"This "SHORE" is fun !" (and RV Improvements)

Ah, Easter with a feast…Dungeness Crab and Razor Clams on the Washington Coast…..the very memory makes my mouth water again. If you want to have fun while getting one of the easiest, most delicious dinners in the world, this is it!


After two close calls with the Grim Reaper in as many years, I’ve decided to make the most of each day. If he wants me, he’ll have to keep up. Right now, I’m at Westport, Washington…an old favorite haunt from long ago.



I came here from another great place…exceptional steelhead fishing on some of Oregon’s fine coastal rivers. While there, we got to talking of the coming clamming season up on the wild & wooly Washington coast. It brought back some fond memories…especially one trip a long time ago when some amigos from Mulege and Conception Bay joined us at a townhouse we all rented on the beach in the Westport area. What a time we had…clamming and crabbing, and of course some fantastic dinners at day’s end. So, here we are...back again.

Located on the marine-rich waters of the southern Washington coast, you can see thousands of Dungeness crab pots at the dock area in Westport. Commercial crab season usually opens in December, and many crabbers quit in the spring and put their gear away for the year. You can see what these pots look like on many boats in the marina. In the winter, the pots will be out on the ocean.





Crabbing

Both Tokeland's and Westport's marinas are good for Dungeness crab fishing. You can buy or rent crab pots and bait at various places in town. Then simply walk out of some of the public docks and pick your spot. Bring chairs and a picnic lunch…and enjoy the day.






This is the thing about Dungeness crabbing…when pulling our traps, we could count on getting a whole lot of good tasting crab that make great dinners!..not to mention all the star fish, octopus, and spider crabs we had to throw back. After steaming them and seeing the meatiness of these crabs I could see why,that even with eight of us, we could not finish them all. So I cleaned the left overs and used them the next day to stuff and grill some salmon. Lots of fun to cook.



Just remember in most places, it is illegal to split the crab at the beach/boat unless you are cooking and eating them on site. Once they are split they can no longer be checked to determine if they are of legal size and cannot be transported in this manner.
Having said that I am enjoying fresh crab most nights! (and a half crab is never enough!)

A QUICK SNACK…CRAB LEGS ON PLATE



There is more than just the legs, though….but I’ve sometimes found the taste of dungeness crab "mustard" aka tomalley to be very different from the tomalley of lobsters and blue crabs, both of which I love to eat. I cooked a couple live dungeness crabs this past weekend, and tasted the tomalley of both, but they were bitter and I thought, "there's NO WAY I can acquire a taste for that!" I was surprised, because I find the tomalley of lobsters and blue crabs to be so yummy! Anyway, I did some asking around, and heard that depending on the season, the tomalley of any of those crustaceans can be bitter. So I'll definitely try dungeness crab tomalley again in the future. One thing, however, tomalley does contain filtered toxins (PCBs and some other scary sounding stuff), so I won't be eating it as much as I'd like to.


One crabber I met on the docks said to me,

“It's also a safety issue. The guts are often high in levels of PBCs and other contaminants. They’re bottom feeders ya know, and we've been polluting the heck out of the oceans for decades.”

If you’re going out on the ocean with pots in a boat, you’ve got an edge. I've found that crabs like shallow areas 3 or 4 hundred feet off shore. Mud flats are great. If you have some pots, set them for 4-6 hours. Crabs love turkey legs, chicken thighs (make sure they are not frozen so they are nice and stinky), and catfood. Also, if you were out clam digging before and butchered a bunch digging like I do sometimes, you use those peices too. When you pull up your pots, make sure the carapace is 6.5 inches in diameter and that they are male (you can tell by the narrow apron). Here’s a good tip on keeping the crabs fresh… we just use ice in the cooler with the drain open…this slows them down but doesn't drown them.


Those NOISY sea lions!

Like most all the marinas on the West Coast, there is a lively resident population of seals and Sea Lions. You love ‘em and hate ‘em! Here’s little walk we took along one of the floating docks…to see what all the noise was about.



They always like to cram together…which to me seems like trouble in the making…


“Whew”…best to stay upwind….




Westport has a waterfront street full of gift shops…and of course, lots of salt water taffy for the kiddies…and moi. (..the most privileged thing in the world is a grandchild out with a grandparent)



Part of the Crab Festival was this Fishermen’s Association & Coast Guard Pavilion showing some of their rescue gear. You gotta love the Coasties who save so many lives every year.


A young coastguardsman showed me how he could get into the survival suit in less than a minute…which might be all the time you get when disaster strikes...or even less. I recall having a couple on board when we worked Alaska salmon so many years ago…thank God we never had to put them on.




Part of the Annual Crab Festival was a crab race and dinner put on inside this tent in downtown Westport. Naturally, it was raining!





Clam Digging

Razor Clams are plentiful on the beaches of Grayland and North Cove. They are fun to dig, and they are very tasty. Seasons vary, and are established by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The Pacific razor clam (Siliqua patula is it’s scientific name) is abundant on beaches from California to Alaska. The adult clams live right in the surf, and out as far as one-half mile. People dig them at low tide when their holes are visible in the dry sand and shallow surf. North Cove and Grayland, 10 minutes south of Westport, have several miles of digging area. That’s the area we drove to and did our clamming…

No problem finding a parking space….just pick your own sand…and pay no attention to the weather!



…and join in the fun. “If you’re lucky enough to be at the beach, then you’re lucky enough.”



Wet Weather never seems to stop NW Pacific folks. When seasons are open, people travel from all over Washington State and the Seattle area to dig clams. Razor clams are fun to dig. Thousands of people flock to the beach when the season opens in hopes of getting their daily limit of 15 clams.

The weather has treated us differently each time we hit these shores for clamming, crabbing, or fishing. It’s uncanny. One day it’s 70 degrees, like it was two days ago…and then it’s 45 and raining cats and dogs…go figure? Well, that’s why you sometimes dress in layers! Like Co-pilot says, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes."







Most of the year, the beaches are fairly deserted…


But not when clamming seasons starts…it’s a whole different scene. Kind of like the beaches of Conception Bay at Eastertime.



Hah, I can recall way back in the day when we all first went clamming here. (about 1978) Including our visitors from Mulege. It was the first time some of the folks ever heard of a ‘clam gun’…well, they knew I was a hunter and must have figured their crazy gringos would be ‘shooting’ the clams. Hah! When they first saw them and how we used them, it brought huge smiles to all. They became experts in nothing flat.


“Whew…finally got the guy! Funny, it seemed so much bigger when I was digging…








Caution!….you are at risk of getting WET!



And be prepared to RUN!




What really helps is a good ‘clam sniffer’.



And train your family clam diggers well…and early.



Be aware of certain beach areas that are closed to clamming.




Cleaning

Now that you have your limit or 15 clams per person, you will need to clean your clams. It’s fairly basic. All you need is a pair of scissors, and you are ready to start cleaning.
“Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that's bad for you!”

Geoducks are very interesting…and are huge compared to razors, plus being one of the longest-living organisms in the animal kingdom. I found out that the oldest recorded specimen was 168 years old, although individuals over 100 years old are rare. Scientists speculate that the geoduck's longevity is the result of low wear and tear, plus it does not have many, if any, predators…except us, of course.




After that little chore is done, it’s time to find the cook and get him working.



“I have the number for Domino’s…just in case.”



Today’s word: “Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.”


Well, that’s crabbing & clamming for you. Glad you came along.

“Next stop?....Someplace sunny & warm!”


[Edited on 5-7-2014 by Pompano]

Igor, few people other than myself know that you are in fact an undercover game officer...and that your question is an attempt to trap me into admitting a taste for female Dungeness crabs. THIS IS NOT EVEN CLOSE to the truth, although I will admit to 'rescuing' other crabber's 'females' from time to time...

Here's a show and tell on those illegal female crabs.

The best way to distinguish between a male and a female crab (this works other species of crabs as well, such as the blue crab) is to flip the crab over or pick it up (Careful, don't get P-nched), and look at the abdominal section near its rear end. A male crab will have a narrow triangular abdomen while a female will have a much wider and more oval abdomen.

[Edited on 4-21-2014 by Pompano]

Thanks

You're welcome, Cliff,

My new fifth wheel is a replacement for my previous Montana, this one is a Bighorn made by Heartland. We're enjoying it very much, good storage, nice and roomy, plus I've made it convenient for boondock camping anywhere...solar, invertor, genset, etc. Perfect for a 'Nomad'.

Great report as usual. What is the limit for clams in Baja?

Quote:

Originally posted by Marc Great report as usual. What is the limit for clams in Baja?

In Baja? Hmmm....you mean ...If you avoid the clam police?

If so..then a good bowlfull has always been our limit.

Cliff, I've seen Cougars almost everywhere we've been..a very popular fiver. (Also some that are NOT rvs...harump....)

I'm an old solar user & fan...used them in pumping water for livestock since way back, then a couple of off-the-grid homes (Coyote Bay in Baja) and another fiver about 15 years ago, a Montana 34 footer. So I got educated early on about what I wanted ..and needed. On my first solar-equipped RV, the salesman asked me what I wanted. I said, "I want to pull off the remote Yukon Highway, open all the slides, turn on the heat or AC, sit in my powered Lazy-Boy, drinking a blended margarita, and watch the news on my satellite tv." He grinned and asked, "Fox or CNN?" He had got the idea.

The Montana fiver...was a ton of fun, plus I sold it for the money I had into it. Can't beat that!



I do a LOT of boondocking all over the continent, so on this new Heartland Bighorn I installed everything on my want list right away. One thing...I would advise NOT having an rv dealer do it...get a real pro if you can't do it yourself.

Another thing - When buying a RV for the first time, most folks don't know the house battery and converter are inadequate at the time...for any long time boondocking.

Here's what I did:

Changed all lights possible to LED to reduce loads significantly.

got a good readable digital voltmeter

Onan Marquis Gold 5500 Watt LP Vapor Generator with remote start. Quiet, no vibration...makes any neighbors thankful.

a SurgeGuard Model 34560 50 Amp Hardwired surge guard with voltage protection ….(Note - the SurgeGuard has shut down our power due to voltage drops or surges that could have damaged our equipment. In my opinion, these devices should be standard equipment in every RV.)

4 maintenance free Lifeline 6-volt AGM batteries (instead of wet-cell batteries)

Xantrex RS3000 pure sine wave inverter/charger

TriMetric monitor

combiner box

Solar panels….. (Solar panels in an RV are nothing more than battery chargers) I had a choice of either Kyocera or AMs. I choose 6 'AM' 100-watt panels with tilting mounts, brackets, screws & wiring because they are better sized and engineered for RV rooftops. In Baja I used 16 Kyocera 130watt panels on a house roof, but that's impossible and unneeded on a RV.

Heliotrope HPV-30DR MPPT solar controller

solar monitor

Good wiring...nothing small diameter.


That's about it....for now.

I hope you have more sun than we did in Coos Bay, Cliff. But then we were there in the winter...Summers are great on that spectacular coast..Enjoy! I might be using my solar Way Up North by that time...on the shores of a good walleye lake!

[Edited on 5-7-2014 by Pompano]