Crabbing makes me crabby.
Well, not really. It was actually quite fun, overall. I just felt like using that pun. XD Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m lame. So sue me. 😛
Anyways, after an early dinner, we drove to a beach around northern Burnaby to catch some crabs. I had no idea that there was any water access around there, but apparently there was. I think it’s some sort of inlet?
My father brought a large inflatable raft, and he and my brother rowed out from shore to cast one of the crab cages out in the middle of the water. He tied a giant milk jug to the end of the rope to mark where the cage was; I thought that was pretty smart.
I didn't get to ride the raft until the very end, but HEY! At least I did! XD
As for me, he left me the other two cages to throw from the dock! 🙂 I was rather pleased, you see, because when I was younger, I had always begged to be allowed to throw a cage, but he’d never let me. And now, I got to take care of TWO! 😀 I even caught a few, yes, but that part comes later.
There were a few Brazilians with a cage nearby, as well as one scary-looking Asian, and a group of five young Chinese guys who were fishing. Throughout the few hours, kids would come up and ask me questions about the crabbing, and some of the Chinese fishing guys even chatted with me a few times. That was nice. I felt rather flattered. 🙂 At one point, some old guy even asked a few questions, and he told me that from my accent, he could tell that I was probably from Beijing. (He was right, of course.) It turns out he was from Tianjin, and when I told him that I’d been born there, too, he asked me where, and apparently he’s from around Xiao Hai Dir, too. 😀 How exciting.
So, I spent most of the time running back and forth between the dock and the part of the beach where my father and brother had set off their boat. At one point, my father asked me if I wanted to row in the boat for a while. I refused. “Why would I ride in a little inflatable raft when I could be over there, talking to some hot Asian guys? 😛 ” Hehehe… I slightly hope my father was jealous.
This rectangular cage was the one that actually succeeded in catching a few crabs.
As I mentioned, I had two cages. One of them was old, small, and triangular, so it never caught a thing. But the rectangular cage really brought in the good stuff! I ended up catching 5 crabs, 3 starfish, and even one jellyfish! 😀 Unfortunately, all of the crabs were either too small or female, so I had to throw them back. 😦 But that didn’t keep me from taking some photos! 😀
One of the smaller crabs had a really nasty attitude.
It had one claw clamped tightly to the cage, so I had to reach in to take it out. And when I did, even though I’d grabbed it by the back like you’re supposed to, the silly thing clamped onto my thumb and wouldn’t let go. T_T EVIL CRAB. It poked a hole in my thumb, and it also scratched off a chunk of nail polish.
This one crab was pure evil. T_T See how one of its claws is larger than the other? Yeah, that's because it also pinches harder.
Towards the end, as we were leaving, there were a group of four Armenians fishing nearby. One of them was very fascinated with the starfish I’d caught, and that started a small conversation. 🙂 Eventually, I told them that I spoke a few phrases in Russian, like “dasvedaniya” and “spakoinenoichi”… and so, as they were leaving, they said exactly those phrases to me. Hehe. (“Goodbye” and “goodnight”.)
My father caught one good-sized crab out in the bay, so we went home with… well, just one crab, for all that work. But it’s okay. I had some very nice conversations, and I actually did go into the water at the beach for once this year. 🙂
P.S. I went home with a few terrible mosquito bites. Check this out. T_T
Those mosquitoes were vicious! T_T This is the back of my knee, mind you.
And you’ll note that I ended up with five bites like this on my legs by the end of the day. YIKES. I can’t believe they swelled up so badly.
[The Coast of Misery] 