July 5: Yin returns to China today

And I have an empty nest. Here are a couple of photos of the entire crew, including Yin. She had been sleeping in my loft and now it's just Sage and me in the cabin. She was such a help - I'm worried what will become of the crew cabin without her to keep them from being crushed under the weight of their own dirty dishes. We'll all really miss her! My nephews are due in in a couple of days and they may take up residence there... or they may decide that the leaking bunkhouse is preferable.

Fishing slowed down again today - the good part of that is that I get to take pictures. Sarah took Yin to the airport, so we plucked Hugh (whom I have a sometimes irresistible urge to call "Mitch" - huh?) out of the Bathtub and pressed him into Ambi service. He did great. All that energy found much to do - check and stow the lines, check the fuel, go through the net, help the inside site turn so it doesn't foul on the anchor lines... always busy.

Here are Chris, Hugh, and Evan pulling the net back to get the skiff positioned underneath it so we can pull along and remove the fish as they come into the boat.

Here is another of Hugh and Evan puzzling a fish out of the net.

We didn't have much this morning or this afternoon - a total of not quite 5000 for the day. But we go again at 4 am. It's a bit of an intimidating set. If the wind keeps up - and judging by the sound now, it will be howling - we'll have too much water for a walking set, which means almost without fail that we'll lose a buoy or wrap a prop or something equally undesirable. But... that's fishing.

I just have two more notes for today. First, a culinary one: Chris discovered a sacrilicious combination: chocolate protein powder... and Tang! It's delicious! And second, I continue to be thrilled with this crew. They are from very different parts of the country and different subcultures, and they get along great, know how to work together, laugh at each other's jokes (because it's impossible not to laugh because they are hilarious), and just enjoy spending time together. They all even give up sleep just to linger a little longer in each others' company. I do, too. I even like eating with them because they are so much fun - and they're a bunch of young men. I feel very very lucky.