Roll Tide.

Of the three pots we had dropped on Friday, one was still in place, one had been dragged about 85 yards, and the third was still in place, but the buoy had been pulled so hard sideways that the line was hung around a snag.  Annah Bethel (frequently called "Belle") and I searched for the pot for a few minutes before we saw the buoy just below the surface on the water.  One quick pull, and the line was free.

I would mark this as a successful test of the stability of these Florida style traps.

Editors Note:  Now watch Capt. Dad get cocky and loose 50 traps in fast moving water. ;-)

Belle, Jas, and I pulled the pots to see if by chance we had caught some 'stones', but the water temp had dropped from 51.7F to 47.8F.  Crabs don't move much when the water is below about 54F.

I'm not saying it was too cold for an aging fisherman, however, Belle entertained herself by skating around on the ice built up on the forward deck of the boat.

First Pots in the Water !!! Yea !!!

The skies are spitting chilling rain with brisk NE winds.  The moon is full, creating high pulling tides, and the temperature is dropping.  Perfect time to test the stability of these stone crab pots.

Sarah reports that her hands were so cold that she had trouble writing on her ( lest you forget ) "waterproof" data sheets.

When the water pulls hard during these full moon tides, it can cause the pot to unseat from the bottom and begin to roll.  As the pot rolls along the bottom, it will spool the cord around the pot pulling the buoy below the surface, making the pot undetectable and non-retrievable.  Sometimes a reverse tide can unspool the cord.  I have had pots suddenly reappear months later, generally full of mud and debris.  But most times, the pot is lost.  Lost traps are called ghost pots "be-claws" they can continue catch crab.  The typical commercial crabber will rig his traps with 35'-40' of cord.  I rigged these pots with 70' of cord to lessen the risk of loosing gear and creating the ghost trap scenario.

The type of pots I have chosen to test are a Florida style.  Josiah will have more about the differences in conventional blue crab pots and stone crab pots later.  Anyway, Southern Florida, the Keys, and the Gulf Coast areas have tide changes of 3' to 4' whereas here in the Carolinas, we can have tide changes of 5.5' to 7.0'.  Huge difference.  And, my concern is that these Florida style pots will roll in the strong Carolina currents.  If they are going to roll, tonight's the night.

We set out three prospect pots along the rocky edges of the Wappoo Cut, ( LAT 32 45.97 N / LON 79 58.62 W ) not more than a stone's throw from one of our sponsors, Charleston Crab House.  This narrow channel generates some particularly treacherous currents.  I have several stories about folks getting caught in the current along this stretch, but I'll save them for a "slow news day."

The Post & Courier's writer came by to interview the infamous "Stone Crab Kids" today.  She wants to get photos of the kids pulling pots and harvesting stone crabs.  The plan is to pull these prospect pots next weekend.  So, with a little extra 'pig foot action', a little sagacity in pot placement, a little break in the weather, and a "raising Lazarus from the dead" size miracle; we should have a stone crab or two for her story.

The Big TV Debut

Josiah did a great job on his first TV interview.  The kids were all at the studio in their official "Clawd the Crab" T-shirts having a great time.  I hope to have that interview posted on the site very soon.

While we were in the studio, the weatherman, Dave, asked if we would allow him to broadcast from the crab boat. The conversation quickly expanded to include one of our supporters, the Charleston Crab House.  So, there may be another show in the works where Dave would come aboard and pull traps with the 'gang'.  Then, back at the studio one of the chefs from the Charleston Crab House would prepare the claws.  We'll see if that happens.  Stay tuned!

Tomorrow a reporter from the Post & Courier is coming by for an interview. That should appear in the Tidelines section. And these 'little celebrities' have YET to pull their first pot!!!! 

Crab pot update:  Traps have been assembled and concrete has been poured in the bottoms.  We will be rigging them tomorrow.  A bucket of pig's feet are awaiting us at the slaughter house. Yummmy! So, if the weather would just cooperate, we can get the first traps set.  Weather is a big part of why we need a larger vessel.

Stuff's Happening !

Three screaming kids, Jas barking, the front door flung open and there stood an overwhelmed FedEx delivery man just trying to do his job. "The traps are here! The traps are here!" He stopped his deliveries just long enough to let us take a picture.  Nice guy!

The first ten traps have arrived.  Each box contains enough parts to build five traps.  Now, to get them put together. This evening, I picked up 1000' of #10 trap line, the smallest crabbing gloves I could find, bullets buoys, and a pair of crab tongs.

Let the assembling, and stringing, and tying, and marking, and rigging begin!!!

Sarah went to the SCDNR to pick up her packet of tags, stickers, and (her favorite) waterproof data sheets.  Jason Powers (right) and Geret  Lennon (left) were gracious as always, officially handing over the project.  Note: The binder has all the kids names on the cover and it contains Sarah's precious waterproof data paper.

As an extra big thrill for a small girl, she asked and was given permission to park in the STAFF parking area.

While we were there, I went ahead and registered as a commercial fisherman again. That will allow us  to sell our catch to help in recovering some of the costs and expenses.

So, we're ready and we're legal.

Grading and Harvesting by "Annah Bethel"

Grading Stone Crab is fun! When you grade a Stone Crab you have to measure from the elbow joint to the tip of the unmovable part of the pincher. The legal length needs to be at least 2 3/4". And, crab will grow the claw back. 

Taking the claw off of the crab is called harvesting.  How you take the claw off of the crab is to hold both claws and twist the biggest one.  Be careful the claw may still move. If you remove the claw right it will not hurt the crab.  But, if you see meat come out with the claw, the crab might bleed to death and die, because it tears the muscles. 

Stone crabs have finger prints.  You can tell if a crab has had a claw harvested before.  If the lines are straight and solid the claw has never been taken. But if the claw has dashed lines, it has been harvested or pulled off by a predator. 

You can also tell if they are right-handed or left-handed.  If they are right-handed the crusher claw will be on that side.

Video - How to properly remove a claw.

Publicity, For what?

Calls and emails have been coming in requesting permission for interviews and articles.  And my response is "For what? They haven't done anything yet!"  Which actually isn't quite true. They just haven't done any work compared to pulling pots (pots is slang for crab traps).

However, they have been busy. They are gathering information, preparing articles for posting, designing a T-shirt logo, taking pictures, and now .... formulating questions for the interviewer!  Interviewer? They're just kids!  Well, that's the curse of having a house full of smart children.  Apparently, the 'smart' gene skips a generation.  Which brings up another point.  I want to thank all of you who have graciously offered your services to correct my spelling and grammar.  Obviously, the help is needed.

Here's the deal.  Josiah will be interviewed on Charleston SC's ABC Channel 4.  The show is called LowCountry Live and features items of local interest.  It will air at 10AM Thursday, January 28th.

94.3WSC FM, our local talk radio station, interviewed me via phone today.  The schedule for that interview to air has not been released.

Also, several publications have expressed a desire to publish articles, folks are visiting the blog site, offers of assistance are being made, and a larger boat may be in the works.  And,  I keep reminding myself,  the "Stone Crab Kids," have been in existence ... only one week.  Looks like they are in for a wild ride.

Oh ... one more thing.  The stone crab on the logo is named ... Clawd.

"Be-Claws We Care !"

Out Pouring of Support

All I did was purchase a couple of crab traps for my children!!!  Now we have people from around the world encouraging my raucous tribe in their stone crab adventure...cheering them onward...offering assistance...asking questions.  And, we have yet to soak the first pot.

So here's where the project stands. Yesterday, I spoke with a supplier for bait.  Bait being pig hocks. Yep ..."pork fat rules."  Today, we ordered the first 10 traps specifically designed for stone crab.  A local campground (listed in the 'Friends' section) has offered to donate all the ice needed, and I picked up some old conveyor belt from a local sawmill.  Sometime this week, the packet of permit tags should arrive from SCDNR.  And, this weekend, we travel to Beaufort SC to purchase rope, floats, gloves, and the various other supplies needed to safely and effectively crab fish.

To be of real value and provide enough data for the SCDNR, it is imperative that we pull quite a large number of traps.  However, there are some limitations.  For one, I have a crew of kids.  A crab trap may weigh as much as Sarah.  Another is the size of the boat we currently have.  There is a need for a larger, more dependable boat because stone crabs tend to inhabit deep, swift moving water.  One of my fellow crab captains may have come up with part of the solution.  More news as it develops.

Thank you for your generous support and well wishes.

We crab "be-claws" we care!

What's a Stone Crab ? by Sarah

We have already been asked .... "What is a Stone Crab?"

My Sarah ( 8 yrs old ) has done some research and would like to answer that question.

"Have you ever wondered what a crab is? A crab is a crustacean. Stone crabs are brownish red with grey spots and a tan

tummy. They have one claw that is bigger than the other. One is a pincher and the other is a crusher. And they can squeeze at 19,000 psi. I don't really know what that means, but I guess you just got to go with it.

The size of the back shell is about 3 1/2" ( 7 to 9 cm ) long and about 4" ( 10 cm ) wide.

Stone crab like the fast moving waters like the bottom of bays, grass flats, oyster reefs, and rock jetties where they can dig in the mud and hide from predators. That's an animal that wants to eat another animal. What eats a stone crab are the horse conch, mollusks, grouper, sea turtles, cobia, octopus, and ... of course, humans eat the claws.

When the claws are broken off by either an animal or a human it is not as bad as you might think. Like a lizard lets go of its tail, the stone crab is able to let go of its claw. So, he is not hurt one bit."

And that concludes Sarah's report (with a little help from dad and mom).

No turning back now !

Making a semi-long story short, my children, ages 11, 9, and 8, have a keen interest in our local waterways and marine life. I had purchased a couple of crab traps and the kids really took to the whole cycle of tides, baiting, harvesting, eating, etc. As a particular focus on stone crabs developed, they wanted more information on how the stone crab can regenerate a new claw when one is broken off. After contacting the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), our conversations and emails resulted in a face-to-face meeting between my three "young'uns" and two SCDNR researchers. An offer was made by SCDNR for my children to advance a stone crab research project that had been stopped due to a lack of funding. And they eagerly accepted the challenge.

South Carolina now has it's youngest research team! And their daddy has some .... work to do to get these kids ready for the riggers of crab fishing.

More news as it develops.