Rainy Days at Stryker Island
July 30th (Tuesday)
Today was a project day. It was cloudy and rainy so it was a perfect time for inside projects. We mounted a winch on the coaming of our cockpit for our foresail roller furler, and we planned out placement of our inside teak handholds for when we are offshore. Once we new the placement we drilled holes up into our headliner, and then began backfilling with thickened epoxy so as to give us a very strong surface to mount them to. We mounted our large CO2 fire extinguisher, which is specifically for our engine room, and we did some other odds and ends. We also did our Spanish lesson cds, which we try to do frequently, as it would be nice to know more Spanish rather than less when we get to Mexico.
In the afternoon Jason played around with using our SSB radio, and for the first time we were able to make contact with land stations and truly test our system. Jason installed the whole system last winter and our major wish for the system was to be able to get weather faxes, grib files, and send emails while offshore. While we were still in the marina in North Vancouver beside so many metal boat sheds we were not able to receive any signal, and then coming up the coast there were not many options for land stations to make contact with, as Canada does not have any on the west coast. Yesterday we were able to connect to the land station in Alaska to receive our first radio fax over SSB! We also managed to connect to Santiago to use the AirMail program to receive weather grib files, and also to send the first test email to my parents. It was the first time we were able to confirm that the whole system worked flawlessly together. Yay!!
We cooked up a batch of tortillas and had breakfast for dinner. Fresh huckleberry pancakes with bacon. Yummy!
Today was a project day. It was cloudy and rainy so it was a perfect time for inside projects. We mounted a winch on the coaming of our cockpit for our foresail roller furler, and we planned out placement of our inside teak handholds for when we are offshore. Once we new the placement we drilled holes up into our headliner, and then began backfilling with thickened epoxy so as to give us a very strong surface to mount them to. We mounted our large CO2 fire extinguisher, which is specifically for our engine room, and we did some other odds and ends. We also did our Spanish lesson cds, which we try to do frequently, as it would be nice to know more Spanish rather than less when we get to Mexico.
In the afternoon Jason played around with using our SSB radio, and for the first time we were able to make contact with land stations and truly test our system. Jason installed the whole system last winter and our major wish for the system was to be able to get weather faxes, grib files, and send emails while offshore. While we were still in the marina in North Vancouver beside so many metal boat sheds we were not able to receive any signal, and then coming up the coast there were not many options for land stations to make contact with, as Canada does not have any on the west coast. Yesterday we were able to connect to the land station in Alaska to receive our first radio fax over SSB! We also managed to connect to Santiago to use the AirMail program to receive weather grib files, and also to send the first test email to my parents. It was the first time we were able to confirm that the whole system worked flawlessly together. Yay!!
We cooked up a batch of tortillas and had breakfast for dinner. Fresh huckleberry pancakes with bacon. Yummy!
Fresh huckleberry pancakes and bacon for dinner.
July 31st (Wednesday)
We woke up to showers again this morning. In the past seven days we have only had one day in which it had not rained. We did our daily Spanish and worked on some odds and ends projects, and then bundled up in our rain gear and so many layers one would think it was winter, and headed out for a bit of fishing and to pull up our traps.
The water was glassy calm except for the swells on the outer side of a reef where we did our fishing. It was perfect conditions for drifting, and we drifted perfectly parallel to the depth contours in that area, and at a good speed. We caught a bunch of fish, but only kept one Lingcod, mainly because our freezer is so full.
When we pulled up our first prawn trap, we had some prawns. Yay. We also had one pretty Nudibranch. We were very optimistic when pulling up our second trap, hopeful that we would have as many prawns as in our first trap. Upon getting it up and into the boat we found that we did have a few prawns although not near as many. In total we got 31. In our trap we also had one Kelp Greenling, one cool little fish that we have not been able to identify, and to our utmost surprise, an Octopus. It was a Smooth Skin Octopus, and looked close to full-grown with about a 12" arm span. Even though Octopuses are capable of much more skilful jobs, we were still surprised to see that he had unscrewed our bait container and the container was lying in the bottom of the trap completely empty.
When we pulled up our first prawn trap, we had some prawns. Yay. We also had one pretty Nudibranch. We were very optimistic when pulling up our second trap, hopeful that we would have as many prawns as in our first trap. Upon getting it up and into the boat we found that we did have a few prawns although not near as many. In total we got 31. In our trap we also had one Kelp Greenling, one cool little fish that we have not been able to identify, and to our utmost surprise, an Octopus. It was a Smooth Skin Octopus, and looked close to full-grown with about a 12" arm span. Even though Octopuses are capable of much more skilful jobs, we were still surprised to see that he had unscrewed our bait container and the container was lying in the bottom of the trap completely empty.
Smooth Skinned Octopus.
He looked super cool walking along the bottom of our trap when we first got it into the boat, but before we could get the trap open he started to slip his way through the holes in the trap. Our prawn trap has about 1/2" holes in the netting which, although he was not big, was a very small hole. It was impossible for us to help him as his eight arms wove their way everywhere through the trap and also suctioned themselves onto our tender. Once we had the rest of the trap empty we coaxed him to let go of the tender, and we hung our trap just over the edge back in the water for him. We waited and waited and watched as he slowly squeezed his entire body and head through a hole. At some points we were not sure if he was still making any progress, but from what little we know about Octopuses we knew that they apparently have spatial awareness and know what they can and cannot fit through before attempting it. Eventually, sure enough, he got himself out and hung there from the bottom of our trap with one arm. All his arms were stretched out, and the webbing between his arms caught the water and he looked very beautiful, then he let go and rocketed through the water beneath us. Very cool!
In our crab trap we were disappointed that we had no keepers. We only had two small female Rock Crab and one clawless Kelp Crab. Back at home Jason made the most amazingly epic seafood chowder. He used the carcass from the lingcod and the prawn heads to make a stock, and then added coconut milk and evaporated milk to give it the milkiness. The chowder had Lingcod, Salmon, Dungeness Crab, and Prawns in it, along with onion, potatoes, and squash. It was incredible.
In our crab trap we were disappointed that we had no keepers. We only had two small female Rock Crab and one clawless Kelp Crab. Back at home Jason made the most amazingly epic seafood chowder. He used the carcass from the lingcod and the prawn heads to make a stock, and then added coconut milk and evaporated milk to give it the milkiness. The chowder had Lingcod, Salmon, Dungeness Crab, and Prawns in it, along with onion, potatoes, and squash. It was incredible.
Seafood chowder and biscuits.
We successfully connected to the Santiago land station with our SSB Radio again, and as well as receiving more weather data we also received a reply email from my parents. Yay it all works.
Yuuum huckleberry pancakes and seafood chowder - I'm hungry!
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