# patrick dixon, writer > Poems, stories and essays of an ex-Alaskan commercial fisherman ## Pages - [patrick dixon, writer](https://www.patrickdixon.net/) - [A Day in the Life: on a Harbor Tug in Seattle](https://www.patrickdixon.net/a-day-in-the-life-on-a-harbor-tug-in-seattle) - [A Lot to Hold](https://www.patrickdixon.net/a-lot-to-hold) - [A Shaft of Sunlight](https://www.patrickdixon.net/a-shaft-of-sunlight) - [About](https://www.patrickdixon.net/about) - [Articles](https://www.patrickdixon.net/articles) - [Blog: Gillnet Dreams](https://www.patrickdixon.net/blog-gillnet-dreams) - [Poems](https://www.patrickdixon.net/commercial-fishing-poetry) - [Contact](https://www.patrickdixon.net/contact) - [CV](https://www.patrickdixon.net/cv) - [Essays](https://www.patrickdixon.net/essays) - [Exxon Valdez Spill: Cook Inlet Tanker Blockade](https://www.patrickdixon.net/exxon-valdez-spill-cook-inlet-tanker-blockade) - [FisherPoets Anthology](https://www.patrickdixon.net/fisherpoets-anthology) - [Links](https://www.patrickdixon.net/links) - [Media links about my books](https://www.patrickdixon.net/media-links-about-my-books) - [Memoirs](https://www.patrickdixon.net/memoirs) - [My First Strike](https://www.patrickdixon.net/my-first-strike) - [NAPOWRIMO 2018](https://www.patrickdixon.net/napowrimo-2018) - [Never Cross the Lines](https://www.patrickdixon.net/never-cross-the-lines) - [Order](https://www.patrickdixon.net/order) - [other assorted poems](https://www.patrickdixon.net/other-assorted-poems) - [Poetry](https://www.patrickdixon.net/poetry) - [Prose](https://www.patrickdixon.net/prose) - [Rates](https://www.patrickdixon.net/rates) - [Resume'](https://www.patrickdixon.net/resume) - [Schedule](https://www.patrickdixon.net/schedule) - [Short Stories](https://www.patrickdixon.net/short-stories) - [SWIMMING WITH FISH and other animals](https://www.patrickdixon.net/swimming-with-fish-and-other-animals) - [The Connection](https://www.patrickdixon.net/the-connection) - [The FisherPoets Gathering - Coming Ashore in Astoria](https://www.patrickdixon.net/the-fisherpoets-gathering---coming-ashore-in-astoria) - [The Sinking](https://www.patrickdixon.net/the-sinking) - [Trapped on the Reel](https://www.patrickdixon.net/trapped-on-the-reel) - [Trimming the Hedge](https://www.patrickdixon.net/trimming-the-hedge) - [Video for Humanities WA application](https://www.patrickdixon.net/video-for-humanities-wa-application) - [Videos](https://www.patrickdixon.net/videos) ## Blog Posts - [New Digs](https://www.patrickdixon.net/p/new-digs) - [A Poem for the 2016 Election](https://www.patrickdixon.net/p/a-poem-for-the-2016-election) - [A Call for Resistance: A Letter to Liberals and Progressives](https://www.patrickdixon.net/p/a-call-for-resistance-a-letter-to-liberals-and-progressives) - [Fighting the DT's](https://www.patrickdixon.net/p/fighting-the-dts) - [Cleaning House... a poem for our times](https://www.patrickdixon.net/p/cleaning-house-a-poem-for-our-times) - [Flash in the Distance](https://www.patrickdixon.net/p/flash-in-the-distance) - [20th FisherPoets Gathering is just around the bend...](https://www.patrickdixon.net/p/20th-fisherpoets-gathering-is-just-around-the-bend) - [Veronika K Log Book: a found poem](https://www.patrickdixon.net/p/veronika-k-log-book-a-found-poem) - [Gillnet Dreams](https://www.patrickdixon.net/p/gillnet-dreams) ## Products - [Mending Holes – a poetry collection from MoonPath Press by Patrick Dixon](https://www.patrickdixon.net/c/products/mending-holes-a-poetry-collection-from-moonpath-press-by-patrick-dixon): Patrick Dixon's poems inspired by his two decades of commercial fishing in Alaska span his years as a deckhand and then a skipper of a 32-foot drift gillnet boat fishing for salmon on Cook Inlet near Kenai, Alaska. The poems deal with the beauty and danger of the sea, boat work, the fishing life and working on the water. Price includes shipping. - [Waiting to Deliver - a Memoir about commercial fishing in Alaska](https://www.patrickdixon.net/c/products/order-waiting-to-deliver): Using poetry, prose and photography, Waiting to Deliver tells the story of a young man’s journey into the world of commercial fishing for salmon on the waters of Cook Inlet, Alaska. Starting as a 27-year old greenhorn schoolteacher from Indiana, Patrick Dixon works as a deckhand for two seasons before buying his own boat and permit. Through a series of missteps inspired by ignorance, inexperience and bad luck, he stumbles through twenty years of learning how to survive the dangers inherent in working on the water, nursing a perpetual sinking boat, staying afloat financially and becoming a member of a fishing community Dixon encounters a diverse group of cannery workers and seasoned fishermen who help him develop into an accomplished skipper. He is mentored by two brothers who realize how much he doesn’t know, take him on as a project, and teach him to deal with the endless list of unexpected events and circumstances that fishing throws at him. As his knowledge, expertise and confidence grow, Dixon continues to encounter personal and professional challenges that test his ability, judgment, and patience as a skipper, friend, husband and father.