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DELINE/FORT FRANKLIN
John Yukon retired over a year ago from his work as a boat captain along the Mackenzie River but he can't seem to get far from the job he enjoyed so much.

Alex Campbell, left, John Yukon and Jim Brown pose by the brass bell Yukon was awarded at his retirement celebration on May 9. The bell came from the A.M.E. Biname. Only one other worker, apart from Yukon, captained the boat since it was built. - photo courtesy of Imperial Oil

He still returns to Norman Wells on a regular basis to share his experience with the next generation of captains.

"Even though I retired, I still continue to do what I do," said Yukon. "That means helping out and teaching young captains and deckhands to handle the boat.

"It's something that I love to do."

Yukon grew up in Deline. After three years of school in Inuvik between 1961 and 1964, he decided to try working with his father in 1965 who was a boat captain with Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL).

"I wrote them a letter from Deline seeking a job," he said. "They say I can come April 4, 1966 so I flew (to Norman Wells) and started working casual labour."

A few years later, Yukon took advantage of an opportunity to train as a tug boat captain for Imperial Oil and that's how Yukon said he learned to drive a boat.

He continued to do so for over 10 years, until new regulations in 1987 required boat captains to have a licence.

"Imperial sent me to Vancouver with Eddie Hudson, the late Doug Irish and we got our captain's paper," Yukon said.

"It was a lot of book work, for all of us. They hired a tutor too so the tutor was there with us. It's hard because I'd been out of school for a while and doing all the book work and stuff, it's hard. But it went well. We studied hard and we accomplished our requirements on paper, so it was good."

When Yukon returned to work after completing the licence requirements, he was captain of Imperial Oil's newly acquired A.M.E. Bename vessel, a bigger tug boat than Yukon had driven before.

Boat captain work switched to field operator duties in the winter when the water was frozen.

Some of Yukon's favourite memories are simply the different ways he had to get to work through the seasons.

"It was very unique," he said. "In the breakup we'd use the chopper to go to work, and in the winter time we used the ice road. In the spring we used the chopper again, and in the summertime we used a crew boat and the barge to operate. It's pretty neat."

Imperial Oil celebrated Yukon's 34 years of dedicated service with a retirement celebration in Deline May 9. Jim Brown, Imperial Oil's field foreman, presented Yukon with the brass bell from the A.M.E. Biname to commemorate his hard work.

"The thing about it," said Yukon, "I went there in '66 and I retired. It actually went fast because you enjoy what you do and so the time flies, you know ... All the different people I work with, they're good people. I learned a lot from the people I worked with."

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