7/26 Sidney Spit

We awoke around 6 o'clock to a beautiful sunrise and mostly clear skies.  It didn't last, though.  By 8:30 or 9:00 it had clouded over, and started to rain lightly.  On the agenda for today was setting some crab traps and going ashore for a walk on the spit.  We had a short rain delay while Trav and I prepared our crab traps aboard our respective boats, but it didn't last long.  We headed out with two traps per dinghy, and laid the traps in a line between the end of the spit on the north end, and the edge of the lagoon to the south.  We had some chicken bones in our traps, and Trav had fish scraps for one, and being short on bait for the other, tried a can of cat food and some shrimp pellets.

 

Erin and I headed back over to the Bar-T-Na to pick up Barb for some shore exercise while Trav rested his knee.  We first walked along the spit, but not all the way out to the light, which is nearly a mile.  The tide was low, so there was much more beach showing than the afternoon before.  Although the water off the spit is rather shallow, the beach itself was relatively steep, and the waves lapping up against the shore provided an almost ocean-like sound effect.  There is a shore on each side of the spit, and where it's wider, in the center was an area of tide pools, kelp and sea grasses.  We took lots of photos, and both Erin and Barb collected rocks in their pockets.  We returned to the landing to drop off our jackets at the dinghy and explore some of the trails on Sidney Island.  We first climbed up a bluff where a split rail fence drew our attention.  Of course we climbed up the wrong side, then ducked through the fence to get where we were going, which was along the upper trail that overlooked the shore facing towards Washington.

 

The trail was lined with mostly fir and cedar trees, although we also saw some maple and other deciduous trees as well.  Along the trail we heard someone call Erin's name, and were surprised to see Charlie and Claudia Young, a couple we had met last year up in the Broughton Islands.  They had seen our boat at anchor and had stopped by the day before, but we were off in the dinghy at the time.  We had a nice visit, and then they headed off towards the other end of the island, where they were going to have a picnic lunch.  We wandered back along the loop trail on the other side of the island, eventually returning to the dock to hop in the dinghy and ride back to our respective boats.

 

A little later in the afternoon Trav and I headed out in their dinghy to check on the crab traps.  The water was a little choppy at the time, and some of them were a little hard to spot at first.  One of our traps ended up against the side of a large sailboat.  They weren't there when we set it, but came in and anchored too close to it and swung right over it.  They didn't seem concerned about it, and we were just glad the line was fouled in their rudder or prop.

 

By the time we had checked all 4 traps, we had 5 keepers, and had reset the traps for the night.  The cat food and shrimp pellets didn't seem to hold interest for any crabs at all, but, hoping it was just the location, we moved that trap over to an area that had been more productive.  We brought our catch to the Potentate, where Trav helped me clean them while Erin started a pot boiling.  We sent Trav home with a share, and we all had crab for dinner.

 

The evening was spent over at the Bar-T-Na, finishing off a game of dominos we'd started as teams; Erin and Barb against Loren and Trav.  It was nip and tuck, but the fellas prevailed.  We had a slow cruise back to the Potentate in the dark, and although it was cloudy, some stars were showing through.  It's a very peaceful night.