❖ REGARDLESS OF THE WEATHER ❖

Captain A. Ole Rindal, skipper of the CHIPPEWA, had the distinction of being one Norwegian sailor who didn't come from the old country in a square-rigged windjammer. He came as a passenger on the CHRISTIANIA FJORD, a 16,000-ton liner. He tried farming for a while, but if there is any sodium chloride in a man's blood (and what Norwegian's isn't a saturated solution?) the waters of Puget Sound will bring it out. No, in July 1918 he went to work for the Black Ball line and was with the company--a skipper since 1931––21 years service except for a 42-month interlude at Port Townsend Marine Hospital.
      Ole walked with a limp. Well, during his early days of quartermastering he had a habit of checking the pull of the wheel with his knee. This habit, coupled with a later accident, put him in drydock for three and a half years.
      Ole is affectionately remembered by Port Townsendites and all of these who have traveled back and forth between Edmonds-Seattle and the historic town that lies in the lee of Point Wilson. For a number of years, he skippered the INDIANAPOLIS, which vessel he lovingly referred to as his "pride and joy".
      I remember riding with Ole one stormy day. Admiralty Inlet was a smother of spume and spindrift. Wondering if the storm might get worse, I asked to see the glass. "Glass?" he echoed, puzzled, and then grinning, he added, "Oh, you mean the barometer, of course. Well, we haven't one because it wouldn't do us any good. You see, we've got to go regardless of the weather.
Seattle Star, 6 Jan. 1940.