Tuesday, May 24, 2011

WILL IT EVER GET DARK?



I woke up at 4:00am this morning and it
was bright light outside. Like, total daylight.
It can really mess with your mind! It seems
like time to get up, but unless you want to
be tired the rest of the day you have to
make your mind rest again and get back
to sleep. Some people put up dark
curtains, but that would make total
sense now, wouldn't it.

My husband just went ahead and got up.
He got a new iPhone, so 4:00 am is as
good a time as any to figure it out, right?

Some friends of my husband were heading
out to bear hunt for a week and called to
ask if he would take their gear out to the
remote cabin for them.
We have a drop bow boat that goes right up
to shore, so they took their boat and he
followed them with all the gear. They
anchored their boat in the bay and he was
able to go right to the shore with their
heavier stuff, which helps a lot.

Before he did that he went out early in the
morning and set a skate, then went back
and pulled it up after he dropped them off.
A skate is a long line that you lay along the
bottom of the ocean with 15-30 baited hooks
on it. The bottom fish smell the bait and grab
the hooks. This is a way to catch some
really big fish if you manage to pick the
right spots.

He must have picked the right spot because
there was treasure on the line when they
pulled it up:


These may be uber-ugly, but boy do they
taste good! They are Ling Cod and their
mouths are massive with very sharp teeth.
It is common to pull a full sized King Salmon
into the boat with one of these buggers
attached onto it.


We had fish and chips last night and I have to
say they are right up there with halibut as
far as taste--yum!

Ta da! The other skate he set had this nice
halibut on it. My husband realized that
the best way to deal with these guys onboard
is to hogtie them head to tail with rope into
a U shape. Just stunning them and sticking
them into a cooler is asking for disaster.

The reason being that they will act like they
are dead and then will come back to life when
you least expect it. Just picture a fish this
size onboard with you, flipping and swinging
that body around like a sheet of plywood!
People have had their legs broken, been
knocked overboard, and lost their gear
because of these buggers suddenly coming
back to life. No, tie them up like a sausage
and stick them in the back of the boat!


Sunday was my daughter's school picnic.
There are 6 students in the school, so their
families were invited and some members
of the church came along too. It was a
nice day, a little cool, so the fire felt really
good. If you click the picture you can see
the Alaska ferry arriving in the background.



Little boys and sticks...



Did any of you watch the Royal Wedding?
Remember the priest that married them?




After we ate the teacher sent the kids out on a
scavenger hunt. They picked a partner...



...and off they go! First prize was $10.00 to split. Now
that's worth running for.




Look at them out there searching for stuff...



The loot...



Kinda cool...seaweed stretched across the rocks and dried:



After the scavenger hunt the kids were given soakers
to, well, soak each other!


It was a fun day, nice and relaxing.



The latest in my older daughter's footwear.

?

2 comments:

Laura~peach~ said...

great fun...
the preachers name was something HALL... i olny remember because of joking saying he must be kin...
those fish are UGLY and those teeth! oh my!

Niki said...

I had no idea fishing could be so dangerous!!! and that is one ugly fish :)

Love the footwear though...are they comfortable?