Fathers Day Trip

 

DayCare Bay, Main Bay, Ziegler Cove
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundogadventures/sets/72157630227591686/detail/

I have joked that the Sundog brings great weather, sort of like magic as we ease out of the slip the clouds part and the seas lie down and the sun gently sparkles along the water as whales leap and dall’s porpoise race for our bow singing – Sundog is here, Sundog is here.  Well this last trip the forecast looked pretty determined to be rain and I was secretly doubting Sundog’s mojo but sure enough the clouds parted and the seas laid down and well, you get the idea – awesome weather – yehawww!
Our first stop was DayCare bay, if for nothing other than the fact that it seems like the right bay for a family our size with triplet babies.  Although the weather was beautiful on the way the triplets were in rare form and I had to finally have Caleb drive so that I could go on the bow, do some pushups on the railing, my daily tradition and get some fresh air.  After dropping shrimp pots we worked our way into the skinny entrance and dropped hook with Cooks and new boating friends the Alters tied up alongside.  My pot puller motor switch had given up the ghost so the first task working with the guys was to pull it apart and re-wire a makeshift switch using an inline fuse, so to make it work you stick the fuse in and pull out to make it stop and watch out for the spark.  A bit of a McGyver fix but one that got us through the trip, thanks for the help guys.  I got off easy considering Cooks lost a full string of pots and Alters lost a pot puller over board to Davie Jones locker.  Makes you remember what BOAT stands for, it is not for the light of heart or for the frugal for that matter.
Sunday, one of the best days of the year (Fathers Day:) woke up to bright sunshine and a plan to go to main bay to snag some reds.  It was shaping up to the best kind of Fathers day and maybe Caleb would even let me catch a few fish.  First we had to test out the new roof and Dillon in just shorts and myself in gumby suit took some great jumps into the water and I dove to take a look at my zincs and condition of the hull under the waterline.  Leisurely morning and then off to the snagging grounds.  The opener for commercial guys was shut down so we made it right up to the weir and anchored up.  It was a bit slow at first but then we started catching them and did not slow down much until we had 18 very large reds netted and I said enough.  Caleb wanted to catch more but 18 was plenty and would take me a few good hours to get all cleaned up and ready for canning and freezing and smoking – man I love this time of year.  Exhausted we went to sleep right where we were anchored and woke up early to avoid the 8:00 opener that was scheduled.  All was good until I realized I was about to run over a fisherman’s floating line and threw her into full reverse just barely avoiding wrapping line in my props.  Had to wake up the fisherman and allow him to untie the floating line from his boat to shore so that we could make it through.  If you ever get a chance to wake up a commercial fisherman, well I just don’t recommend it but he complied with my pretty wife as the person asking and we made it out without any further incidence back to DayCare.  A Seiner the night before did not do as well and sunk and on our way out we saw it laying on it’s side up on the low tide rocks.
Monday was another relaxing day in Daycare Bay doing some hiking and napping and some catch up on boat work.
Tuesday we gave a try at halibut fishing off Lone Island with no luck and then headed to Ziegler Cove to catch some sleep before heading in early Wed morning.  Over the radio we heard that the captain of the Lunacy a 22 C-dory was having engine problems and was bouncing in the slop outside the bay we were anchored at.  He decided to cross on his kicker and tied up alongside us and we worked with him to see if we could get the motor started to no avail.  The next morning I took his tow passengers in to town while he organized a tow.  Here is a little story from one of the gals that we transported
Well let me finish with some trip highlights
• Kayak trip with Gabriel, our first one on one boating trip
• Watching the triplets get the hang of their new fishing rods
• New boating friends Walt and Kathy Alter
• Back synched up with the Cooks – get to get back out!!
• A great hike up to the lake above DayCare Bay
• A baby Killer whale coming out of the water to get a look at us
• Lot’s of whales all around us
• Chance to help out some folks and get them safely back to Whittier
• All around great Fathers day trip!
Until the next adventure – Sundog Out and standing by at home base camp