Does it get prettier than this? After dragging myself out of bed at 3:30 am, having Jared make my sandwiches and pack my lunch, then stand with me at the end of the road until my grandparents picked me up in the pick-up, dragging the boat behind, I was very relieved to make it out on the water at 6 am. We were greeted with the first few drops of rain and some lightning and thunder as we started to take the boat out of the dock on the Chesapeake Bay. Shirley and I groaned, and she tried to insist we wait out the storm in the relative safety of the marina, but my grandfather, fisherman that he is, proclaimed that the storm would soon pass, and the one that was being so grumbly would never reach us... so we laid out our first few trot lines (long rope lines weighed and floated on each end, with chicken necks tied at intervals all down them) in the rain, praying that it would stop. And as the sun peaked it's head above the horizon, it did.
The weather cleared, the skies blued, and it stayed the perfect temperature and with the perfect cloud cover for the rest of the morning. The crabs this year have been rather abysmal, and today was no different... we stayed out on the water until eleven o'clock or so, and only scraped a single bushel of crabs, and about 60 peelers (small females that are ready to breed). We take turns dipping and driving the boat, though my grandfather does most of the driving. Shirley and I took turns dipping the crabs with a long net as the rope is pulled up on a roller, and the boat is steered parallel to the line. We dip pretty much all the crabs that come up, dump them in a bucket, and then sort them for legal sized crabs (5 1/4" from point to point). I thoroughly enjoy sorting the crabs, but I LOVE dipping them- there is something exhilarating in standing on the side of the boat, leaning out over the water and darting in with a net to snatch the crabs off the chicken necks, or diving after them as they see the reflection of the sun and try to swim away.
While we only got one bushel, it is a great bushel! The crabs were very heavy and dark on the bottoms. I can't wait to eat them tonight!! Pop pop decided not to sell any of them, as the peelers (he sells them for a dollar each to a bait and tackle store) paid for his gas, so we are having a crab feast! Then I will be headed out to the Hanover send-off for Gettysburg students- a gathering where alumni, current students and incoming students in the area come together to socialize and make friends! I am a super awkward social person, but for some reason I always sign up for these things...
~Rich With Life~
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