July 2 2016: Very hard tide; it ended OK

We fished today. The weather was really rough but we did OK. There weren't many fish on the flood, so we came in for a while, planning to come back out about an hour before high.

We anchored the Ambi and the New Kid so everyone could pile into the Cockroach, our shore-runner. But the Ambi's anchor was dragging. Aieee! David and two other crew members (honestly, it's been such a long day, I don't remember who) jumped in and reset the anchor.

We beached the Cockroach and anchored it on the sand. By the time we got back to it at noon, that anchor had dragged. Most of us got pretty wet getting it back out.

David looked at the weather report and the wind was expected to get stronger. We had surprisingly few fish considering the strong wind - it usually bring the fish. With few fish, we thought it would be safer to pack it in early. My crew picked up the net off #1, then the inside site. We looked around for the Cockroach... and couldn't find it. Finally, we saw it several sites downwind. Its anchor had dragged. The Ambi crew went after it and tied up to it. Austin and Patrick got in to get it started and get it back home. It wouldn't start. We were already rafted up, but because we were over someone else's anchor line, I didn't feel like I could use the outboard to help get the anchor up. Poor Patrick had to pull the anchor with two boats attached. It was very very very hard to maneuver with the Cockroach rafted up to us. We made it over to the inside buoy on #4 and clipped it on.

We then delivered on the beach in this rough weather, throwing the anchor so we could pull back out on it. That anchor dragged.

David and Jeff took the Ambi out to clip it on to the outside buoy of #1 in preparation for the next opening. They planned to row in in the fold-a-boat. It is rough and that's a long distance. Still, that boat floats and waves can't really capsize it because it just absorbs the pressure of the wave.

I can hardly write this. I'll start with saying that no one got hurt. But I think Jeff saved David's life and writing about what happened makes me cry. The most important thing: everyone is OK, but I'm still crying. David is very shaken up too. They made it out to the outside of #1. While Jeff was clipping it on, David decided to get the rowboat ready. He climbed in just as a wave hit (remember, the weather is really rough today) and fell off balance. The boat started to fill up. David tried to right it but I think the next wave turned the boat upside down. David was underneath it. His life jacket kept him afloat. He had an air pocket. He yelled for Jeff. Jeff abandoned the clip and ran to help David. He realized David must be under the capsized row boat and somehow he lifted it off him at the same time that David was swimming out from under it. They were just floating with the current and wind now. After David got out from under the rowboat, the current started to pull him under the drifting Ambi. Jeff grabbed his arm and somehow he and David got David back in the boat. They drove around and recovered the paddles that had been lost with the capsize, went back to clip on to the buoy, worked together to get the rowboat ready, and paddled in with all of us waiting anxiously on the shore, but not knowing what had happened. Thank you life jacket! Thank you Jeff! The hideous irony of almost losing my son because we did things differently from usual, trying to be safer in the weather.

We probably won't pull our nets again as a safety strategy. However, in future storms, we may leave the nets to fish without us until the tide gets low enough for our comfort, even if it means we'll have to pull the fish in with the Bathtub. We already require people to wear life jackets in the boat. And we will make sure all tasks in the water are either done by two people or at least have a second person watching. This is the most serious close call we've had. We will use that as an opportunity to tighten up our procedures.

You would think that would be the end of the day, but it wasn't. Once in, we finally listened to the announcement and found that the fishing period had been extended for two more tides. Argh - our nets were all in. OK. We decided we would use the ranger to set the nets at low water. Then we would test the pulley system to bring in the Bathtub for a shore runner (since the Cockroach's outboard was unreliable). So David D and I went to get both trucks, in case we would need them both to pull.

When we got back, David N said he told everyone to get geared up because the bow line on the New Kid had snapped and the skiff had drifted into the neighbor's net. He said that someone had hopped in and dropped the anchor. But we needed to get it while there was still water... and the water was running out fast. We jumped into our gear and ran the ranger out as far as we could... until it got stuck.

Then we got out and walked the rest of the way to the skiff. There was still enough water to move it, but it was hard with the wind blowing against us. We moved it and anchored it nearer our site. Then we went back to unstick the ranger - Jeff, Matt, Inku and me. They did a whole lot of pushing and clearing off the treads. And we were finally unstuck. We headed back to the beach with the idea of coming out (a) where it seems to be doing better and (b) with the line for the pulley to bring in both flat bottom boats. That worked.

After dropping the last of the rope (that was just the right length: thank you, Patrick, for getting that ready), we went over to get the net out of the New Kid to set it on #4 while Jeff went over to #3 to confirm that the crew that went out to set it out of the Bathtub while it was still floating had done it correctly. Yes, they had. That was Patrick, Oksanna, and David L.

Austin and David D were in town filleting and vacuum sealing king salmon. That was the plan, but I hadn't clearly communicated my expectation that the white truck would stay on the beach in case ol' Red couldn't pull the skiffs alone. However, it turned out to be a lucky miscommunication because ... more white truck problems, this time at AGS.

Matt, Inku, and I transferred the net from the New Kid to the ranger and laid it out on #4. Then we tied on the Cockroach and towed it in as far as I could along the pulley line. This turned out to be a mistake because when I backed up, I ran over the line we went past and it got wrapped around the axle and in the treads. Oh my goodness. Once again, this great crew came to the rescue. Jeff, Patrick, and Inku were the ones lying in the mud following the tangled up line and figuring out how to untangle it. After they untangled my mess, we went back out for the Bathtub from the outside of #3 and towed that in. Jeff, Matt, and Inku then took the ranger over to #1 to load up that net and set it. And then load up the net for the inside site and set it.

While they were doing that, I was rigging the boats for the pull. I thought we could probably pull them together, so I put a bowline in the middle of the line for the Cockroach and tied the end of the rope to the Bathtub. I tried to pull with ol Red. We heard a big noise and got the "stop" sign. The knot I'd tied for the Cockroach didn't hold, so that boat didn't move. The Bathtub did and it ran into the outboard that was on the Cockroach, breaking the frame that keeps it attached to the boat. So we towed in the Cockroach and then in a separate pull we towed in the Bathtub. We'll need to do something about that outboard.

While David D and Austin were in town the solenoid on the started went out again. We'd just had it repaired a couple of days ago (I don't remember if I noted that - that truck has had so many mechanical problems this year.) Luckily they were where Roy is and he diagnosed a bad solenoid and shows them how to manage it. It involved a hammer.

We are getting ready to go out again at 1. If it's blowing too hard, we'll wait till later in the ebb and just go through at the end. We've proved the concept of the line and the pulley.