A TALE OF LOVE AND GREED
Our 30-year old,
33’ Chris Craft cabin cruiser was polished to a sheen, engines in purring
condition, galley stocked with canned goods we’d eat if, horrors,
we didn’t catch fresh seafood. We planned to live on our boat and cruise the
San Juan Island area for 100 days - over three months of fishing, crabbing, clamming,
sunning, and exploring.
My husband and I had been planning this adventure
for over a year. Michael’s mechanical expertise guaranteed the two big engines
of the boat ready to handle any difficult waters we might encounter. He pored
over navigation charts in the weeks preceding our departure while I worked on
organizing the loose sightseeing plan for the 100 days.
Once we were on our way, days passed with beautiful and
marvelous precision. All we dared to hope for materialized. The sightseeing
proved exquisite and the seafood was bountiful wherever we went.
One day, two and a half months into our adventure, we
discovered an oyster bed of magnificent proportions. Over our two-day stay in
those waters, we ate our fill of fried oysters - breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Two weeks prior to this "find," an educated fisherwoman in Paradise Cove told us oysters would keep several weeks if they remained in wet sacks. Remembering this, Michael stuffed two gunnysacks full and stowed them in the bow of our 15’ dinghy.
