Evening Session - 7/19/2020

Marlon, Noe and I headed over to PTs yesterday evening to catch some waves.  The wind was up, but it had a little more North to it so the trees were able to block some of it.  There was still some texture, but it wasn't blown out.  The swell had a little size to it - chest to shoulder on some of them, with the background mostly in the waist high range.  The tide was way up - +2.3' and it was over topping the sand berm.  Noe came to take pictures - when Marlon and I weren't moving, she likes to take pictures of the ghost crabs, waves, sailboats, planes and birds that pass by.

I brought out the same setup as Saturday - wide 4'10" and the Armstrong CF1600/Uni tail.  Marlon brought his longboard and was catching everything.

After a session, I got my footing back on this setup and catching waves was more automatic than Saturday.  I got some long ones, but there were more fishermen out (as there normally are on weekends), and they were kinda in the surf break (I'm not complaining for me - there were tons of kids out and they were in the zone more than I was).  Well - on one run I had to do the limbo to avoid getting caught up in a line.  Actually I think the fisherman was using a grappling rig because the line didn't give while I was riding through it.

Other than that, I had a bunch of fun rides and great takeoffs.

Another great day at PTs!

What we did catch

One Ghost Crab. Pretty interesting camouflage on these guys when they are young (the older ones are more or less pale yellow or off-white) Tons of Mole (Sand) Crabs. Most had eggs (as this is the season...)

Pelicans, Kites, Sand Crabs

Pictures of the pelicans squadrons. Pictures of the 3m Trainer Kite (pulls like a tractor - should be really fun in a wide open parking lot with a skateboard). And a picture of Marlon catching some last minute sand crabs. We love this beach! We left after this for Reston to get the house ready for turnover and make preparations for our extended summer vacation in the camper trailer.

More Way Late Posting (Virginia Beach Entries)

We've been on the road and I have not had steady access to high speed internet. Right now we are in Lakewood, NY and eating dinner in a Wegman's (free Wifi). These pictures are from our last trip to Virginia Beach. In between hanging out and bodysurfing, we did catch some Mole Crabs (Sand Crabs). With the water all warmed up, lots of life is in the area - small bait fish, pelican diving in for the bait fish, kids bodysurfing and sand crabs!!! Nice eyeball stalks. And a big pile of eggs. The future (of these guys) looks bright (orange).

Saturday at Little Creek Beach

We made a day trip down to Virginia Beach this past Saturday. We brought the ULI but the report called for cold water and low surf, so we opted to go to Little Creek Beach instead of Dam Neck. Noe and Marlon found the first sand crabs of the year! We didn't get a picture of it, but Marlon found a huge one full of eggs. The kids dug a huge foxhole - you never know when the enemy will come across the beach... I got a bit of fishing in and even though I did not catch a 'fish', I did manage to catch some species of colonial algae. Charlie and Amy B got a new SUP - a Fanatic AirSUP Inflatable. Removable center fin and a lot lighter than the ULI (but the FAQ I have was built like a tank). The board paddles well - next time I'll get to surf it ;) I bet next time we visit, the pompano and mullet will be hugging the shoreline.

Winterized Sand Crabs

As the water is way cold, Marlon and Noe passed on the surfing/salt emersion. But Marlon did dig a number of holes. One of those holes that was closer to the surfline had water fill it up from the bottom up. And after a few minutes Marlon had noticed there were Mole Crabs moving around in the flooded hole. Definitely smaller ones than what we catch in the Summer - and very interesting to find out that the Mole Crabs are still around, just much deeper than their summertime surface jaunts.

No Beach Skunks to be Found Around Here

I dusted off my old 7' two piece Ugly Stick fishing rod and tried my luck at the beach between surf sessions. I was able to bring in this lone blue crab using sand crabs for bait (although I was really fishing for flounder). We ended up letting it go since steaming one crab is not that filling (I would have kept it if I was able to find a few more of its buddies). And for the record, I did catch more than my fair share of ribbon grass - made it hard to tell if I had a crab on the line or not. There is a big beach nourishment project going on in Sandbridge and the grass was drifting down current of that operation - I'll take it though because I didn't catch the Seaskunk!!!

Sand Crab Fly

Gearing up for Virginia Beach...

More Virginia Beach Sand Crabs

This was the largest specimen we caught today (Noe captured it - she said she felt it and just grabbed it).

Virginia Beach on Dwellable

Sand Crabs from the Atlantic Ocean

We are spending the weekend down at Virginia Beach - actually one of our favorite places!

The kids are getting really good at catching Sand Crabs. We used to dig them out at the beaches in California, but having grown a bit since then, both Marlon and Noe are exercising critical thinking to solve the problem of "where are the crabs, and how can I catch them".

The next couple of posts will demonstrate this -

Marlon is using a net on a draining wave to catch the sand crabs retreating into the sand (and he caught a bunch!)

Virginia Beach on Dwellable

Sand Crabs

We catch these guys at the beach all the time.

Just wait until a wave pulls back out, run and grab a couple of handfulls of sand, flip it and watch for the little guys trying to dig their way back into the sand.

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA), they had a tank of these guys and you could see them filter feeding. I always thought they were going after detritus (small bits of organic matter), but here you can clearly see them grabbing plankton.

Cool!