This time around Fay Bainbridge was something of a bust for crabs. We met up at 8AM and were in the water by 8:30. The tide was flooding at 0.12 knots so there wasn't much current to worry about. We walked to the North end of the beach and with 100 pounds plus of gear that makes for a very long walk. The weightless feeling after getting into the water was a welcome relief. We headed East with visibility of only a few feet that cleared as we entered deeper water to a depth of 40 feet. There was enough ambient light that my dive light was not to useful, but that didn't matter since there were few crabs to be found. We managed to pull one out of an old tire after we fought with it inside the tire and attempted to grab it multiple times finally reaching inside and pulling it out by one claw. Later on we found a few more Red Rock crabs around an old pipe but no more after that. Our greatest find though wasn't a crab at all but an aluminium mud anchor and a 100 foot section of intact anchor line. The rope was wrapped around a pole at 40 feet of depth that stood up about 15 feet. I carried the anchor in while Lucas carried in the rope. We went back out since we had 1700 psi in our tanks but no more crabs were to be had.
Later in the day as the sun was getting low on the horizon we made it to the Hood Canal for another round of crabbing. We entered in about 5 feet of water with limited visibility in what appeared to be a long sandy ledge. As we swam through the eel grass we found numerous small Dungeness Crabs but nothing bigger than a few inches in diameter. We were somewhat worried at this point but figured this meant there must be adults somewhere in the vicinity. The background light was dimming adding to an eerie feeling and difficulty in finding any crab. After passing through the Eel Grass the we headed down a sandy slope that became littered with old pieces of wood and other debris scattered about with numerous Giant Orange Sea Cucumbers. At 40 to 50 feet we began finding Red Rock Crabs that we through in our bag remembering the paucity of crabs at Fay Bainbridge.
As I struggled to stay close to Lucas I felt a strange stinging sensation around my mouth similar to that of stinging nettles on bare skin. Focusing on finding crabs I brushed my glove across my face but the stinging wouldn't go away. Suddenly, Lucas flashed his light at me and pointed it upwards and slightly in back of us. I had swum right through the tentacles of a Lion's Mane Jellyfish. The stinging sensation centered around my mouth for the remainder of the dive but that wasn't enough to deter us from finishing our crabbing. Especially since we were beginning to find some good size Dungeness along with the Red Rocks. Whenever we found a Dungeness Crab Lucas would pounce on them like a cat pouncing on a mouse except these guys hurt if they were allowed to fight back. They struggled against going in the bag but would eventually submit as the bag closed around them. This went on for another 25 minutes as the stinging continued on my face.
Getting out of the water was no relief but seeing that we almost caught a full limit of Dungeness and Red Rock crabs certainly helped. We dressed as quickly as possible so that we could get back to Lucas's house to splash vinegar on my face and relieve the burn. As we headed to his house though I could feel the venom spread and I began getting stinging sensations around my arms, legs and feet. No other symptoms were apparent and as soon as we reached his house I splashed vinegar on my face which made that feel better until I breathed some in through my nose. Ow. Upon arriving home my family pointed out that my forehead was quite swollen, I never felt anything there, and I appeared to have a permanent scowl. The stinging had subsided by this point though so I just had to wait for it to go away which it mostly had by the next morning.
Cooking the crab and cleaning my gear wasn't finished until almost 11pm leading to a very long day. The next morning though it was a crab omlette for breakfast and crab, bread and beer for dinner. And I can't wait to do it again.
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