A cozy crowd of nearly 40 climbed aboard the 94-foot Sea Star for an Alzheimer's benefit cruise at Fishermen's Terminal last week for what became a moonlit five-hour tour.

Even with her celebrity status, the famous vessel from the Deadliest Catch TV show was held up by an unknown barge at the Ballard Locks for nearly an hour.

The Sea Star finally glided through the locks and passed the flickering lights of smaller craft at Shilshole Bay Marina under the watchful eye of Ballard's Captain Larry Hendricks, Captains Greg and Ragnhild Moncrief, and an equally famous crew from the hit TV show. Last week Hendricks and his cinematographers won an Emmy award.

Hendricks donated the cruise to support the fight against Alzheimer's. Aegis Living, which operates senior care facilities, bid $10,000 for the cruise at the March 28 auction sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association of Western and Central Washington.

Co-chairs of the auction, Electa Anderson and Jack Tonkin, hosted the cruise. Each lost a spouse to the disease. Hendricks and Electa's late husband, Norm, were brothers-in-law.

"I remember picking Norm up at the airport," recalled Hendricks, who graduated Ballard High School in 1971. "He seemed normal at first but then he kept asking me the same question five times. He asked me what (work) I was doing and that's when it really sank in.

"I've been reading about Alzheimer's and I understand there's always a possibility for a cure. It just takes money. Everyone's had a spouse or uncle or grandparent affected. We just got to fix it."

Norm graduated from Ballard High School in 1960, and his wife was class of 1962.

"Norm was diagnosed at age 57, and died two years ago. He was just 63," said Anderson.

"He was an engineer, but when he was young he helped his dad, a fisherman, on their salmon and tuna boat, the 'Carfree.' But they pronounced it 'Carefree.'"

The Andersons moved from Ballard to California, but when Norm's condition worsened, they returned to be closer to family.

"Norm's mother lived in the same house where he grew up, and my mom lived here too," said Anderson. "His mother Margaret is very active with the Sons of Norway here."

She said that Hendricks and others were very kind to Norm.

"The fishing industry as a whole has a history of helping each other," said Anderson.

Anderson said that adult children of those with Alzheimer's are financially burdened with caretaking and that it costs an average of $100,000 a year for professional care. Nationally we lose $100 billion annually in lost wages from those with the disease and their families caring for them, she said.

"It's a fatal disease but their death records would say they died of pneumonia or other complications," Anderson said. "It sounded 'better,' but this is being revised by the medical world."

"Our Chief Executive Officer, Duane Clark, put the paddle up and bought the cruise for his employees," said Brian Poggi, chief marketing officer for Aegis Living. The company was also a major sponsor for the Sept. 14 Memory Walk in Seattle, also an Alzheimer's Association fundraiser.

"Our company is a big supporter of their mission," said Poggi with hands clenched firmly on the wheel of the Sea Star with Hendricks' gentle guidance.

Said Anderson, "We promote aerobics, long-distance walks, and healthy diet to fight the disease, and boating."

For more information, go to www.alzwa.org.

http://www.alzwa.org

Steve Shay can be reached at steves@robinsonnews.com.