To: n0abe@qwest.net

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Subject: From Ed and Edith at Homer AK

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We dug clams at Clam Gulch twice. You can drive right down on the beach if you have a 4 x 4 other wise it is a long walk.

We were there at the maximum negative tide for July at between - 4 and 5 ft which exposes more ocean floor at low tide.

I expected a much bigger hole where they have their mouth. In reality they are quite hard to see. We had clam tubes from

Mike AL7OB which are vastly superior to clam shovels. We seen very few others with tubes. Those with shovels were not

getting their limit which is 45 each with a possesion limit of 90. As we pulled in we gave a fellow a ride and found out

he was a commercial fisherman and we asked him about claming. He said we could buy smoked salmon from him and to talk to

him after the tide came in. You have to read the travelogue but over the next few days we got to know Teddy real well.

He is an MD from Palm Springs and we can park our trailer there anytime we want. He comes up for 2 months and fishes with

his boys. He showed us how the nets worked, how he processed the fish and smoked them, showed me his converted bus and

on and on. We got to met the boys and their wives. Very, very hard work. We got our 90 clams both days and I got a

cleaning lesson from two fellows dowing it in the trailer park in Sodotna so it really went pretty well after all the

horror stories I have heard. We now have 10 pints of razor clams canned! The secret to the claming is the tubes which

are 4" thin wall PVC with a cap on top and a horizontal handle bolted to it with an air hole. You shove it down over

where the clam mouth spouts and quickly shove it down as far as you can. You then put your thumb over the air hole and

pull and twist as the suction really makes it hard work. You can be standing in a couple of inches of mud on top of the

sand. If there are rocks you need to move. It seems like they are in beds and if you can find one of these beds just

stay they and "WORK"! It is definitely cardial vasculiar! Often times they come out the bottom of the core and you have

to try and keep them form slipping away. We got a lot of nice sized ones; however you do crack the shell sometimes when

they are not centered in the tubes. It took us about 2 hours the first time and 2.5 hours the next time to get our 90.

The tide was starting to come in both times but not that much. The last time we stayed and visited with Teddy and got

a fish processing course and watched the tide come in. Very interesting to a SD boy from corn and soybean flatland!

We then headed for Homer. The closer you get to Homer the more scenic it gets with fantastic snow covered mountains and

the large bay. Today we cleaned 90 clams, had a great visit with Joe WL7M and his wife who has a fantastic view. They

were so kind and helpful the time just flew while we were there, did laundry, got myself a belt as mine broke and fron a

great scenic view from on the bluff. We are camped next to the ocean on the Homer Spit which is a narrow piece of land

going out in the ocean over 2 miles. It is a neat place and we got some great pictures and with Joes help got lined up

for a Halibut charter on Monday for Wednesday all day! Hopefully we can catch our limit of 2 each. They clean them so

if we are successful canning will be a breeze compared to the red salmon and razor clams. We met a couple from Chicago

who are on summer vacation from teaching school and they took the AK Marine Ferry up the inside passage. She loaned me

a book called Inside Passage which was great. BTW Joe was telling us about Tom Barnet who wrote "END OF THE ROAD"

does the "WE WILL LEAVE HE LIGHT ON FOR MOTEL 8 commericial etc. He lived in Homer for years and the people in the book

are real people like the eagle lady who feeds the bald eagles in the winter. We have seen quite a few while we have

been her. The next upload to the web should be in about a week when we get to ANCHORAGE as it is all ready to go.

Ed and Edith

[MID: 1073_W0SD Sent Via: KA6IQA Date: 2001/07/25 05:13:47]