Ya know how it gets to a certain time of year and there are some flavors that you just can't wait for?
Well crab is like that here this time of year.
We usually get a hankerin' (people in rural areas use words like hankerin...go with me on this) for it right after we clean up from the Thanksgiving feast.
Immediately after...
Exactly 5 minutes after.
So when the season gets delayed it's a sort of slow torture waiting for what we know is coming.
Even the seagulls are waiting...
Posting guard at the end of the jetty.
When the boats start to make their first deliveries you see a lot of smiling and fist pumping from the crews and a lot of drooling from the spectators as we get the first peek of crab in the overflow containers on deck.
I love the seagull escort on this one:
By the time Sean brought his first load of the season in there was somewhat of a wait at the unloading dock so they radioed in and waited for their turn.
Which gave me time to get permission from the owner to get a closer spot to shoot from.
And while I waited I did my usual ADHD act and became very distracted by light and colors here as the sun began to set. I almost asked on of the dock guys to pose for me under this amazing light, next to this cool crane thingy... but I didn't think the crew from the boat currently being unloaded would appreciate that.
Really though, it was such a waste.
Note to self: Someday you must find someone willing to stand in upper rigging of a boat with it's lights on at dusk.
OK time to get back on task....
We get our first look at the overflow crab that didn't fit in the hold.
From the upper dock they lower this silver bucket thing for the crew to fill and send back up.
Which then gets dumped into these larger totes.
And repeat.
After the guys got the overflow stuff unloaded the super nice owner of the fisheries plant let me peek straight down into the main hold of Sean's boat.
Sean's load filled up two of these big totes.
On this day he had about 40 pots in the water.
Every time they run out to collect crab they bring more gear to drop.
So as the season progresses he will have more gear in the water.
The big boats drop all their gear at once.
Between the pots he owns and the ones he will be leasing he could have as many as 150ish in the water.
His permit allows for 200.
These fellers tried to make a break for it but no such luck.
When the boat is unloaded the large totes are picked up by a forklift and moved to a scale where the weight is recorded.
The fishermen are paid by weight.
This boat load weighed in at about 1400 pounds.
This is just me getting distracted by the cool lights from across the harbor...
These trucks get loaded full of those big totes and they head to a market near you.
Which totally remind me of one of Sean's favorite books from when he was a little tyke. Let's Follow That Truck and See Where It Goes.
One of the perks of hanging around the crab dock, drooling into the hold is that more than likely the boat owner will want you to go away and he knows that the fastest way to get rid of you is to promise crab fresh off the boat.
I say this every year but I swear that was the best crab ever.
I ate mine without lemon or butter...just plain with our famous caesar salad and sourdough on the side.
Oh man...heaven.
We picked and froze some to go on our eggs with Hollandaise sauce on Christmas.
And some for future crab enchiladas.
Looking forward to that.
I probably won't post again til after the holidays so I'd like to wish you all a season of peace and joy with hearts full and open to overflow and spill out to those around you.
Merry Christmas to all,
Cath
Wow, great post! It's so interesting to see the work that goes into crabbing. It's been so good this year. I just can't get enough of it. I'm going to try your version of eggs Benedict. Yummy.
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