Oliver Hofstad & David Holmes: Now, Why Did They Call It Doyhof?

Oliver Hofstad and his friend and son-in-law David Holmes talk about Oliver’s life, starting with his birth in “DoyHof” south of Petersburg. Oliver was born in Scow Bay, in the little community named after Doyer and Hofstad, back when therewas no road into Petersburg, and the canneries were connected by boardwalks. Oliver tells about his first job at the canneryand tales of the “fish trap pirates”.

Oliver started working early in his life, towing log rafts to Petersburg with his first boat because he thought it was fun. In this interview, he tells of the boats he owned, including a story of how the engine was dropped through the floorboards of the  Angelette as it was being built and other shipyard adventures in Seattle. (That would be the first Angelette, not to be confused with his second vessel Angelette, built years later)

Now in his nineties, Oliver still goes out on moose hunts with Dave, and they recall a stormy trip home in the Kristin Ann with a moose in the stern, just barely contained by the cockpit. There is a lot of history of Southeast Alaska and the fisheries reflected in Oliver’s personal stories.