Last year when we sailed into Desolation Sound armed with all the paraphernalia one needs to catch crabs, we were told that there were no crabs in Desolation Sound. No CRABS! How could that be? I imagined some kind of deep sea sign out there warning crabs not to trespass, but it turns out that the waters (at a balmy 55 or so degrees) are too warm for crabs. Refusing to be so easily put off, I baited my crab trap and dropped it in Okeover Bay, where I was told (perhaps out of pity) that any crab that crawled into Desolation Sound made it over to Okeover Bay. No luck.
Shrimp, however, abound in Desolation Sound, and it was the beginning of shrimp season. Fleets of shrimp boats were out there. With envy, I watched them pull in their traps. I imagined them full with the luscious morsels. Gambas al Ajillo: Shrimp delicately sautéed with Garlic. “Oh, Bill, just imagine if we had a shrimp trap,” I enthused. “NO,” said he emphatically. “You have already brought onto this boat a crab pot and some 75’ of line with a float attached. We have a deep sea fishing rod and all sorts of fishing gadgets. All this stuff takes up room. This is a SAILBOAT. We are not part of the fishing fleet. End of discussion.” Can’t you just hear him?
Well, that was last year, and as a fine red wine mellows with age, so too has The Captain of the sailing vessel Avante. With sighing resignation, I am told to go get the “damn trap”. Which I did. The Captain flew off to Chicago for a board meeting, and The First Mate flew into the car and headed off in search of a shrimp trap and whatever else one needs to shrimp. Such information proved as difficult to gather as "How to Catch Crabs" and "How to Catch Salmon" did last year. I have decided that up here in the Pacific Northwest this procuring of food from the sea is pretty much a male activity. I have yet to find a woman who knows anything about this sport, if sport it be. It has been from men that I have had to pull such information, and no man out there will ever tell you that he only knows part of the story. Therefore, going in search of “How to Catch Shrimp” information takes time, energy, patience and a good sense of resigned acceptance of erroneous fiction as fact.
What does one need to catch shrimp? One cannot use the same trap as one uses to catch crab. That would be too easy. Since shrimp are smaller than crab, the mesh of the trap must be smaller and, more importantly, the opening into and, therefore, out of the trap has to be smaller or one’s shrimp will escape in high glee after eating all the bait one has so assiduously placed there for them. Thus, another trap will have to be added to the lazarette. This one proves to be a bit larger than the crab trap, but, fortunately when folded, it is not much bigger. Bill will be somewhat mollified. I am told by this Source that it is not as good a trap for trapping shrimp as this big round one he now shows me, but as the round one does not collapse and therefore could never fit into a lazarette, I told the Source that the shrimp were just going to have to like my collapsible trap.
Onto the counter goes the trap which comes with its own weight or I would have had to add that to the counter. Next comes a bait container. Then the rope --- this part I have been dreading because I have been told by another Source that I need a minimum of 300’ of sinkable rope. The Source I am now talking to shows me the correct rope to use: one that somehow has lead laced into it. Lead? How am I ever going to pull that rope and my trap full of shrimp to the surface? He tells me that it isn’t that bad and that I actually only need 250’. It takes forever to real off 250’. Assuming I can pull in 18” on one pull, that’s 166.6666 pulls. My trainer back in Telluride will love the upper body strengthening if I don’t drop dead first. The only item left to put on the counter is a float, but this store is out of floats. The Source tells me that one of the two hardware stores in town will have a float. My bill for trap, bait box and leaded rope is about $110. Not bad, I guess. That’s a lot of shrimp.
Off to the first hardware store. No luck. The second store offers to sell me a big, round orange ball. This Hardware Store Source says that it is the best because it is so visible. Maybe so, but it will not fit in the lazarette, and it will not be hung off the side of the boat either. He has no other floats for me, but gives me directions to a kind of marine second-hand store. A light orange tubular float of the right size is bought. I feel elated. I have saved money. My second-hand float is $10.00 instead of the $25.00 new. However, this Second-hand Store Source now, quite gravely, assures me that 250’ of rope is in no way enough. I need 350 or more! One starts shrimping at 250’, and one can and should shrimp more deeply than that, especially in Desolation Sound. Now what to do? I cannot simply hide the too-short rope and buy 350’ more. I decide that The Captain is just going to have to use his rope tying skills. Off I go to another marine store. This new Source listens to my plight and suggests that I do not need 100’ more of the leaded rope. I can use a less expensive (like that word) and lighter (even better word) rope with a weight added (don’t like that verb) to make sure the whole mess sinks so no boat propeller gets tangled in it – most of all, our own. He tells me that this is what many shrimpers do to cut down on weight. Sounds good to me – so $30.00 later, I am all set to shrimp. That’s $150 worth of shrimp catching stuff. The critters had better be out there.
Behold The Captain expertly connecting all the parts.
Next I buy a Canadian fishing license, the cost of which I do not add into the cost of shrimping since that license covers all my crab, salmon, halibut and shrimp catches. I am now ready to harvest our dinners from the bounty of the sea.
Off to the first hardware store. No luck. The second store offers to sell me a big, round orange ball. This Hardware Store Source says that it is the best because it is so visible. Maybe so, but it will not fit in the lazarette, and it will not be hung off the side of the boat either. He has no other floats for me, but gives me directions to a kind of marine second-hand store. A light orange tubular float of the right size is bought. I feel elated. I have saved money. My second-hand float is $10.00 instead of the $25.00 new. However, this Second-hand Store Source now, quite gravely, assures me that 250’ of rope is in no way enough. I need 350 or more! One starts shrimping at 250’, and one can and should shrimp more deeply than that, especially in Desolation Sound. Now what to do? I cannot simply hide the too-short rope and buy 350’ more. I decide that The Captain is just going to have to use his rope tying skills. Off I go to another marine store. This new Source listens to my plight and suggests that I do not need 100’ more of the leaded rope. I can use a less expensive (like that word) and lighter (even better word) rope with a weight added (don’t like that verb) to make sure the whole mess sinks so no boat propeller gets tangled in it – most of all, our own. He tells me that this is what many shrimpers do to cut down on weight. Sounds good to me – so $30.00 later, I am all set to shrimp. That’s $150 worth of shrimp catching stuff. The critters had better be out there.
Behold The Captain expertly connecting all the parts.
Next I buy a Canadian fishing license, the cost of which I do not add into the cost of shrimping since that license covers all my crab, salmon, halibut and shrimp catches. I am now ready to harvest our dinners from the bounty of the sea.
It is Saturday, June 7th. We leave Montague Harbour with our power-hungry but not efficiently power-producing boat and head 
off to explore a another part of the Gulf Islands. It is a beautiful day, but alas no wind. We anchor off Wallace Island Marine Park. Tides are running exceptionally low, and as you can see from the picture, we did not want to risk taking Avante with her 8 1/2’ keel into the bay. We launch The Dingbat and head to shore. It was just wonderful to again be on land and stretch our legs walking under a blue, sunny sky. Not wanting to anchor for the night in as exposed a position as we then were, we head to Clam Bay. Here, without our usual prolonged discussion and analysis of the be
st crab crawling location, we simply drop our crab trap off the stern after anchoring. In the morning, we pick up that trap and to both our delights, there are two of the biggest male crabs we have seen to date. That night’s feast rode unceremoniously in a bright orange bucket to the harbor in Canoe Cove before being dispatched for dinner. What a feast! The bounty of the sea at our table at last.
Prior to entering Canoe Cove, we had carefully chosen a spot for our first casting of the shrimp trap. With acrobatic aplomb, The First Mate danced thru an impossible tangle of rope, weights and feet and eventually got the trap in the water without deep-sixing herself with it. The Captain was aghast. However, the trap sank in 250’ of water with the float bobbing merrily along. We each marked, in his or her own way, the location of that happily bobbing float and continued on into Canoe Cove to fix our boat. The trap would be down for the whole time we were to be in harbor getting our alternator repaired.
On Tuesday, June 10th, in the early afternoon, we leave Canoe Cove. Avante’s spare alternator has been modified to fit and has been installed. The failed alternator will be rebuilt pending our return in July. She also has two new, upgraded Voltage Regulators and new belts – she is purring along beautifully and putting out that all important battery charge. She is set: We are set!
We motor out to our shrimp trap or to where we each in his/her own way think the trap is. It is not there. We scan the area. The binoculars are in high demand. We decide we need two binoculars on board. A “His” and a “Hers” for His eyes are different from Her eyes, and binoculars in such situations are not compatibly shared. There are several bright orange round floats out there -- the kind of float that the Hardware Store Source told me was the kind to buy because they were highly visible. Should have listened. Where is our faded orange second-hand tubular shaped float? Nowhere. Did it sink? Was it stolen? Who would do that? We circle around relieved that no one is afloat near us to watch this scene. Finally, off in left field, as far as both the navigators are concerned, we spot the float. A faded orange tubular float has limited visibility bobbing around on the great wide ocean, but how could I have guessed? We motor over. The First Mate has a very difficult time getting the hook under the float to catch the rope, but catch it she finally does. She begins to haul all 350’ onto the deck. It’s not that bad. Hey, she can do this! Next thing she knows, The Captain takes over, not capable of standing there watching the rope scrape along Avante’s midnight blue hull. The First Mate’s job is to coil the rope as it is being hauled in, but it’s coming in faster than she can coil, and it doesn’t want to coil the way she wants it to coil. The rope has a mind of its own! Again, she is a tangle of rope, weights and feet. Plus it smells, and it’s wet. It’s a mess, but the shrimp will be worth it. Just wait --The following pictures tell it all.
Retrieving the shrimp.
off to explore a another part of the Gulf Islands. It is a beautiful day, but alas no wind. We anchor off Wallace Island Marine Park. Tides are running exceptionally low, and as you can see from the picture, we did not want to risk taking Avante with her 8 1/2’ keel into the bay. We launch The Dingbat and head to shore. It was just wonderful to again be on land and stretch our legs walking under a blue, sunny sky. Not wanting to anchor for the night in as exposed a position as we then were, we head to Clam Bay. Here, without our usual prolonged discussion and analysis of the be
st crab crawling location, we simply drop our crab trap off the stern after anchoring. In the morning, we pick up that trap and to both our delights, there are two of the biggest male crabs we have seen to date. That night’s feast rode unceremoniously in a bright orange bucket to the harbor in Canoe Cove before being dispatched for dinner. What a feast! The bounty of the sea at our table at last.Prior to entering Canoe Cove, we had carefully chosen a spot for our first casting of the shrimp trap. With acrobatic aplomb, The First Mate danced thru an impossible tangle of rope, weights and feet and eventually got the trap in the water without deep-sixing herself with it. The Captain was aghast. However, the trap sank in 250’ of water with the float bobbing merrily along. We each marked, in his or her own way, the location of that happily bobbing float and continued on into Canoe Cove to fix our boat. The trap would be down for the whole time we were to be in harbor getting our alternator repaired.
On Tuesday, June 10th, in the early afternoon, we leave Canoe Cove. Avante’s spare alternator has been modified to fit and has been installed. The failed alternator will be rebuilt pending our return in July. She also has two new, upgraded Voltage Regulators and new belts – she is purring along beautifully and putting out that all important battery charge. She is set: We are set!
We motor out to our shrimp trap or to where we each in his/her own way think the trap is. It is not there. We scan the area. The binoculars are in high demand. We decide we need two binoculars on board. A “His” and a “Hers” for His eyes are different from Her eyes, and binoculars in such situations are not compatibly shared. There are several bright orange round floats out there -- the kind of float that the Hardware Store Source told me was the kind to buy because they were highly visible. Should have listened. Where is our faded orange second-hand tubular shaped float? Nowhere. Did it sink? Was it stolen? Who would do that? We circle around relieved that no one is afloat near us to watch this scene. Finally, off in left field, as far as both the navigators are concerned, we spot the float. A faded orange tubular float has limited visibility bobbing around on the great wide ocean, but how could I have guessed? We motor over. The First Mate has a very difficult time getting the hook under the float to catch the rope, but catch it she finally does. She begins to haul all 350’ onto the deck. It’s not that bad. Hey, she can do this! Next thing she knows, The Captain takes over, not capable of standing there watching the rope scrape along Avante’s midnight blue hull. The First Mate’s job is to coil the rope as it is being hauled in, but it’s coming in faster than she can coil, and it doesn’t want to coil the way she wants it to coil. The rope has a mind of its own! Again, she is a tangle of rope, weights and feet. Plus it smells, and it’s wet. It’s a mess, but the shrimp will be worth it. Just wait --The following pictures tell it all.
Retrieving the shrimp.
They squiggled and jumped --- a right startling sight!
Here’s one. Notice the gloves. They were not on because it was cold. They were on because that is the only way The First Mate would pick up one of those things. Bounty of the Sea? The First Mate realizes she really did not until then know exactly what a live shrimp looked like or acted like. Now she knows.
And Here They Are!
all 3 and 1/2 of them!
Along with our bounty were two Rock Crabs that we thought could be added to the feast until we remembered to check sex and size. On both counts, they went back into the sea.
Still, Gambas al Ajillo is made. We share our catch -- 1 and 1/2 shrimp each , but that most succulent, most tender taste has us yearning for more. Our catch - fresh from the sea – there is nothing better!
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