June 28: Roger stands about 10' tall today

It was pure luxury to be able to sleep for 8 hours in a row! It was only slightly interrupted by what I knew to be Roger's footsteps trying not to wake me as he climbed into my loft to get out the grinder. I know that's not a normal place to keep such a thing, but that's another story for the end of the season.

He gets points for three things here: 1) he was getting the grinder to work on the post that was torn off the power roller in yesterday's tide, preparing it to be welded back on; 2) he was giving up sleep to do it and we would all benefit from it; and 3) he worked hard not to wake me up. Considering how hard he was trying, I figured the least I could do was to not let on that I woke up by doing something like offering to get up and help. Really, I was trying to be thoughtful!

And he fixed it. It's a bit of a mystery to me all that happened. I understand that it's important to weld out of the wind because if the wind blows away the argon shield, the weld won't work right. So Roger described the process: he took the blue tarp that he had been using to cover the welder and covered himself and his work area. He welded a little bit and checked around to see if the tarp or he was on fire and if not, weld a little bit more. He and I put it into the back of the ranger, along with the brailers that were left on the beach and slid it back into place on the Ambi (yay!! it worked!!)... and then distributed the brailers around the boats for the tide, just in advance of going out for the 1 pm set.

I packed the food bag and refilled our drinking water and carried it over to the Grayling that was holding the net for the inside site - that was closer than carrying it all the way out to the first site. While I was there, I thought something looked funny about the anchor line. I'm kind of neurotic about checking all the connections, something we always used to make fun of my mom for doing. Ahem. Since the water hadn't quite reached it yet, I could see... eek! The carabiner that connects the anchorline to the anchor had torn open and was just barely still connected to the eye of the anchor by a hook. And the tide was 10' from it, and coming fast. It needed a shackle, but I didn't have one or the time to go get one. A line would do - but the Grayling didn't really have much in it at all. I thought I could steal a carabiner from the net, but it was too small. Finally, I pulled a tie-off line from the bow of the Grayling. It was a little light, but I hoped that if I tied it around a couple of times it would be strong enough to hold it for the tide. The water was almost there and I was working frantically. Rohan hurried over from setting the first site and could hear me asking for a shackle from the Ambi. He ran back through the water and returned with the small one we had. With water now covering the eye of the anchor (and rising quickly), he struggled to get the pin screwed in. Worried, I backed it up with the tie off line. If we hadn't fixed that, it would have been a huge fishing disaster. Because that site is out so far - at about 600', when the tide got it, it would have swung toward Pederson Point... 600'. But our fishing neighbor is just 300' away and his neighbor is 300' from him. The fishing was heavy again today and that would have meant fish caught in both nets, upset neighbors, and a great lost opportunity for us, plus we wouldn't have been able to tend to the outside site.

We had almost as much fish today as yesterday, but today the inside site carried the day. Each time we went through it, a wall of fish came over the roller. None of that would have happened. I am so so so glad for all the circumstances that led to noticing that torn carabiner.

Here we are at the end of the tide, this time fixing the anchorline attachment more permanently. Again, it's 10' tall Roger putting it together. The picture only hints at today's weather: cold and rough! Lots of spray.

The rest of the crew was still working hard, too. We sent Rohan up to make dinner (roasted potatoes, an orzo dish, a spicy bean, corn, and onion dish, cantaloupe, avocado, grilled king salmon, and brownies). After Roger finished fixing the anchorline, I sent him up too - he had been working all day while some of us were sleeping. We had all roundhauled all the nets, after clearing them first. Still, the fish continued to hit late in the ebb so that at the end of the tide, the boats were all where they should be for tomorrow's opener at 2 pm (we get to sleep again tonight!), but they had fish in them.

So while Sarah and AJ continued to clear the roundhauls, David, Jake, and Jeff started towing the Bathtub around from boat to boat pitching fish from the boats into brailers in the Bathtub and towing it all to the beach where David used the Boom Truck to pick them up out of the Tub and set them in the sand. Then they'd go out for another trip.

We go again at 2 PM on Sunday. I'm hoping that the fish continue to come in and that the weather calms down. And that no more disasters befall or nearly befall us. If they are looming, though, I hope we noticed them in time to avert them.

A post script: my clock says 1:37 am here. As I was proof-reading, I heard something in the porch (never a good thing at 1:37 am) and Sage came out, barking. I looked out the window and saw a bear leaving the porch and exploring around the front of the cabin - where I had grilled the salmon. I pounded on the window and he ran off. Now, though, I need to go turn off the generator... and I'm a little worried that he might have come back. I think I'll make a lot of noise as I go.