SHRIMP SEASON IN THE SAN JUANS

Fresh shrimp for dinner tonight!!

The very short (6 days) shrimp season just finished up on Sunday. I thought I knew what I was doing but found out there is always more to learn.
Here in the San Juans there is alot of current to contend with.  The problem I have had is the float I have attached to the shrimp pot will go under the water when the current is running real hard and may not come back up for several hours or even the next day. But we did get some really nice shrimp.The limit is 80 and we got three limits this past weekend.  The season is open all year in Canada so will wait until we go there to catch some more.

Working on craft projects

This is picture of Pat working on one of her craft projects at Jones Island. She has outlined the shape of star fish on a board and found small brightly colored rocks on the beach to glue on the board.  Next she gave the rocks a coat of clear finish to make the colors "pop" and painted some seaweed in the backgrounds. Max and Maddie are keeping guard over the process.

Deer Harbor

This picture is of Deer Harbor on Orcas Island.  This was one of my favorite places to come when I was a kid in the 1950's.  I could always count on my grandmother to have a little bit of bacon that I would use for bait to catch bullheads with. There was a abandoned fish cannery across the bay and we would fish for rock cod next to the piling under the cannery.  But what I remember most was collecting pop bottles and beer bottles to cash in at the store to buy candy and fishing gear.  There was a dance hall here and every Sunday morning we would scour the field next to it for beer bottles. One time I found a six pack of unopened beer and sold it to my mom for a dollar.  I really scored that day!!!

Friday Harbor

This is Friday Harbor, located on San Juan Island.  We go in here about every 10 days or so to get supplies and do the laundry.  This is a fun place to come to because there is always so much going on here.  The ferry terminal is right next to the marina and the sea planes have their own dock here also.  There is a US customs dock here so there are always many boats coming in to clear customs.  It's a short walk up town to all the shops.  Pretty much everything you need is here.  We are thinking about staying here this winter.

Landing craft

If you live on a island up here and need a tractor, backhoe, or building materials, and you have no ferry service to your island, this is how you would get your supplies.  This is a landing craft and as long as you have a beach he can land on, you could get most anything you would need.  I have seen all kinds of vehicles on these.  Here you can see several trucks on this load.






I am once again having a problem with a miss in one of the engines so we are going into Anacortes this coming Tuesday to have a diesel mechanic have a look at it. I called NC Machine as they are the CAT specialists in the Northwest and will know best how to fix it. It is a fuel problem I am almost sure of but I have run out of things to try myself.  Time to call in the big guns!!

  Hope all is well with everyone. If you have time send us a email and let us know what you've been doing.

Stuart Island

Prevost  Harbor ,Stuart Island

Stuart Island is probably our most favorite place in the San Juan Islands.  It lies just 3 miles from Canada and consists for two separate bays, Reid Harbor and Prevost Harbor.  Our favorite is Prevost  as it is a little more protected from the winds and has lots of room to anchor out.  So far this year we have already spent 14 nights here.  A short 5 minute walk across the island gets you from one bay to the other.

Hiking on Stuart Island

There are several miles of hiking trails on the island so the dogs really like it here also.  Russ has even lost a few pounds as a result of all the dog walks.

Wind blown logs on Stuart Island

On one day six of us and four dogs hiked out to the light house at the point.  What a fabulous view of Boundary Pass that divides Canada and the US.  This light house has been here since the 1800's.   Lots of big ships pass by here every day on there way from overseas to Vancouver.

School house

Stuart Island has it's own one room school house. What a neat place.  The flowers were in bloom the day we were here here and the humming birds were everywhere.  There were also several bird houses scattered around the property.

Storage shed

This is a small storage shed next to the school. Notice all the firewood that heats the school in the colder months.  There was a satilite dish on the roof . Not sure if it was for TV or internet service.

Maddy and Max

On May 5 the shrimp season opened . I probably shouldn't tell about me doing this stupid trick but not every day is a glorious adventure.  I went out at 7:00 am when the fishing started and dropped the first pot in after carefully watching my depth finder to make sure I had enough line to reach the bottom.  Well. the current was really running hard and the wind was blowing so it was a little rough.  I thought I was in about 300 feet of water but after letting out 400 feet of line the pot never hit bottom.  I was drifting so fast that I could not hang on to the pot any longer before I had it attached to the pot marker.  So I lost everything.

Then I went in a little closer to shore and let down my next pot in 235 feet of water. Now this line was 300 feet long so I should have had plenty of extra line and I had it hooked to the marker.  But because of the strong currents the marker went under the surface, never to be seen again.

Soooo. Two shrimp pots lost along with the lines, markers, and extra led balls for added weight, all gone. About $300 worth of gear!!!  Needless to say we aren't eating any shrimp this week.  But we did get some nice oysters last week and we wave caught several nice ling cod also. Very good eating.

Tonight we are back in Friday Harbor.  Did the laundry and bought groceries.  Pat got some new hiking boots and I am pricing new shrimp pots!!!!.  Hope all is well with everyone.  Russ and Pat