Pacific NW

Expeditions

Our food supply is so ample that it is bursting from every locker on the boat. Sometimes we dive deep to stir things up from the bottom and we always find good treasures there. It is amazing how much food one can fit into this boat! Searching for a lost ingredient in the vast food pile is akin to diving into the ball pit at Chuck-E-Cheeze. Almost needless to say, we woke up at a lazy hour and polished off the remainder of the soup. Suddenly the huge mega-yacht across the harbor roared to life and began exiting the lagoon. Justin and I jumped into Modulus and I strained at the oars to gain a front-row seat of the mega-yacht navigating the “dogleg”. I had difficulty bringing my boat through there, and had to see it to believe it. Loud intercoms blared instructions from the skipper, and bow thrusters, stern thrusters and who knows what other expensive mechanics allowed the boat to pivot just inches from the jagged rocks on either side of the boat. The whole scene was ridiculous and we were glad they are gone. We rowed further and wound our way through a maze of channels and over sandy tombolos. Some of the tombolos were quite shallow and we had to get out and walk. I was barefoot and the first to notice that the bottom was swarming with tiny crabs. Millions of them, every square inch! You can scare them by shaking your foot in the water before you plant it. Soon we beached Modulus and took a run along the ocean on a long white-sand beach. We came to a tide pool where several huge crabs were hunting the smaller millions. I’ve never seen crabs move so fast! The hunters would grab the small crabs with their pinchers and stuff them into their mouths, eating them instantly! We waded out into the tidepool to gain the best view of this remarkable phenomenon. Crab after crab was snatched up and crushed in the jaws of the larger ones. I watched until I became tired of the sensation of the crabs burrowing between my toes and under my feet. In the woods we found some huge rusty mining equipment and several old dilapidated shacks. It was a most excellent exploration. Justin found the strangest mushroom we’ve ever seen. It was white and irregular shaped, with irridescent-red liquid oozing from it’s pores. It looked like it was bleeding! Later on in the lazy day we hiked back to the hotsprings. I made the very first entry in the new cabin journal there. It was another perfect ending to a fine day.