y goodness! What a weekend! Our friends Terry and Kimberley invited us crabbing with their friends Matt and Lisa. We had noooooo idea what we were in for. So with a borrowed sleeping bag and roll mat, the hope that there would be a tent, and a bucket full of Corke optimism and enthusiasm, we headed off to Whidbey Island. http://www.whidbeycamanoislands.com/ Matt knows an incredible amount about the wildlife in the area and the sea. It was a real privelege to be able to spend the weekend with him and his family.
We split into a girls car and a boys car and drove up the coast to Deception Pass. This is the bridge that links the island to the mainland. Here we learnt our first nature lesson, about Candle Fish. Small oily fish that the indians dry and burn as candles.
This was the view from the bridge.
We arrived at Kelly's house (Matt's brother) and set up camp. Kelly has a small rambler in a 3 acre clearing in a forest. We still didn't know what we were in for, but we did have a tent.
Lisa brought a whole new level to 'Glamping'. The sign on the outside said 'Downsize.' !We soon learned that the standing on the dock, dropping a little pot in the water and coming back in the morning was not quite accurate. We were baiting giant pots with smelly fish (wearing 3 rubber gloves), going out on the boat for 2 hours, dropping the pots overboard then coming back at 5.30am to pick them out again. This was getting serious quickly!
Matt was an expert at launching the boat from the trailor on the 4x4. It was great to see 4 wheel drives doing what they were meant to do.
The happy man leads his lambs to the slaughter.
We were enjoying the ride and living in sweet ignorance and anticipation.
Here it goes! The first pot dropped. You have to get a licence to catch crab and one person is allowed 5 crab per day. You can only take the males over 6 1/2". It's important to drop the pots smoothly so they land flat on the bottom. You also have to leave enough rope to the top incase the tide changes and you lose your buoy (pronounced booey).
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