And so, the saga continues….

When last we left our hero, he was perilously close to the brink of an icy grave….

Even in the late Summer, the waters of the Hood Canal are surprisingly cold. And in this instance, bone-chilling cold! Perhaps it’s because there’s still run-off from snow that’s melting on the Olympic Mountains? Or that the Hood Canal is over 500 feet deep in some areas, and is part of the Puget Sound waterways, leading to the Pacific Ocean?

Regardless, there I was, treading water for what seemed like an eternity, faithfully holding onto my lost crab pot buoy, patiently awaiting my Mom’s rescue.

I forced my head above the waves and scanned the surface for my trusted C-Dory. Off on the horizon, I could see my Mother hitting the 9hp kicker with a wooden oar.

Gee, that was a comforting sight! Obviously, she hadn’t yet figured out how to operate the motor or vary the rate of speed (as you may recall from my previous installment, my Mom’s first attempt at saving me ended rather abruptly as she passed me at full throttle!).

It was late afternoon by this time, with the water becoming increasingly choppy. The tide was coming in too, and rather rapidly at that. I held on relentlessly to my crab pot buoy and the $150 investment it represented, stubbornly refusing to let go. About every third wave or so, the tension on the submerged buoy & crab line would pull my head underwater.

As my head resurfaced, I looked up just in time to see the bow of my C-Dory heading straight for me! I was on a collison course with my own boat!

I could hear my Mom yelling and cursing as she continued in her valiant attempts to whack the kicker motor into obedience.

Just before the final moment of impact, I heard the Johnson Kicker die, and the trusty C-Dory finally slowed. I reached up, grabbed the bowline eyelet, and straddled the bow with my legs.

I felt like a lamprey, contently attached to a large fish. The boat was still moving, but the drag on my clutched crab line was bringing us to a halt.

However, I guess my Mom was still pretty wigged out though. For I soon heard a blood-curdling scream up above me.

“I’ve killed my son, I’ve killed my son!” she cried out!

I was satisfied just to remain still and quiet from my perch there on the bow, but I couldn’t allow my Mom to think that she had caused my early demise. So I yelled up to her that I was okay, and worked my way around the side of the boat, back to the transom, where I handed her the crab buoy and line intact.

After I climbed back in, we pulled up the pot. I can’t recall if there were any keepers. I don’t think it really mattered much.

As we made our way back to Miami Beach, I think we were both just happy to be alive!

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional with Keller Williams West Sound providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG,ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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The crabbing season has been extended from October 8th until December 31st (Hooray!)

Now the bad news…

That doesn’t include Marine Area 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) or Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) (Boo Hiss!)

If it’s any consolation, most of the people I’ve talked to reported as having a rather fruitful catch this year.

Of course, I wouldn’t know, seeing that my 40hp Johnson suffered from a severe case of bi-polar schizophrenia, and couldn’t decide if it wanted to work or not.

On a more positive note, my upper body strength has improved tremendously as a result of rowing across Hood Canal for 4 hours. But I’ll save that for a future installment of ‘Stupid Human Boat Tricks.’

So, if you have the good fortune of living anywhere remotely close to any of the other Marine Areas that the WDFW so generously left open to crab fishing (Neah Bay, Sekiu, e.Strait of Juan de Fuca, the San Juans, Deception Pass, Hope Island, Skagit Bay, Port Susan, Port Gardner, portions of Admiralty Inlet, or Tacoma-Vashon and South Puget Sound opening Nov. 21st), then by all means, knock your socks off!

Or, to borrow a line from one of my favorite movies, Shawshank Redemption:

“Get Busy Crabbing, or get busy dying!”

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional with Keller Williams West Sound, providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife, SoundBiteBlog, and ActiveRain, or e-mail: kitsapagent@gmail.com

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The front page headlines in this morning’s Kitsap Sun, Agreement Reached on Seabeck Marina, evoked a welcomed ‘Hallelujah!’ response.

After a long history of setbacks, work stoppage, and bureaucratic red-tape, the long anticipated Olympic View Marina project in Seabeck WA Marina is finally back on track.

The latest hurdle (renewing the lease agreement between DNR – Dept. of Natural Resources – and the Developers) has been drafted and is awaiting final signature.

Construction is slated to restart within another month or so, with a project completion date of November 2012.

I have to say that I am greatly relieved that this project is finally moving forward. The need for marina services and moorage on the west side of Hood Canal has been a huge unfilled void for much too long. And Seabeck WA is the natural and best candidate to satisfy such a pronounced need.

The Olympic View Marina has the potential for being one of the most positive commercial developments to happen here in Kitsap County WA in a long time. Once completed, I envision other complementary developments, bringing additional business/services to the Seabeck area.

Congratulations to developers Boyer Halverson and Wil Clark, and big thanks to the folks at the DNR for putting common sense before bureaucracy.

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I recently received an email from a reader in Spokane WA who asked if I knew of any places along Hood Canal WA that offered boat rentals.

Back in the day, crab populations around Puget Sound were such that you could easily find your dinner faire by simply walking out during a good minus tide. Nowadays, without a boat, you’re hard-pressed to have any measure of success.

About the only place I know on Hood Canal where you can rent small outboard boats is Hood Canal Adventures.

Another source on the Kitsap Peninsula is Northwest Boat Rentals in Poulsbo WA.

If any of my readers know of any additional resources, please feel free to contact me or leave information in the comments section of this post. Thanks!

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, HomesByHarbors, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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A popular clam digging location, Point Whitney Tidelands and Lagoon is opening for a short season, starting March 15th. The Lagoon will be open from March 1st through March 31st, and the Tidelands will be open from March 15th until April 30th.

You’ll need to have your WA State Fishing or Shellfishing License with you (last years 2010 license is still good through March 31st.

Remember the legal limit you can dig each day is only forty (40) of all species combined, i.e. native littlenecks, manilas, and butter clams.

Jake’s Steamed Heaven

Soak your clams in fresh water for an hour or so to allow the to spit out their grit. Scrub and rinse your clams. Discard any that are cracked or open.

In a large kettle, I like to saute some freshly chopped onion and garlic in butter, add in some parsley, 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, and a 1/4 cup of white wine. Then add in the clams and pour in water until it’s just about an inch below the top of the clams. Cover and bring to boil. Shortly after it reaches boiling, the clams should all be opened up. Turn off the heat and cover for 5 minutes.

I always try to serve steamed clams with a tossed Romaine salad, generous amounts of sourdough french bread dripping with garlic butter,  and a nice chilled glass of Pinot Grigio.

Can You Dig It?

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, HomesByHarbors, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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But alas, there is something very primal within us that yearns for expression – the hunter instinct – that causes us to cast aside all concerns for safety and common sense, to release our ‘inner explorer,’ and relentlessly pursue our prized quarry.

Such was the case this past week.

Our trusty C-Dory was finally in working condition (fodder for another article soon to come), so we launched at Miami Beach out in Seabeck WA, motored out to our usual spot, and dropped our pots.

A couple hours later, we returned to retrieve our pots and our hopeful bounty. Unfortunately, the tide had come in faster than we had anticipated, and we couldn’t find two of our crab pot buoys. To make matters worse, our 40hp Johnson Outboard suddently gave up the ghost and refused to cooperate, leaving us at the mercy of his evil twin, the 9 horse kicker.

Have you ever watched grass grow? Or observed molasses going uphill on a cold day? That’s about the maximum rate of speed we achieved as we sputtered our way back to the Miami Beach boat ramp.

The following day, my mother and I decided to head out a couple hours prior to the peak of low tide, accounting for the neck-breaking speed of our trolling motor, to find our two missing crab pots.

Arriving just in time, we quickly located one of the buoys. The wind had picked up, as it has a habit of doing in the afternoon out on Hood Canal, and the waves made pulling up the crab pot more difficult. As Murphy’s Law of Crabbing would have it, the pot was bare except for a lone starfish.

We searched repeatedly up and down the shoreline for the 2nd crab pot, but to no avail. Time had run out and the tide was rapidly returning.

To gain a better vantage point, I climbed up onto the roof of the cabin and peered out over the water. Suddenly, I saw the 2nd buoy submerged just under the water’s surface.

Kicker motors are great for trolling, but they totally suck when it comes to quick turns or maneuvering. We made a dozen or so attempts to retrieve the submerged buoy, but came up empty at every pass.

Finally, at wits end, I pulled off my shirt, handed my wallet and car keys to my mom, and jumped overboard.

Have you ever done something without really thinking it through, and then realize very quickly how big a mistake you’ve made?

I hit the water and immediately realized I had made a fatal error. Besides the water being just a few degrees short of freezing, my Mom had never operated the kicker motor!

As I frantically searched for the submerged crab pot buoy, I kept thinking of that scene from the movie ‘Titanic” where Leonardo slips away from Kate’s embrace, and disappears into the freezing depths.

I found the buoy and grabbed the attached line like a fierce, relentless junkyard dog. Unfortunately,  it was then that I understood why the buoy had been underwater. The rope was shorter than the water’s depth and the tide was coming back in!

Did I mention that the wind had come up and the waves were getting increasingly larger? About every 3rd wave, my head would bobble under the water, filling my mouth with saltwater.

Off on the horizon, I could see my Mother struggling to maneuver the wave-tossed C-Dory using the gutless trolling motor.

Would she somehow miraculously tap into the Matrix and learn the operating specifications for a 1985 Johnson 9-Horsepower Outboard Motor? Or would I suffer the grizzly fate of being transformed into a human crab pot buoy?

To discover the fate of our heroic Crab Hunter, read “Hood Canal WA Deadliest Catch Part Deux”

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) cleared the way for yet another Razor Clam dig for the end of April and early May at up to five area beaches. These will all be early morning low tide openings. No digging will be allowed on any of the days after Noon.

Be advised that some of the beaches south of Twin Harbors have been closed to vehicular access. Always be sure that you’re driving on packed sand, or trust me, you’ll be packing sand!

Beach openings, along with morning low tides, will be:

• Tuesday, April 27, 6:21 a.m., -1.0 ft.: Long Beach and Twin Harbors only

• Wednesday, April 28, 7:06 a.m., -1.4 ft.: Long Beach and Twin Harbors only

• Thursday, April 29, 7:50 a.m., -1.6 ft.: Long Beach and Twin Harbors only

• Friday, April 30, 8:32 a.m., -1.5 ft.: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks

• Saturday, May 1, 9:15 a.m., -1.0ft.: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch

• Sunday, May 2, 9:58 a.m., -0.7ft.: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks and Kalaloch

On May 1st, the Puget Sound’s recreational shrimp season opens. Mark O’Toole, WDFW’s Puget Sound Shrimp Management Biologist, predicts that the 2010 Shrimp season could possibly yield one of the highest catch-per-pot ratios we’ve seen in the past 10 years! Overall, it’s expected that Puget Sound sports fishers will pull approximately 130,000 pounds of spot shrimp out of area waters during the course of the season. Now doesn’t that make your mouth water?

Fishing will be open in the following areas:

• Marine Areas 4 (east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line), 5 and 6 (excluding shrimp districts), will open daily beginning May 1 at 7 a.m. The spot shrimp season closes when quota is attained or Sept. 15, whichever comes first.
• Marine Area 6 (Discovery Bay) will be open May 1 and 5 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Area 7 opens May 1 at 7 a.m., and will be open on May 5, 6, 7, 8, 21 and 22. Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Areas 8, 9 and 10 will be open May 1 and 5 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Area 11 , from the northern tip of Vashon Island to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, will be open May 1 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Marine Area 12 (Hood Canal) will be open May 1, 5, 8 and 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Additional dates will be announced if sufficient quota remains.
• Marine Area 13 will open daily beginning May 1 at 7 a.m. through May 31.

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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A 70-acre stretch of tidelands just south of Dosewallips State Park in Jefferson County had been closed since 1987 because of high bacterial levels. Recent monitoring that was conducted showed that the levels are within acceptable limits, allowing the area to be re-opened.

The specific area open for shellfish harvesting is marked by orange posts, which have been moved farther south to include the new 70-acre growing area reopened by the Department of Health. The area beyond the posts remains closed because of bacterial pollution associated with the Dosewallips River.

In a prepared statement made by Camille Speck, shellfish biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife,  she said “These additional acres offer recreational shellfish harvesters increased opportunity on an excellent oyster and clam beach on Hood Canal. Improvements in water quality are a win-win for the clam and oyster fishery and the environment.”

The beach at Dosewallips state park is open for oysters all year. People may harvest clams from March 1 through Oct. 31.

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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According to a recent article in the Kitsap Sun, 3 of the remaining partners of Olympic View Marina LLC have decided to ante up their own personal finances to fund the project.

The most recent delay occurred when the lender for the project pulled the financing plug in the 11th hour, even after the partners had successfully navigated a seemingly endless obstacle course of environmental red tape. Unfortunately, due to the recent economic downturn, the commercial lending pool has literally dried up, leaving Olympic View LLC with few viable options.

Hats off to these daring entrepreneurs for risking their own personal savings to make such a badly needed resource/improvement to the Seabeck area.

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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During an upcoming public meeting scheduled for Feb. 4 thru 6 in Olympia, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider adopting a new package of sportfishing rules for 2010-12, as well as updates to the Columbia River sturgeon management policy.

Of particular interest is a proposed change to the Dungeness Crab Season and Daily Limit. This past year when the season opened, recreational crabbing was allowed each week from Wednesday through Saturday, with a legal limit of 5 per day, per licensed person. The newly proposed rules would change the allowable days for crabbing to Friday through Monday, and reduce the legal limit down to 4 per day, per licensed person.

While the day changes are certainly welcome, it’s hard to swallow (or maybe I should say ‘not’ to swallow) the reduction in daily limits. This is the second time in recent years that the limit amount has been lowered.

The commission, a nine-member citizen panel appointed by the governor to set policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), will convene for its regular meeting Feb. 5-6 in Room 172 of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. both days.

For more information, go to WA Dept of Fish & Wildlife

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Rich Jacobson is a licensed real estate professional providing knowledgeable empowerment and relentless representation for his clients of residential properties and vacant land throughout all of Kitsap County WA and portions of Pierce, Mason, and Jefferson Counties. You can also find him at KitsapLife.com, SOUNDBITEBLOG, ActiveRain, Everyday CK, Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail:  kitsapagent@gmail.com

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