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OK, here comes my story about getting busted.
In Hoonah Sound (north of Peril Strait) I was
out pulling up our shrimp pots when..........
The Alaska State Troopers came roaring up to
me.
They
wanted to check my shrimp pots. Well.... the
new one we had just purchased in Sitka
did not "meet code." See it sitting
on the back of their boat? Focus on the orange
bait box at the back of their boat and you'll
see it surrounded by a black rectangular frame
with black netting. That's our shrimp pot. (They
took pictures of the pot and got all my particulars,
including my height/weight/eye color/hair color,
etc!) The rule says you must have an opening
in the netting that is six inches long and laced
together with only 100% cotton string. That way,
if the shrimp pot (trap) is lost, the biodegradable
string will rot and any creatures that crawl
into the pot can get out.
They
were very cordial and actually gave me a break.
They could have confiscated the pot and the shrimp
I had just hauled up. And they
could have really dinged me for not having
the fishing license in the skiff with me (rather
than back on the big boat). As it was, I
got a citation for $110. Ouch. And I got a roll of
cotton string so I could fix the pot.
We saw their boat again in Angoon. Notice
that there are three big 225 hp engines on that
boat. No getting away from them if they want
to catch you. We also saw their boat in
Tenakee Inlet, so they are moving all around
and really enforcing the rules. Rest assured
that our pots (now) all meet code.
It
is worth it to follow the rules. For example,
look at this crab! Yummy.
And just so you really believe that the
shrimp pot is now legal, here's a picture of
it. No more tickets for me!
After
cutting the required six inch slit in the net
the white
cotton string is laced through - at the lower
right.
And now that we are in Hoonah, what do I see?
Another AK State Trooper boat and their nearby
office.
Here's
my new friend Judy (from NW Women
in Boating) buzzing around in our anchorage in
Hoonah Sound. That is their boat (Pt Judith)
in the background. After hearing my story they fixed
their pots to avoid my fate.
Judy
had noticed us working with this forest
of kelp clinging to our anchor chain and
anchor and came over to help pull it
off.
This
is actually a fairly common scene up here. Pushing
this "newspaper kelp" off
the anchor with the boat hook works quite well.
What doesn't work so well is anchoring in this
stuff in the first place. The anchor tends
to slither around on it as if on a skating-rink
surface. Sometimes we have to make several
tries to get the anchor to "set."
David wanted you to see the backdrop for
the wonderful little community of Tenakee Springs.
He really likes it here. And the people are so
friendly to "the tourists." (That would
be us.)
All
of the locals wanted to talk to him about his
fine skiff. Did you build it? What design is
that? How long did it take you to build it? He's
becoming a regular maritime personality of the
boat-building world. The other tourists (like
us) don't get nearly as excited about it as the "real" Alaska
folks, especially the fishermen. They just love
it.
Here is a taste of Tenakee. Those are actually
all wood blocks on the door. I also like the
crab knocker and the whale tail holding the hose.
And
here is one of the local guardians of Tenakee
Springs.
Here
is a favorite spot for me: "The Part
Time Bakery" - with a Y painted
in after the word Part and with the ubiquitous "guard
dogs." Good latte' and muffins.
Linda
& Dave
M/V Royal Sounder
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