June 6 2016: David and Trevor arrived!

David and Trevor both came in early this morning. David had written to let me know when he would be coming in, offering to take a cab if I wanted him to. What? Of course I'll come pick you up! I wrote it in my calendar: 7:40 PM. A few days later, I got a call from Trevor, telling me he was coming in at 8 in the morning and wondering if I would come get him. "Are you asking me to pick you up at 8 am? In the morning? The cab is $20."

Early in the morning, as I was all snuggled and warm in my bunk, my phone rang and woke me up. I wasn't expecting anyone so I ignored it. Then it rang again and I ignored it again. Imagine my surprise a few hours later when David and Trevor pulled up in ol' Red that we had parked up on high ground the night before. Oh. Did you say 7:40 AM? There is David all ready to go in his stocking cap and over here is Trevor, standing in the doorway of the crew cabin with his luggage. He clearly fits right in to our high class operation here.

David expected me, of course, because I told him I would be there. He and Trevor found each other and upon exchanging information, became more confused. David called Phil to see if I had been by to borrow his car, and Phil, good friend that he is, not only went to collect my kids, but took them down to the end of the Beach Access Road where they switched over to ol' Red and rumbled on down the beach to us.

Shortly after David arrived, he brought the crane truck from the high ground to give crane operation lessons, which I attended. He is an excellent teacher. Here we are, all gathered round while David explains the importance of pulling out the outrigger each time (and picking them up and putting them back away before driving away - each time), being careful when pulling it out to avoid jerking loose some of the hydraulic hoses, turning up the idle... and the fan, opening the hood (to encourage cooling), pulling out the PTO to send the power to the crane (and pushing it back in again before driving off so that it doesn't blow the hoses), and how to be careful with each type of movement that the crane does to avoid hurting the equipment, or anyone standing nearby, including the crane operator. I have begun to think that the crane truck causes rain. Notice that in this photo, it isn't raining.

But by the time Matt started to practice, the rain had started in earnest. David told him to pick up the netbag that was on the back of the truck and set it on the ground. He did it! David said that when he taught Roger and Jeff to use the crane, he rigged up a seat for himself and had them move him from point A to point B - without doing him any harm. They learned quickly.

This last shot shows how hard it rained during the crane lesson, even though the skies are blue just a little ways down the beach.

We set 25 fathoms of net out on the inside site, high on the beach to make it easier to tend. Thank goodness that Jean was still here. She got some beautiful photos of the process. We've just taken the net from the bag that Matt removed from the bed of the crane truck. Marcia Dale of Wazituya hangs our nets over the winter at her place on Pull and Be Damned Road in Washington. She does a beautiful job. When she finishes, she uses the hanging twine to gather and tie up the mesh near the corks, near the leads, and in several spots in between. We very carefully cut those tides and prepare to spread out the net.

Inku, Matt, and Oksanna are learning how to pick up the net to set it out. We don't set the net this way much anymore. Mostly, we set the nets out of the skiffs. But I think any setnetter needs to know how to move a net over the ground. This is something most drift fishermen don't know how to do and I think my family has helped more than a few drifters out of a pinch when they get caught out here on the flats in front of our place. If they have 900' of net outside their boat when it goes dry, they could be in trouble when the tide returns because that 900' of net can act like an anchor.

To move a net over the sand and mud, you put as much of it as you can in your hands, allowing a small amount to drag on the sand or mud as you go.

This photo shows Inku gathering handfuls. It's a trade-off between how much your hands can carry and how much beach you want to drag along with you. This is why we use 25 fathom pieces - you can fit most of it in your hands. Then you can take the other shackle of net and carry the whole thing to the middle of where it will be laid out when it's set.

This was the trick my sister's and I relied on as we were growing up because we couldn't fit as much in our little hands. Instead, we would start in the middle with half a net in our hands and head inshore with it. Then we come back to the middle and pick up the other half, and head away from the shore.

Here are Matt and Inku, with most of the net gathered into their hands.

Here they are, walking the net out. As it becomes taut, they drop the top loop of line and walk another few feet until it becomes taut again and drop the next loop and so on until their hands are empty.

This was the way we fished from 1959 to... well after 1982 when we started using skiffs. We pick it up the same way, in reverse. I think a net laid out on the beach is a beautiful sight.

Both ends of the net are tied to the running line when we're fishing like this. Later in the season, on the inside site, one end will be attached to the outside buoy and the inside end will be tied to the running line. Here is a photo of knot clinic.

This is the beginning of what I grew up calling a net knot. I think the rest of the knot tying world knows this as a rolling clove hitch. It has the excellent property of not sliding along whatever it's tied to, even under a lot of pressure. It's not that easy to untie, especially when it's still under a lot of pressure. (There's an almost-died-in-a-little-dingie story related to that. Moral of that story: when your working with taut lines that might entangle you, always carry a knife.)

Inku willed one fish into our net and ... we ate well.

Oksanna contributed this shot to document the end of the evening.