Happy Father's Day to all the dads of my crew. Thank you for raising them to be the men I am so happy to have here with me in the mud and wind today. This is a great group to fish with and I hope you're as proud of them as I am happy to have them here. I hope this isn't ruining them for future jobs, but they are doing great in bringing their whole selves into this enterprise and that's what makes it such a joy.
Here is this year's crew, except for me, David, and Sarah. Honest, we didn't hire them for their looks or even for their dazzling smiles. Starting from the left is Jake, nomad. He just spent the last four months in Indonesia and is emerging as a strong crew leader; then Evan, from Connecticut who, with Patrick, volunteered to move the Ambi last night after everyone else was just too exhausted - his self image is vastly incongruous with what we see. Next is Roger, from Baltimore, who fixes stuff even if he doesn't know how. Next is Patrick, part of the Helena contingent - he is a remarkably fast learner and I have noticed that whenever I need a spare pair of hands, his are right there. I have had reason to think several times already that we brought on the right guy. Next is Chris from Old Alhambra, the ghost town of Clancy also in Montana. He has a way of making everything look easy and seeming not to be breaking a sweat, but he's the one who came home with the tin and he's the one who will know how to roof the bunkhouse and he's the one who knows how to put together the water system. Yeah, he doesn't do anything. Finally is Mighty Jeff, the Santa Barbarian who carries his weight in water up the stairs, or the battery in across the thick mud. As I described each crew member, I wanted to say that this one takes the lead in keeping us laughing, but they all do that. This is the best crew!
As we were rounding up people for the Father's Day photo, we couldn't find Chris. Evan confirmed that he saw him gearing down after coming in off the flats, so he wasn't still stuck out there. We went looking, and Jake finally found him on the phone in a very private location. Can anyone guess?
We had a beluga sighting today, with their white backs breaking the water and then diving back down. The weather was beautiful, but windy! The anemometer said we had 25 MPH winds and I was worried about how the boats were riding. That is the downside to getting the boats in the water - then they're in the water and can do things like swamp in strong winds. But they road the waves well. We know that because I said, "I think we'd better go out to bail," and they all got geared up and headed out. No complaints, no fussing about it.
And Jake remembered to get a piece of wire for the last shackle that went in yesterday. We run it through the eye of the pin and around the pin and the arms of the shackle to prevent the pin from working its way out. He is really moving into a leadership position and I'm so glad to have him there. Overall, it is such a relief to have other people thinking with me. And several times, crew members have suggested different approaches to solving problems than what I originally thought and it's great. The more of us thinking about solving a problem, the better.
We fish tomorrow morning. If the wind continues to be this strong, tomorrow morning's 8' hold-up tide (meaning that the tide does not go very far out) may be too high to do a walking set. I don't think there will be enough fish to make it reasonable to do a running set (meaning running the skiff from one buoy toward the others where we try to catch it before the current takes us up river). Maybe we will, just for the practice... or maybe we will just wait and set the outside nets on the afternoon tide.
We'll fish two tides a day until Friday morning. We'll decide then whether to pick up the nets Thursday night or at high water on Friday. It will depend on how many fish we've been getting and how the night tides have been. Then, starting 9 AM on Friday, we'll be listening to the radio or watching for emails or calling the Fish and Game info line to find out if we're allowed to fish. We often get at least 12-24 hours notice, but sometimes, if the fish are running fast, we get only 4 hours. Announcement times are 9 AM, noon, 3 PM, 6 PM and 8 PM.
The crew and Maeve decided that she would be happier in the bunkhouse. It is a nice little space, and she would have it all to herself. The crew enjoys sitting around the table after a meal talking and laughing - a lot. Last night when I got a call after dinner, I left the crew cabin so I could talk and came back to my cabin, realizing what a luxury that is; one that Maeve doesn't have because she has been bunking in the crew cabin. I don't know if they're keeping her awake, but they are very nice young men and kept trying to quiet themselves so they wouldn't. So they all decided on a bunk-shuffle.
We now have many projects around camp that are partway done: fixing the roof of the bunkhouse (it is not easy ... or even very sensible ... to bring sheets of tin roofing up a 30' ladder in a 25 MPH wind. But once it was bought, we were committed - and we did it. There was a bit of a learning curve, but no stitches were required); setting up the wash down system that Bob created for us in 2010. Chris is the master of this one and he taught Jake, Patrick, and me; and creating a running water system with the rainwater on the side of the crew cabin using a bilge pump, a battery, and some hoses. These projects will be completed between tides.
No comments:
Post a Comment