June 25: Biscuits for breakfast - where's the wrench?

I don't know if overall, it's a good thing or not to have something to write about first thing in the morning. When we don't have a net in the water. As I have done every day of every summer since I was 20, after waking up, I walked to the edge of the cliff to see how things fared overnight. This morning, my heart sank a bit. The tide had come about 6" up the cliff. Much stuff, including the ranger, was below the tideline. Again.

I went down the stairs to see if I could start the ranger (I could!) - such an important piece of our operation - and noticed that the little walkway I put in at the very beginning of the season had been moved down the beach, resulting in very heavy shoes. Gas cans and our little sleds were also tumbled along in and in some cases, filled up by, the tide and the tide had tangled up some lines left on the beach. We had forgotten to look at the stuff left on the beach from the perspective of the tide, which will take or at least disturb anything it can reach. So it will be a day that starts with a recovery mission, moves into fishing, followed shortly, I hope, by the arrival of David and Sarah.

I'm picking this up at night with slightly different outcome to the day. I had the chance to talk with Roy this morning and he said he'd have some time to look at the dead green four wheeler. So I planned to start breakfast early for the crew (biscuits and beef stew). Turned on the oven to 450 degrees while mixing in the butter and kneading the dough. I used a drinking glass to cut out the biscuit rounds and prepared to put the first batch in the oven and... nothing. Out of propane. Argh. Can't find a wrench to change the propane. Argh. Went to my cabin to get a wrench and to the cliff to find a full tank of propane. But the oven still wouldn't light - not for about 20 minutes. By then I had started some biscuits as dumplings on the beef stew, and dug out the dutch oven to bake more on top of the stove.

We ate as hurriedly as possible and headed into town with the idea of just picking up the four wheeler and putting it in the back of the red truck. It worked! But where is the key? We dropped it off in front of Roy's shop, found the key in the white truck (??) and then made a quick stop at the post office (the starter for the power pack on the New Boat arrived!!!) before we hurried back to the beach where we had a few minutes before gearing up to go set the nets. In those minutes, a very thick fog rolled in.

This photo is looking over the cliff to the place where we would normally see mud flats, buoys, skiffs, ranger tracks, a horizon. But with the fog, here is what we could see.

I went to the edge of the cliff to see if I could mark it any better. Here is where we parked the truck and beyond it... well, we know what we think is there, and based on that, we geared up and headed out. We did make a point of having everyone stick together. In the past, we've had crew members who end up at the neighbor's boat because it is so easy to get lost on the way out - and even easier when the fog is so thick. I was worried about being slightly misoriented and missing the buoys and the skiff. We'd have to be pretty close to see them.

Here we are, down on the beach on the way out to the boats... if we can find them. Behind Luka is the neighbor's skiff about 100' away and about 250' behind that is a great big red 2 1/2 ton army truck. Can you see it?

This photo shows the view back to the cabins on the bluff more clearly than we saw it - I added some contrast because I liked the picture so much.

Here we are looking out toward the water again. We found the first buoy (relief!) and Luka and Rohan have just positioned it and are now walking toward the outside buoy and skiff which we were also relieved to find. Can you see it there, about 300' away?

We arrived at the boat about 17 minutes before we can have web in the water. If we're in the water early, it's a big fine. Here is Luka just as the tide reached the boat, about 12 minutes before time to set.

And Rohan on the other side of the boat, waiting. Today ended up being pretty windy and the waves were rough. When we have to handle the boat in the surf, it's a good idea to stand on the leeward side of the boat - you take less water there. But it also feels a bit more vulnerable, as if the boat will jump up and land on you. It takes some experience for new crew to learn how to stay a little less wet.

To give you an idea of how fast this pretty slow tide is rising, the picture of Luka with his boots just getting wet was taken about 10 minutes before this one. And this is a tide that was rising from a 4.5 to a 20.2. We get tides that rise 10 more feet in the same amount of time - like tonight, for instance, the tide will rise from a -2.0 to a 26.2 at 6 am. I admit it! I'm glad we're not fishing it tonight. I just hope we got everything up high enough.

Here is where I put the ranger. If it's not high enough, at least the engine will be out of the water (unless it falls over sideways). Eek!

Back to today's set. This photo just looks like fog. But the inside buoy is in there somewhere. That is another concern - if the fog holds, we could easily get disoriented and head off toward one of our neighbors' sites. The mud flats are so gradual and the tide is coming in with some wind behind it, so you can't go by decreasing depth. So it's really important to have your bearings. This photo is looking toward our destination. If you squint, like we did, I think you'll be able to barely see a red buoy. That's where we went and by the time we got there, the fog had thinned considerably... and temporarily.

Here is the outside net, set. The belly is in the direction of the outgoing tide, not the incoming tide. That's because we always push the boat opposite the direction of the incoming water so that when it pushes the net with it, we hope that it will push it straight, allowing us to reach the inside buoy. But when we're setting in very little water, the leads drag on the bottom and act like an anchor.

This is Rohan, setting the net on the inside site by pushing the boat from the bow while Luka pushes it from the stern. It’s important to move along smartly because the current can take the net creating a bigger belly than we like. (Isn’t that the story of my life?)

Happiness! I had noticed a couple of people loitering on the beach but didn’t give them much thought as I was pretty focused on getting the net set. But as soon as we finished, they started walking toward us… and it was David and Sarah! I was so so so glad to see them. And luckily Rohan was there to remind me to take a photo.

In addition to being windy today, it was just downright beautiful. We didn’t have as many fish as we have in the previous couple of days – but the experts assure us they are coming… and disconcertingly, they use expressions like, “A wall of fish.” But today we had a respectable amount and had the time to take some pictures of the beautiful light we get here sometimes. Here are Roger, Rohan, and Luka in the bow, guiding the net off the boat.

One of the effects of such a high tide as we had last night is all the stuff that has been resting on the beach finds its way into the water - including what seems to be an entire tree, disassembled and put into our net. We gave some thought to trying to reconstruct it at the end of the tide, but decided instead to focus on the New Boat's power pack with the happy arrival of the starter.

Don't they look like angels when they're sleeping? Naah, I don't really think so, either. This is what convinces me that we will handle those 5-digit tides just fine. We had so much time on our hands between picks, there was time to nap. At this time of the season, I'm a bit too anxious to nap - I worry that I'll fall soundly asleep and not wake up until the boat is dry. That would be bad because nets full of fish would be stretched out on the mud flats. This photo also gives some idea of how tiring it is to fish in the wind. I don't quite understand the competing and contradictory effects of the wind - I find it energizing and it goes a long way toward replacing sleep when we're fishing hard both day and night. But it is also exhausting.

After picking up David and Sarah, we took them over to the Bathtub and reclaimed Roger for our boat. The tide was also slow enough for them to come and visit us, just before our next to last pick through. When one boat is clipped to a buoy or otherwise anchored, the other boat will often come and dangle off the first, just to hang out - sometimes to sing. (My favorite.)

We gave some thought to breaking Josh and Roger free at high water to go into town and see if they could get the power pack running in the New Boat so we could launch it and use it, making our lives much simpler. But the tide was too high for them to cross the creek and we decided to take the more leisurely route of heading in after the tide. But it turned out that we didn't finish until 8:30 so it was just before 9 when we got to town. The staff at the cannery guard their time off and they really don't want fishermen running engines outside their bedroom windows when they are trying to rest and prepare themselves for the next day. Plus, in our rush into town, we assumed that the needed tools were in the back of the truck when in fact, they were in the cabin. So we couldn't get much done, but as Luka put it, we planted the seeds for more progress tomorrow. Soon, I am confident we will have more boats in service.

On the way back from town, we saw what looked like an eye looking at us through the clouds.

Back at the cabins, we had another glorious sunset. After this display, the whole sky became rippled with red. We fish again tomorrow at 2:30. First, we plan to get into town early and see if the New Boat is ready to go. Maybe the Grayling will be ready too. I'm so glad to have David and Sarah here. It feels almost right. Jake sent an email today saying he thinks he'll be here before July 4.

Proofing this post, I see very little mention of Jeff. He is quiet, but he is definitely here and he has become a crucial part of our operation. Besides piloting the skiff, driving anything we put him in, knowing how to use a wrench, being a fast picker and a hard worker, he is hilarious. He may be the only crew member who didn't start in the boat with me. But I am feeling the lack of Jeff in these reports and I may see if we can lure him into the Ambi for a few tides.