CRABBING--Part Two

Now that the weekend is long past and the Coast Guard exams are behind me, more about them in yet another blog, I can get back to the events of the weekend. As I approached the small locks on Saturday a large commercial crabber was entering the large locks. As I motored along I spotted some "debri" in the water. Using my boat hook, I retrieved 3 deflated Norwegian North Sea floats attached to a frayed section of one inch polypropelene line. They most likely were jetsam from the crabber.





When I examined them on Sunday I found that one was cracked and would not hold air. This morning I inflated the other two and they cleaned up real well. Whisper now has some auxilliary floats to join the crab pot float as distinguishing makers.





After posting the previous blog I went out and pulled up the trap/pot to find two crab, one of each gender. The male was of such a size (8") as to make the entire venture worthwhile. With this view to the south past West Point I knew I was in for a good sail to Point Monroe.





Rather than hoist the main I chose to unfurl the genoa and reached for Point Monroe hitting 6.4 knots with steady winds 12-15 and a couple of gusts to 23 knots. Clearing Point Monroe I went searching for the 80' line in the bay outside of Port Madison. I deployed both crab pot and anchor (in that order) and went to other crabbing work, ones that I had previously cooked but not cracked. While doing so the wind backed around to the north northeast and I found that I had rotated into shallow water with 5' under Whisper's keel. I weighed anchor and went searching for the crab float in semi darkness. I found a float, not mine, and with the wind freshening and darkness almost total I decided that the trap would be fine until morning.

With no difficulty I found the SSYC buoy in Port Madison and settled down for the night. I cleaned and cooked the newest addition to my refrigerator and as you can see, cracked same.




My friend Walter Friesen had been in Mexico sailing with Bob Riggle and Phyllis Mackay on board Gaia, a J-109, in the Baja Haha which is a race from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Bob and Phyllis are continuing to Panama where they will join up with a fleet of J boats that is circling the world. You can check out their adventures at http://www.gaiaworldtour.net/. If it doesn't work, try ".com".

I invite you also to check out Walter's blog at http://www.whereintheworldiswalter.blogspot.com/.

Back to the story-- When I last returned from the British Virgin Islands in March, Walter picked me up at SeaTac and the next day we took his San Juan 38 powerboat to Bremerton Yacht Club to catch up with SSYCers at the March overnight. So this time I thought I would phone Walter to see if he had returned from Sailing School that he and Bonnie were attending in San Diego. As it happened, if I had phoned him five minutes earlier he could not have answered his phone. They had just landed at SeaTac and were taxiing to the gate when his phone rang.

While Bonnie was busy on Sunday, I invited Walter to flex the engines of "Waveguide" and join me for crab with pine nuts in four cheese alfredo sauce over penne pasta for Sunday lunch. He consented.

With the crab refrigerating I opened my text books and went to studying the rest of the evening. Whisper's diesel heater made a cold night cozy and comfortable.

After breakfast Sunday morning I slipped the buoy and went out to check the crab situation. Two females and a sunfish (a multi-tenacled starfish). It is just as well since I came out to study and not just clean and cook crab.

Just prior to noon Jim McCarthy rafted up to Whisper's starboard side and Waveguide followed not long thereafter. Walter and I spent the afternoon catching up.

1500 and it was time to head for home. Waveguide pulled out and I headed for crab trap retrieval. SUCCESS! Another large male that I ended up cleaning and cooking back at Lake Union where Whisper was made secure by 1830.



You'll just have to get used to converting the military time or skip over it.

Trusting you will have a thankful Thanksgiving, I remain, your Skipper, soon to be Captain...

Joe