Wigham Cove Protection and Brown Box Crab

November 16th and 17th (Saturday and Sunday)

Well the 16th was the day of the forecasted storm of up to 50 knots. We had decided to remain in Wigham Cove as we felt that it would be well protected. We were not sure where the wind or gusts might come in, however, so we decided not to stern tie so that we could swing on the hook as needed. Throughout the day we were very surprised by how light the wind was in our bay, and also by where it was coming from. We had guessed that it would either come in through one of two lower areas in the land, or in through the entrance and wrap around into our bay. All of these areas point roughly south to southeast, and since the forecasted wind was southeast we thought these were good guesses as to where it would come in. We had anchored with this in mind, although we were in an area where we were prepared for any direction of wind. However, we were very surprised by the fact that the wind was coming in from the north. It was not much wind, but it was steady instead of gusty. By evening, just as it was getting dark, the wind started to pick up and changed so that it was coming out of our bay, seemingly through one of the low spots, although it was hard to be sure in the dark. We listened to the "current condition" weather reports for the buoys and lighthouses near us, and although they are only updated every three hours, it gave us a sense of how windy it was out there. It seemed that the storm did arrive in our area, and that we remained very well protected.
We slept quite well, and when we woke up it was still windy. Now in the daylight we were able to see around us, and the tallest trees on the land around us were blowing around like crazy. Whitecaps were rolling into the anchorage, but tucked around the corner as we were, we were in a lovely calm area. The occasional gust snuck in through one of a few areas, but even these had usually lost their strength by the time they reached us. From our cockpit we were able to hear the sound of the wind in the trees and the waves coming into the bay. We were very happy that we had a well-protected spot.
That morning we decided that we had better defrost our freezer as the build-up of ice on the sides was beginning to limit our space.  We pulled everything out and put it into a waterproof bag, and then wrapped it in a blanket.  We placed red hot coals from our fireplace into our ashes bucket, which is a clean paint can, and then put into the freezer on a potholder, to melt the ice more quickly. We refreshed the coals as needed, and it worked well.
The day before, it had rained all day, and poured on and off. Overnight the rain changed to showers, and in the morning the showers stopped. The clouds began to break up, and we got some periods of blue sky and sunshine. Because we were planning to move anchorages the following day, we headed ashore. It was such a lovely time to be in the forest. We had a beautiful view of our boat floating peacefully in its calm area, and of the rest of the bay with the whitecaps rolling in through the entrance. The sun was shining on and off through a dramatic stormy-looking sky, and the sound of the wind in the trees was beautiful. The air was warm, and it felt like it could be a spring day.
When we came out onto the shoreline from the forest with we heard a different noise. It sounded like geese, but different. We looked up in time to see a perfect "V" of six snow geese flying overhead. Beautiful. Right after we had hopped into Kiki we heard, and then saw, two king fishers squawking and chasing each other right towards us, too distracted to pay any attention to us. As they flew into the forest we looked along the shore and saw a mink on a fallen log that was laying into the water. The cute little guy walked out on the log, hesitated for a second and then did a graceful, splashless dive into the water. A little later it reappeared and scampered up the log and back into the forest looking very skinny as its fir stuck to its body. We never know what we might see.
We went out in Kiki to pull up our traps so that we were ready to leave in the morning. The wind had died down to just a breeze, but the chop was still quite big. As the sun got lower in the sky it turned the clouds and clear spots a beautiful stormy, orangish colour. We had 37 keeper prawns in our trap, as well as some small ones and egg-bearing females that we let go. 

We also had two super cool crabs. We think that they were Brown Box Crabs. One of them was much larger than the other and probably 6" across. He was holding onto the outside of the trap when we pulled it up because he would not have been able to fit through the opening. 

I am glad he did not let go on the way up, as it was a great treat to get to see him. The other one was much smaller, about three inches across, and it was so perfectly folded up into a puck that I would not have recognized it as a crab, had it not been for the bigger one which was open with its legs out. 

When I held the little one in the palm of my hand it opened up and stood up, and then crawled up onto my forearm. Here it settled itself and grabbed on squeezing inwards with its side legs and it tucked its claws away under its front. It was so cute. 

When I finally persuaded it to let go it folded itself back into a perfect puck. It was almost impossible to tell where all of its limbs folded in as I held it on its back in my hand. Amazing! Definitely my new favourite creature that we have pulled up from the depths. It is so cool when we pull up an otherwise unseen creature.
We had a delicious dinner of prawn pasta. The sauce Jason made with coconut milk and evaporated milk was delicious!!