could be a bit of a stretch, considering the success these men have experienced in an expanding fishing industry. No, not low profile Joe. Everyone in the fishing community, from the Shumagin Islands to Southern California, is aware of the success the Marauder and the Puratich brothers have achieved.
“Joe and Bob Puratich are recognized leaders in this new generation of commercial fishermen. They are men who surely represent the new, but they also continue to represent a legacy and a tradition of a past generation. A tradition which was handed down from father to son, to son, for nearly a century. The Puratich family has been continuously involved in the fishing industry from a time, long before most of us were born. From the mid teens to the present day, there has never been a time when a Puratich owned vessel was not engaged in a commercial fishery of one kind or another. More on that in a moment.
“The 58’ seine style Marauder was built by Delta at the Duwamish Waterway in 1991. She was one of the latest models of the vessels that Delta produced at the time and she was the third boat of that design to be built at the facility. She was powered by a 3412 Caterpillar diesel and her Alaska limit length allowed her to be an even more versatile fishing boat. The Alaska limit length is somewhat of a deception in the configuration of this capable fishing vessel.Of course, a side view of the Marauder reveals a rather short appearing boat. But a view of the bow, when she’s heading straight toward you, for example, is truly impressive. From that position, she looks like a mighty battle ship.
“I had the pleasure of a recent tour of this extraordinary example of modern innovation and technology. Aboard the Marauder, one has the feeling of being on a much larger boat. The pilothouse is spacious and bright, with enough room for an array of electronic equipment and hydraulic controls. Also, visibility from the steering station is truly exceptional. On deck, there is an ample area for all of the equipment necessary to participate in a variety of fisheries.
“And in the working area for the crew, one finds an open and strategically configured arrangement. All of the gear and rigging is situated in easily accessible locations, allowing the crew to work in a relatively safe and extremely productive manner. And for this writer, I must observe that the mighty Marauder is as efficient and effective a fishing vessel as I have ever been aboard. If a new and innovative advancement of some kind is introduced into the industry, you will surely find it aboard the Marauder. Joe and Bob Puratich will make sure of that.
“When I spoke to Joe recently, he and Bob were readying the Marauder for a trip to the Shumagin Islands for the first fishery of the year. ‘We’ll have a brief opening for a pollack fishery,’ Joe said, ‘and then we will concentrate our efforts in fishing for Pacific cod out of Sand Point, Alaska until early April. The pollack is a mid water trawl operation and the cod is both a mid water and bottom fishing operation.’
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| Joe Puratich iPhoto from article |
“Each year is different for Joe and Bob and some years are busier than others for various reasons. But very often, there have been times when the Puratich brothers have kept the Marauder working for nearly 11 months out of the year. It is not an unusual occurrence for the Marauder to work the cod fishery out of Sand Point, Alaska and to also participate in sardine and squid fishing operations in Southern California just a short time later. Never mind that the two fishing areas are a mere few thousand miles apart.
“And then of course, the men also participate in salmon seining in Southeast Alaska, along with working an occasional, brief salmon opening in Puget Sound. Oh, and I almost forgot. Joe and Bob might also engage in a bit of sardine or pilchard fishing out of Astoria, Oregon as well. Did I mention that the Puratich brothers’ Marauder is a very versatile fishing vessel? I think that perhaps I may have.
“As I mentioned earlier, the Puratich family’s commercial fishing tradition goes back for nearly a century. Joe and Bob’s grandfather, Paul Puratich, had migrated to the Northwest from what was then known as Yugoslavia in the early 1900s. He settled in Gig Harbor and became involved in the fishing business immediately after his arrival.
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| iPhone Photo of Paul Puratich from original article |
“The date of his first venture into the industry remains unknown. But we are aware that Paul was a crew member aboard pioneer skipper Andrew Skansie’s purse seiner Spokane as early as 1917. It is believed that the senior Puratich worked as a crewman aboard other fishing boats for several years prior to that time.
“What is known for certain, is that Mr. Puratich’s first fishing vessel, the 62’ purse seiner Emancipator, was launched from the Skansie Shipyard at Gig Harbor in 1918. His first venture into boat ownership was a major undertaking to say the least. There is no question that the Emancipator was a substantial and effective purse seiner for her time. The trim vessel was originally powered by a 50 h.p. Frisco Standard gas engine.
“The total cost of the Emancipator’s construction, including everything necessary to go out fishing, amounted to the mind-boggling sum of almost $6,000. But that was a very substantial investment for a brand new vessel in those early days of the commercial fishing industry. Now owned by the Barhanovich family of Everett, Washington, the Emancipator remains active as a fish buyer and packer in the Puget Sound area.
“Like his grandsons, the elder Puratich was also a commercial boat owner who believed strongly in the diversification of his fishing operations. He was not only a proficient skipper in salmon fisheries, in both Alaska and Puget Sound, but he was also an early participant in the heyday era of California and Oregon sardine fishing. Several of the fishing boats Paul Piratic would later own were constructed specifically for the purpose of being employed in a number of different fisheries.
“In 1924, Mr. Puratich became involved in a brief partnership, along with pioneer skippers, Mike Katich and Andrew Gilich, in the ownership of the 65’ purse seiner Mt. Tacoma. At once point in time, the Mt. Tacoma was used as a packer and trap tender while she was owned by the famed Buchan & Heinen Packing Company. The vessel’s name was eventually changed to Pansy and she was later acquired by Donald McCallum of King Cove, Alaska. The Pansy foundered in a fierce storm near Pavlof, Alaska, while under charter in 1973.
“Just two years later, Mr. Puratic had the substantial, 69’ purse seiner Venus constructed at the Conrad Anderson Shipyard in Gig Harbor. Shortly after the vessel slid down the shipyard’s ways, in the spring on 1926, she was fitted with an extremely advanced engine for the time. Puratich chose a magnificent, 90 h.p. Atlas Imperial diesel to supply power for his new fishing boat. That four-cylinder diesel was a truly innovative engine selection in the mid-1920s. Puratich retained the Venus for just a couple of years. She was then sold to the Snug Harbor Packing Company and many years and many owners later, she was left to die on a lonely beach at Halibut Bay, near Sitka, Alaska in about 1973.
“Perhaps one of the most classic of the various fishing vessels Mr. Puratich owned was the sleek, 66’ combination purse seiner Lone Eagle. The vessel was of course, named in honor of Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight with the Spirit of St. Louis. Well, Puratich’s Lone Eagle may not have traveled across the Atlantic Ocean as the other “Lone Eagle” did, but she surely covered a wide area of the Pacific Ocean during her tenure in the fishing industry. Sadly, the good old Lone Eagle was lost when she collided with the United States Navy destroyer Crosby, 18 miles northwest of Point Arguello, California on April 8, 1940. Thankfully, there were no injuries or loss of life reported in the accident.
“The Lone Eagle was also the training ground for Joe and Bob’s father, John Puratich. There are several nostalgic photographs that show John aboard the Lone Eagle at a very young age. Like Joe and Bob, John (Johnnie) Puratich, literally grew up aboard his father’s fishing boat. In 1945, Paul and John Puratich decided to combine their resources in the construction of a new sardine seiner. The California sardine fishery was booming and the men wanted to have a vessel built which would be able to compete with any fishing boat on the entire West Coast.
“The goal was surely accomplished when the brand new, 86’ Puratich sardine seiner slid down the ways of the Peterson Shipyard in Tacoma in the winter of 1945. This new vessel was truly as fine a sardine as any that had ever been employed in the fishery, past or present. Powered by a state of the art, 400 h.p. Enterprise diesel, the new vessel was capable as well as one of the most beautiful fishing vessels I have ever seen. She was named Marauder, a name used again some 46 years later, when Joe and Bob had their new seiner laughed at Delta on the Duwamish Waterway.
“As we are all aware, the sardine fishery fell on extremely hard times just a few years later after the original Marauder was built. Consequently, and perhaps fortunately for the Puratich family, the sleek beauty was sold to California interests and she never returned to the Northwest. Her name was changed to Southern Explorer and she continued to operate in several fisheries in Southern California and Mexican waters for the next 18 years or so. She met her demise when she reportedly ran aground and sank near the breakwater at Los Angeles on October 23, 1968.
“ Paul Puratich eventually retired and his son John acquired the 70’ purse seiner St. Anthony in the late 1940s. The St, Anthony was built at the Skansie Shipyard at Gig Harbor in 1930 and was one of the last of the heyday vessels constructed at that facility. She was powered by a 135 h.p. Washington diesel and she was also a versatile vessel, fishing for sardine and salmon along the West Coast for a number of years. She was also used as a packer on several occasions, prior to the time John Puratich acquired the vessel.
“I should mention here, that Paul Puratich was lured out of retirement in 1947 by top producing, seine skipper Spiro Babich. Paul was persuaded to go along with Spiro’s son, the late Pete Babich, and help out in Pete’s first year of running a purse seiner at the Salmon Banks. Pete skippered the Invincible that summer and he once told me that Mr. Puratich was a great help to him in his first year as a skipper. ‘He never told me how to run the boat,’ Pete said, ‘but he would offer advice and encouragement on many occasions. I admired him very much for his assistance, and he certainly helped to make my job easier.’
“As for the versatile St. Anthony, she was soon repowered by a 343 Cat diesel and Puratich sold the vessel a few years later. John purchased the limit seiner St. Janet and he and his sons operated that vessel until the launching of Joe and Bob’s current fishing boat, the Delta built Marauder. A terribly tragic event occurred in the mid-1960s that caused the demise of the St. Anthony, along with the loss of her entire crew. After she was sold, the St. Anthony became involved in the Alaska king crab fishery. All aboard were lost when she foundered during a violent storm off Puale Bay, Alaska on December 3, 1967.
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| St. Janet - Harbor History Museum SmugMug Bfsh-209-GH.jpeg |
“The late John Puratich was a pioneer in the Northwest hake fishery as well. And typical of the Puratich fishing operations, he kept the St. Janet busy for most of the year. Bob and Joe went out fishing with their father when they were very young. Bob was just seven years old when he first spent time aboard his father’s fishing boat and Joe began when he was about eight years old. These men have never known any other way of life since they were practically babies and they have no intention of changing that way of life at any time in the near future. Joe and Bob Puratich have a great boat to work with and then of course, they are the men of the Marauder, the new generation.”
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| Crew of St. Janet - Harbor History Museum SmugMug BC-002-GH.jpeg |
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- Out of The Past by Lee Makovich, The Fishermen’s News February 2002
- iPhone Photo
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Note:
- Out of The Past by Lee Makovich, The Fishermen’s News February 2002
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