Pulling Crab Pots in Pitching Seas

On Sunday I went crabbing with David. I took very few photos and no video this time, just because all my crabbing images are starting to look the same. So far neither of my fishing buddies has tired of catching sand dabs, but increasingly we’re only keeping the biggest ones and throwing back the rest. I’m ready to branch out into some new fisheries though. I’ve pretty well explored most of the waters within 45 minutes of Everett, except for the Tulalip area which I hope to hit later this summer. It’s really hard to beat the Langley area for weekend adventures though. It’s got good crabbing, good fishing at nearby Camano Head, a very convenient place to stop for lunch (both the picnic and restaurant variety), and most importantly, public bathrooms by the marina. The historic downtown is just a short walk up the hill from the marina. In addition to a variety of restaurants, it has an ice cream shop, galleries and boutiques, a bookstore, a cinema, a glass art store with a hot shop, a whale center, and several small but very scenic parks. Dave had never actually been before, so I had to show him around town while our second round of crab pots was soaking. He commented that visiting Langley made him feel like he was on vacation. Truly, every weekend is a vacation when you have a boat.

Before we left, I had checked both the NOAA marine forecast and my Windy app. They predicted that after 2:00 the winds would pick up to maybe 15 knots, with 1-2 foot seas. However, the entire morning and early afternoon were nothing but a perfect boating day, with clear skies, little haze, and unusually calm seas. The forecast was far from the worst weather I had ever been in, but I always like to leave some margin for error. After our lunch break in Langley, we pulled and reset our pots again after deciding to go for a third soak. It was nearing 2:00. Surveying the sea, we saw no indication of a change in the weather. So, we zipped across Camano Head for a last round of fishing before heading home. As soon as we got there I felt the wind pick up a little. We decided to fish a little longer. By the time we got back to our crab pots, the wind was blustery and the sea had become quite choppy.

This was nothing serious, and actually nothing unusual for a late summer afternoon. The heavy seas did, however, make crabbing much more challenging. My Whaler’s planing hull is designed to cruise along mostly on top of the water with the bow safely up high. This makes it amazingly impervious to heavy seas, and it cuts through moderate chop like a knife through butter. However, when it’s just floating about with the engine off (as you need to while pulling crab pots), it’s much more vulnerable to waves coming over its low gunnels. They were suddenly strong enough that I decided to run the engine to keep the bow pointed into the waves. This meant that I had to be at the helm and Dave had to pull the pots with very little help from me. I was at least able to coil the rope as it came up, while stopping to make occasional adjustments to steering and throttle. Lifting the heavy pots out of the water and onto the pitching deck was particularly challenging. Waves started coming over the bow, and we heard the intermittent gurgling sound of the bilge pump as it pumped all that seawater overboard. One wave even soaked Dave’s legs and feet. It was worth the struggle though, because that last pull yielded one more keeper crab. Still, today was a reminder to believe the predictions and not push our luck too far.

Once we got on plane for the trip home, the ride was sporty but fun. I’ve made many trips in the last two years which were bouncier than today. We had four Dungeness crabs in the cooler and a few fish in the kill bag. I let Dave keep the entire catch so that he could try the Crab Imperial recipe. I recently bought a fishing shirt at the Navy Exchange that says, “The voice of the sea speaks to the soul”. That’s how I felt today.