June 13 2016: Three nets set

I went to bed last night thinking about the plug we hadn't yet replaced in the Ambi. It was right there, in the transom, but I hadn't put it in the drain hole yet. This made me nervous because I can be absent-minded. We walked to the Beach Access Road ahead of the tide again, but this time, only Oksanna and I had our waders. As soon as we got to town, I let the beach gang know that we were ready whenever they could squeeze us in. They said their launch schedule was pretty booked and that they took the Ambi across the street to the freezer plant when we cancelled last night's launch. Were we banished?

As we were driving in, I noticed that the charge indicator on the white truck was heading toward empty. Maybe Harry's battery isn't the right one for the truck or ... maybe there's something wrong with the alternator. Well, we were leaving the truck in town anyway, so maybe Roy could test it for us.

The beach gang fit us in for a launch really fast. This might be one of the benefits of having such a big crew. How much dock traffic will be reduced a launch might go into the calculation of which boat to launch. I heard Simon ask Bray to go get the Ambi from the freezer plant and it was shortly down in front of the stockroom. I marched over with the single-minded purpose of getting that plug in. I was so focused on my task that I didn't notice that Landon was matching my step until he started teasing me, "I've got some really important work to do! I can't go left or right; just have to march over here to do it." I was completely busted - he was exactly right. I climbed into the skiff and went for the plug... but it didn't really fit. I tried to twist the plunger to stretch it out, but it was corroded. Eek!! I tried to wiggle and work it in. Sorta. Eek!! David D grabbed it and ran into the stockroom to get a replacement. Too small. So he got down on his hands and knees and wiggled and kicked and twisted it until he got it fully plugged. Just in time.

They launched us within an hour of our arrival. It was actually a little faster than we wanted (but I'm not complaining!) because Roy had said he would come see if he could loosen up the throttle on the power pack. I knew it was frozen, but I thought that might not matter because we only run at one speed anyway. But Roy explained that the frozen throttle would prevent the governor from responding to varying loads - like bringing in lots of fish vs. an empty net. I think we may not have implemented the preventive measure of spraying everything that moves with a liberal coat of LPS when we put it up for the winter. I think we need a checklist so that things like that get done.

When we found that we were to be launched sooner than expected, he said he would climb down the ladder to help us, but to get started by removing the air cleaner. We did that and then Jeff just stepped over and moved that throttle. We sprayed and wiggled and concluded that it was good enough. Then Jeff rode with us down the beach on the four-wheeler.

I hadn't had much time to prepare the crew by letting them know what would happen and their roles once we were in the water. This is going to turn out to be a theme, I'm afraid. So I shouldn't have been surprised when the response to my instruction "Tie us up to a piling" was "What's a piling?" This was really only a problem because the current in the river is swift. Everyone on my crew now knows what a piling is.

I got the camera out once we were underway and turned the wheel over to the crew. Here is David D, starting us off, with David L standing ready. The thing hanging off the gunnel forward of David L is our power roller. We can bring it in like this when the skiff will be in close quarters, like it was when we were lowered next to the pilings. But it's important to remember to stand it back up because it rides more securely when it's in its installed position.

After David D drove us for a while, David L took the wheel, understanding clearly where the skiff should go. He was particularly good at clarifying "wide of those buoys, right?" That's really important for inside sites because they usually have running lines and if we go over them in the skiff... well, it can be bad for the outboard, for the running line, for the people in the skiff, and for our relationship with the owner of the running line. Yes, wide of those buoys.

At this point, I handed David D the camera to serve as photo journalist for our trip.

After a while, Oksanna took the helm. Everyone on my crew is a careful learner. They don't mind being learners, and they take that job seriously. I appreciate that very much. Now my goal for myself is to remember that this year, I'm a teacher first. This thought occurred to me when I saw this photo of Oksanna because I've noticed her organized way of learning - by stacking up building blocks of knowledge. If I watch her approach to learning, I might become a better teacher.

It was a beautiful day, the outboard was running well, and we were in a fine position with the tide. There was a lot to be happy about.

Here is David L, looking pretty darned comfortable leaning against the side of the boat. Because it was such a beautiful day, wearing sweats is no big deal. If there had been a lot of splash, he'd have been very cold by the time we reached the cabins. It's lots colder on the water.

In contrast, I'm wearing a hoodie, a stormy seas life jacket, waders (and wader boots), and rain pants, in addition to a pair of fishing gloves with glove liners. To be fair to the people who didn't want to carry their gear the mile to the truck this morning: I didn't carry mine. I realized that we wouldn't be fishing the morning tide so I wouldn't need the gear until we brought back the boat, so I left my stuff in the truck from our aborted launch yesterday. This photo also shows Oksanna looking ahead and seeing a potential problem, and I'm working on my Popeye imitation, starting with the squint. It must be a seafaring thing.

I tried to choose between these last two photos, but it's like trying to choose your favorite child. If I hadn't remembered who I handed the camera to, these photos would have given me a hint. Here is David D... and David D's tongue. And nose hair.

This is the guy teaching PE to elementary school kids in Hawaii. He'll do.

Because the Davids were not in their fishing gear, Oksanna and I dropped them off at the beach and took the skiff out to anchor it where we'd need it to set the nets as planned on the incoming tide. We also took the New Kid out to anchor it where it would need to be. We had 50 fathoms of gear in the Ambi to set on #1, the other 25 fathoms for the inside site (the first 25 fathoms was still in the back of ol' Red), and the New Kid had 50 fathoms of gear for #4. We clipped onto the outside buoy of #1 and waited for the tide to drop a bit so we could walk in. We poke a fairlead or a gaff hook or something else into the water until it touches the bottom. Then we bring it up to see how deep that would be on us.

When it was shallow enough for us to walk in without getting wet, we jumped out and headed to shore. I was thinking about the best way to get back out when the tide came back in. I finally realized that since we were already out here, we could just set the nets now. I felt silly that it took so long to think of that. So Oksanna and I returned to the Ambi, got back in the boat, prepared the net for laying it out, jumped back out and started pushing the skiff along, letting the net, already attached to the buoy and anchor line, trail out behind us. Then we rushed over to #4 and the New Kid even though we were losing water fast. We set this one out too, the same way, and just before running completely out of water, two things happened: 1) a fish hit the net, and 2) we anchored that skiff inside the inside anchor. In the past, I've anchored a skiff too near a setnet anchor, tangling up and shortening the anchor lines and swamping the skiff, bow first. It is a terrible thing to see happening from the beach. So we anchored clear of all the other lines.

We weren't able to set the inside site, but that's not too hard to do when the water is up because we have that running line. I went back to get the fish and handed it to Oksanna to carry in. Then I went back to the skiff for some reason I don't even remember any more. But it gave Oksanna a 300' head start. Why was that important? Because I watched her walk in and noticed that she did not have to stop even one time to rest! In contrast, I stopped 3 times feeling like if I didn't, my heart would pop. So, yet another goal for the season: walk in or out stopping fewer than three times.

When we came in, the rest of the crew was working to get the outboard on the Bathtub. The only problem is that the joint was seized and very very very hard to raise. Mike and Jordan from AGS were there and offered to use their crane to hold it up while we wrestled with it. Once we sprayed and pried enough, it did come loose and we got it installed. But whenever we use it, we have to lean on it to get it to go down, and use all our weight to pull it up.

This was about when I heard from Roy that the alternator on the white truck was dead, but he was heading to Napa to get us another. A little while later, he let me know that the alternator was installed and we were back in business. I also heard from Mark Watson about the ranger - it needed a new carburetor, new points, and he drained the gas and put new gas in. It was also ready.

We went out on the flood of the next tide to go through the nets... and got 3 fish! I really had to face that I haven't been doing a good job of teaching. I put David D on hydraulics, closest to the roller, David L opposite him, me behind David L and Oksanna opposite me. Remember that Oksanna is a diligent learner. I gave David D the "go" signal, glanced around and saw that Oksanna was pointed in the wrong direction. She recovered quickly, but I realized that the only reason that might have happened is because I didn't tell my new crew what to expect. Luckily, they are resilient and they caught on immediately.

After going through #1, we came over to the inside site and did a beautiful deep water set, threading the running line through the fairleads and running along with the net popping out over the stern. Everyone did great.

Then we backed the truck up close to the edge of the water to quickly stack the net into the boat. Then get the truck away from the rising tide!! It's an urgent thing. We set this net out on the inside of the inside site, pulling ourselves along on the running line while the net popped out behind us. We did well with this one too. I guess this is completely hands-on learning. There was probably too much for a new crew to take it all in, but it was a learning-rich day.