Wiedz Wonder

After we had packed up and helped clean the rental house on Sunday of Cousins Weekend Mr. Wiedz and I took the kids out on Wiedz Wonder to do some more crabbing. I had never been out on the boat so I was excited to spend a couple hours out there. The kids had all had a turn or two but it had been a week or more *gasp* and they were all ready to go!

Mr. Wiedz had to work a lot harder with just us family on the boat as he was the only one who could throw or pull crab pots. I got a lesson on boat driving and I wouldn't say it was easy but I definitely improved...Mr. Wiedz didn't have a choice but to keep letting me try, he can't drive and pull pots!

Of course there are all kinds of science and nature study out on the boat. Everyone watched over the sides to find animals and plants that are living under the surface. There were some spots that were quite shallow as well so you could see the tides affect on the sand of the ocean floor. #1 was working on her oceanography badge for girl scouts so we tried noticing the plants, animals, pollution, tides, water, and other things so she could meet the requirements of her badge.

Everyone had a job when Mr. Wiedz was bringing in the crab. I was driving. #1 was next to me making sure no crab were tossed or loose near her. #2 was in charge of the cooler lid, open for Mr. Wiedz to toss in a legal crab. #3 supervised #2 and Mr. Wiedz making sure they both knew crab were on the boat. #4 sat out of the way. And #5 slept. It was a well-oiled machine.

#2 commented that time on the boat was really nice and that they didn't even fight while on the boat. Everyone did do a fantastic job! It was such a pleasant way to spend the late morning. We also had great weather that day, another Oregon rarity!

We got the boat back to the launch and I left Mr. Wiedz to get everything settled while I fed #5. #1 was a huge help and the boys waited patiently for their turn to get off the boat. We stretched our legs, used the facilities, washed our hands, got out the snacks and headed for home...where the real work began.

The boat trip was fantastic! And it's a good thing that it was because there is so much work involved with taking the boat out like that! We stopped along the way when we saw a deep boat launch and got the boat in enough to run the motor through with fresh river water to flush the salt water out. Then at home we unloaded, scrubbed the boat inside and out and dried the boat!

We were tired but had another delicious crab dinner last night!