Happy Birthday, Blog!

The month of November marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of Highliners and Homecomings.
Maintaining this blog for the past year has been a lot of fun. I never expected it to grow the way it did, especially when I think about its humble beginning, which consisted of sending an e-mail announcement to about twenty people alerting [...]

Read Full Post »

“Salt in Our Blood–The Memoir of a Fisherman’s Wife”

I haven’t read Michele Longo Eder’s new memoir, Salt in Our Blood, just yet, but I look forward to buying a copy and giving it a read. In the meantime, I wanted to make sure you all knew it was out and ready to join your library of memoir and commercial fishing-related literature.
The author’s website is well done and informative. [...]

Read Full Post »

See You at Fish Expo!

I can’t believe the week of Fish Expo has already arrived. And yes, I do know that Fish Expo had its name changed to Pacific Marine Expo a few years ago, and that it is now held at the Qwest Field Event Center, not the Convention Center. 
I have the fondest of memories of the grand event, [...]

Read Full Post »

Dungeness Crab Gear Work: Splicing Lines and Rigging Pots

After buoy painting, George and the crew move into splicing lines and rigging crab pots.
For readers unfamiliar with the term “splicing,” it involves taking apart the end of a line (rope) and weaving the strands of the end back into itself to create an “eye.”
Here is a picture of the crew splicing lines (and eating [...]

Read Full Post »

Dungeness Crab Gear Work: Buoy Painting

The Dungeness crab season begins each year with between three and four weeks of gear work before the boat is ready to go. The first part of gear work always begins with Buoy Painting.
George has about 600 buoys to paint. Some buoys are new and need to be painted for the first time, while others [...]

Read Full Post »

The End of One Season, The Start of Another

We decided to kick off the Dungeness crab season, and put a welcome end to the political season, by throwing a small impromptu party here this weekend. Judging by the laughter, animated conversation, and lively debate that lasted until long after I went to bed, it was clear that everyone enjoyed a much-needed break and had a [...]

Read Full Post »

Mother Knows Best

My mom is a smart lady. She was encouraged by her parents to attend college in the early 60’s, just before encouraging young women to go to college was something many parents did. She received a degree in Education and enjoyed teaching fourth grade for a couple of years before moving to be near my dad, who [...]

Read Full Post »

Take the Poll…Who Did You Vote For?

Read Full Post »

The First Unofficial Day of Crab Season

At 7 a.m. George opened the front door, walked down the front steps and across the walk to the Ford flatbed. He fired up the diesel and drove off to the harbor and the boat, exactly as planned.
And so begins the unofficial first day of the 2008 Coast Dungeness crab season. Starting out with a [...]

Read Full Post »

Gearin’ Up for Gear Work

I’ve been bracing myself for Monday, which is when the crew arrives to begin the first official day of gear work for the Coast Dungeness crab season. George hopes to have the gear work completed in three to four weeks, and by that time, to have a firmer idea of when the season will actually [...]

Read Full Post »