INSIDE: Tricky treats... Island Life, A14
Record South Whidbey
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2012 | Vol. 88, No. 86 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Men fashion fishing boats for disabled anglers BY KATHY REED Staff reporter
The first time Second District Congressman Rick Larsen heard about the Fishing Access Network, he saw a presentation with a scale model replica of the disabled-access boat Mike Mayes and Ralph Brotherton were trying to raise money to build. This time, Larsen got an up-close and personal look at the ‘Accessible’ at the boat launch on Lone Lake, near Langley on Thursday. “This is a great project,” Larsen told Mayes as he stood on the deck of what is believed to be the first boat ever built specifically for disabled access. “It’s good to see the next step.” Larsen said he was impressed with the project and Mayes’ dedication to see it through. “I love to fish and I love the fact this project has gone this far,” Larsen said. “It sends an important signal to disabled veterans and others that fishing season is here.” Mayes said it cost about $6,000 to put the Accessible, powered by an electric motor, together. He and Brotherton hope to be able to place it — and other boats like it — at lakes across the region. Volunteers will be available to take anyone who is disabled out on the water to fish. While other boats have to be modified or use hoists for disabled access, the pontoon-style Accessible has a built in aluminum ramp that can be raised or lowered,
he said. “As soon as we put her in and she floated on the designed water line, I wasn’t cold any more.”
“It sends an important signal to disabled veterans and others that fishing season is here.” Rick Larsen U.S. Representative, Second District
Kathy Reed/The Record
Mike and Anne Mayes wave as they ride the ‘Accessible’ across the water of Lone Lake to the boat’s host property. making wheelchair access easy. Construction began in July and the first water trial took place Oct. 12. Mayes said all
he could do when the Accessible hit the water was smile. “It was cold and windy with a light drizzle,”
Tasty treats from the briny deep BY JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter Britt’s Pickles? When family members first suggested the name, Britt Eustis, a former CEO and one of the early pioneers of the natural foods industry, had his doubts. “I said, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he recalled. But the name has a certain appeal and it didn’t take much brining for it to grow on him. Now, just one year later, it’s on the lips of food columnists at large metropolitan newspapers across Seattle. Pickles this, pickles that; pickles, pickles, pickles. The emergence of a Northwest pickler is undeniably a cool story but Eustis has made the tale a Whidbey Island one by setting up shop in Clinton. Well, the production side, anyway. The company’s public face is a storefront in Seattle’s renowned Pike Place Market, but the real magic happens in a commercial kitchen in Clinton Square, a few blocks up from the ferry dock. There Eustis and assistant
Debra Noonan brew up about 2,000 pounds of fermented foods a month. Currently, the two-pickler team turns out a total of nine different products: five flavors of pickles, sauerkraut, two varieties of kimchi and sweet and savory black garlic. All are brined with recipes divined by Eustis. “We call him the magician,” said Kristin Hyde, the company’s pickleeating promoter. Eustis, also known fondly by company staff as “fermenter-inchief and all around pickle meister,” founded the business in September of 2011 following a long career in the natural and sustainable food industry. Most of his experience over the past 40 years was on the administrative side, working with farmers to produce and distribute wholesome foods rather than being a commercial producer himself. His leap into the other side of the business was fortuitous. In late 2010, his position as president and CEO of Ceres Organic Harvest in St. Paul, Minn., came to an abrupt end with the closure of his division. Another casualty of the troubled
economy, he said. “So, I was sort of gainfully unemployed and came out here (the Seattle area) to help my sister with her art studio,” Eustis said. While his past experience had been on the administrative side, Eustis has long held a personal love for fermentation and the various approaches taken by different cultures. He spent years experimenting with different recipes and home fermentation before opening a dedicated business. That experience and love, coupled with what he says is a rising interest in today’s generation for fermented and sustainable foods, bore plans for a new business and See Briny, A12 Justin Burnett / The Record
Britt Eustis, fermenter-in-chief and founder of Britt’s Pickles, pulls out fresh product from a pickle barrel in his commercial kitchen in Clinton. Eustis opened the South Whidbey facility earlier this year. His commercial location is in Pike Place Market in Seattle.
“I’m impressed with all the volunteer efforts that have gone into this — all the time and materials as well,” Larsen said. Mayes explained to Larsen how the vessels could also be used for recreational therapy for veterans being treated at the Seattle VA Hospital. “I’m really pleased with the way it turned out,” said Mayes. “I think (Larsen) will help us find the funding we need, and with a little help in the right direction, we’re golden.” The Fishing Access Network has also joined forces with the nonprofit group Fishing Has No Boundaries and Mayes said they are planning their first disabled fishing event on See Launched, A12