Henry Island Derby 2011

Again squeaked into the private derby at Henry Island....

We may not be invited back!

15 boats, of which 4 caught fish, one boat 2, two boats 1, and we caught 6! Walked away with the prize. We fish out of better fishing boats and retire to Mental Floss in the evenings for food, music and lies.

Once again this proved to be location, location, location and a bit of luck as the weather broke just enough for us to get out into the Strait of Juan De Fuca where the Columbia river fish are feeding this time of year.

Many thanks to the ownership group of Octopus Cabin and Brian Wellman, Kristie Judd and Rich Sandeen for the hard work and hospitality making it super fun for the rest of us. Hope to be invited back next year...

Les Seelye was flying home in his plane and happened to find us crossing Bellingham Bay on the way home. It was rough, and you may be able to see two smaller boats seeking shelter in our wake. Mental Floss plays Walter Jones occasionally, blasting big holes for the nimble. Thanks, Les!

Octopus Islands Marine Park/Owen Bay

After a few nights and full freezers of prawns we needed a change of scenery and anchored in Octopus Islands Marine Park in one of the most amazing anchorages I've ever been to. We ran the rapids between Okisollo Channel, Hole in the Wall and Surge Narrows with Joe's bullfrog to set pots in Owen Bay. Successful.

We also ran into a pod of Dalls Porpoises, about 30. Splashed in the wake and outraced us.

Weather dictated we head home on Weds. We made great time but ended up two hours late for the NorEaster. But snug in bed it was all good...

More scenery. North to South is Mental Floss, Still Waters, Prime Time, Pelorus, Resolution

More prawn photos.

Prawnville, B.C.

Bellingham to Prideaux Haven in 9 hours, with a one hour stop at Lund for fuel and to stretch the legs. You've seen this pylon before...

Prideaux Haven normally holds 100+ boats in the summer. After our first summer in Melanie Cove we have actively avoided it due to the crowds. Know for the prawns, we did well! And no crowds in February...

Desolation Mancation

For 21 years Joe Orem has been hosting a Rotary Club winter cruise to Desolation Sound. My good friend Tom White has been sending me pictures of prawns during President's week for over a decade, driving me BANANNAS! So this summer I committed to carving out that time. (You'll recall my carving out the time lecture, and the dovetail lecture with the native disc...)

Crewfinding proved extremely difficult due to the unpredictability of the weather windows up and back. There's always a chance we can come and go as we please, but this year was like most that there were decent windows for taking advantage of good weather up and back, and without that knowledge several couldn't commit. But Eric "Big John Stud" Pedersen was unwaveing in his committment to crew the floss, so we left at first light on Friday morning (after I spent 2 hours making MF ready and replacing the macerator from 4am to 6am!

Roche wrap

You'd think netting 7 salmon in two days would garner some type of award, but no. The biggest ones were wild and therefore inelligible, and the hatcheries we caught were small ten lbs or less. Our crew performed well and, for the fourth consecutive year we won the party.

See the results and reviews at
http://rocheharbor.com/Blog/Entries/2011/2/7_Salmon_Derby.html