May 01, 2012
Tuesday

Nine years after it was written, I enjoyed the story of Bill Huckins and the sunken cement barge.  I was searching around on line for info on Bill's Dad and came across June Allen's article.  The older Bill occasionally worked with my Grandfather, Henry Finch Jr., also a diver.  His Dad, Henry Sr. first located the SS Islander the year after it sunk, in 1902, but couldn't do much beyond that, given the +300 foot depth.  Henry Jr. also worked with the Islander expedition starting in 1929 but did not go back after the first year.  A good decision in hindsight.

When Ms. Allen mentioned that the younger Bill had played piano around the nightspots of Ketchikan, I remembered that I had some photos of Charlie Huckins, who must be Bill's brother, playing piano.  The event was the induction of Henry Finch into the Old Barnacle Society (his 70th birthday), at his place near Winslow, WA on Bainbridge Is.  This was in Nov. 1957.  On the top photo, left to right, is Bob Finch, Frank French, Henry Finch and Charlie Huckins at the piano.  The others I don't know but they were mostly people Henry had worked with, divers, tenders, tug operators.

Thanks again for the story.  Did anyone ever bring up a bag of cement and crack it open?

Tim Finch
timflinch [at] hotmail.com

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