A lesson in crabbing. (Spring Break)

For Spring Break, we went with some friends down to Lincoln City, in Oregon. I broke this trip up into 2 posts, in hopes that you don't get too bored!  (This is still a VERY long post....)

 I found this great beach house that was large enough for all of us to stay in. There were 4 families, and we each got our own bedroom and bathroom! There was even a game room on the bottom floor, with an arcade machine, so the kids were  happy down there, while the adults mingled way up on the top floor, in peace. :) 

The view was amazing! I'm afraid, I never got a picture of that view (curses!!)

We stayed for 3 days and 3 nights, but all felt it was NOT long enough. There was just too much to do!

One of the days, we rented a charter boat to go crab fishing.

It was quite the experience!

First, we speared some fish through the eyeballs, to use as bait.  We did this on the dock before we left.

(oops...didn't I mention this was going to be graphic?)

Then, it was off to sea!

...well, the bay. 

The waves were too large to go out to the ocean.

Brinly was thrilled to have the wind thwapping in her face. (Like that word, thwapping? :))

Then, it was time to drop the baskets with baits in them. These are called "pots".

After all the pots were dropped, we circled around, to pick them up again. 

 

There is a buoy attached to each rope, that we snag with a long pole, and then grab the rope.

Then, it's time to pull like mad! If you're too slow, the crabs will crawl out.

Then, you have to pick them up. 

If you are brave enough... 

Things to notice in this picture:

•  crab mid-flight in the lower right-hand corner 
• the many bystanders 
•  the people picking up the crabs are all male....

I did try to pick one up...

almost...

got...

it..

 

There! Do you see it! Okay, so maybe I just dropped it, but I did eventually get it to the bucket...about 20 more pictures later....

 

Then you have to measure them. We are only allowed to keep the big ones, so if they are too small, we have to throw them back in. 

It was hard for Dan to part with the babies....

This is our "discard" pile. We filled the bucket to the top! 

All these were thrown back into the sea!

But! We still caught about 30 crabs. Granted, alot of these were the "red" crabs, who apparently, are very hostile, and kill the other crabs. We were allowed to keep all the red crabs. :)

I wish I had taken pictures of the feast, but I was tired and hungry. :) Everyone tried at least a bite, and some had a full feast of crab.