July 4th Celebration at Camano Island
Every year Scott and I spend the July 4th weekend with my family up on Camano Island. This year, July 4th was on Wednesday, so we went up the previous weekend.
Unfortunately, not only did some of our family not come up, but it was cold and wet. But if you know us, we’ll figure out to make it fun! You’re at the beach, how bad can it be?
Ever since we bought our boat, we have talked about taking it up to Camano and tying it off of their buoy, but it’s too long of a trip for just a couple of days. (More on that at the end of this blog though!!). My family’s home is located on Tyee Beach on Camano Island. Camano is about an hour and half drive from Seattle.
I was surprised by how low the tide was and the fact that mooring balls were on the beach! Be sure to check out last week’s post about the extreme low tide!
Crabbing Season
Crabbing season started on Saturday, June 30th. It’s a very short season here in the PNW, so we always jump on it. Saturday, we got four crabs and Sunday, we got another three or four.
We were a little worried when Scott and my uncle Dick went out in their dinghy to get the pots, as they were pretty low in the water. Luckily, we were watching them closely with the binoculars!
Everyone cooks (kills) crabs differently. My brother-in-law Kurt, kills them with a sharp knife thru their brain (yuck!). We tend to throw them in boiling water. Either way, I try not to think how they came to be on my plate! LOL
We always have a seafoodfest of fresh crab and grilled oysters. Dick grills up fresh oysters with his special wine sauce and they are a hit! I’m not an oyster fan, but I will eat a few of the super small ones.
Sunday, Scott grabbed one pot from Dick and it had one crab in it. Not being a fan of reaching in to grab the crab, he attempted to pick it up with small tongs. So funny!
The Beauty of the Beach
Even though it was cold and dreary on Saturday, the evening brought us gorgeous skies! That’s one thing we love about the Pacific Northwest – the skies are always beautiful.
We hung out with good friends & family enjoying great wine by the fire. That’s a pretty typical summer night in the PNW. Because it wasn’t July 4th, no fireworks were allowed until July 3rd. It was actually a very peaceful weekend.
Have you ever heard the story about finding a rock with a ring around it? Neither had anyone else, so don’t worry! Anyhow, the myth is that when you find one on the beach, hold it tight, make a wish and throw it in the water. They are called wishing rocks. I found two of them, so hopefully my wishes come true soon!
Drama After a Very Windy Night
Sunday night, NOAA was forecasting the winds to be 22 knots from the north. By 6pm, there were white caps and it wasn’t safe to take the dinghy out to check on the pots.
Let’s go back to taking the boat up to Camano. Aside from it being a long trip, (about two hours from Elliott Bay Marina), we also are not comfortable anchoring. In fact, we have yet to anchor the boat anywhere. That’s definitely on our to-do list this summer, if even for the day.
We do have buoys out in front of the house at the beach, but I have always worried about their ability to hold our 11,000lb boat. They haven’t been serviced or checked in years. My nephew has his new 18′ fishing boat on it, but it’s much lighter than ours.
Monday morning, my aunt woke us up to say we had a “situation”. Turns out our neighbor’s mooring chain broke and his motor yacht floated south in the bay and snagged our ball and got hung up on Jake’s boat. Yikes! The irony here is, I always said this would happen some day. BUT it was my family’s mooring ball that held both boats in those winds!
My aunt called the motor yacht and he quickly came out to his boat and untangled them. Turns out the chain broke at the shackle, which was the one spot he didn’t use a safety backup wire. Lesson learned. Sadly, Jake’s boat did sustain some damage, including a broken rail and fiberglass damage.
Celebrating July 4th!
While we might not have been at the beach on July 4th, we certainly were not missing anything! Our apartment has a stunning view of Lake Union and the fireworks show. I have been out on Lake union boating on July 4th many times, but I forgot just how crazy it is. Remember, at the end of the night, most of all of the boats go home in the dark! It’s quite the journey.
Our apartment hosted an awesome classic barbecue and we had the chance to meet so many new neighbors. It was a great way to celebrate the holiday, especially mid-week!
Next weekend, we are heading to one of our favorite ports, Gig Harbor. So stay tuned for our next update!
Cheers, Scott and Ally
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