Full Boat of Digitata

Casey and I have been talking about what it means to be kinesthetic and visual learners. I have been learning this trade for more or less three years, this being my fourth summer on the water. At the beginning of the season I will usually make a mental list of some of the information I would like to take away from my apprenticing experience. Friends and visitors will come and ask Larch questions that I feel I should know the answers to and I wonder why I haven’t retained all of these details. So that’s what I am working with in the midst of sore muscles and foggy tired brain, trying to remember details. How much seaweed do we harvest during the course of the season? What does that equal in dried pounds? How many dried pounds is one bushel of seaweed equal to? How does the seaweed reproduce? What’s the difference between the sub tidal and intertidal zones, and what grows and lives there? How do you tie a sheet bend knot? There are so many more questions and the answers seem to float in and out of my brain as they please.  More than retaining facts and numbers, I have been returning to this work for the satisfaction of physically working my body, and I am constantly reminded by the beauty of the seascape and just why I am doing this work. Often standing in awe of the biodiversity.

The first week is always about reminding my body of how physical this work really is. Yesterday, we went out to the Sally Islands, the seals, ducks and gulls greeted us. The seals taking position out in the water a distance from us, circling us, watching as we entered into a calm pool of water encircled by the island and ledges. We harvested Digitata and Alaria around and off the edge of these islands. We were out on the water for five hours. Nina, Larch’s partner, is a photographer. Each night after dinner Casey and I are gifted with the opportunity to look at slide shows of Nina’s photography. Last night we looked at the photographs Nina took out and around Sally Island. There are photos of Larch and I rowing in the surf, photos of Casey and I harvesting digitata out from one of the punts, beautiful seascapes of the very foggy nature of the ocean this time of year, and stealth silhouettes of Larch, Casey and I scoping out Alaria.  I will post some of these photos soon. So yes, early mornings four, five, six am and then long afternoons, between three and seven hours hanging wet seaweeds and sorting dried. I told Casey that this place is part time hard work and part time retreat. We make time for yoga, mediation and qui gong. This afternoon we have a group of people coming for a few nights, they will be exploring tide pools. Tomorrow morning we will be out on the water harvesting alaria, if the fog decides (subsides).

Hanging Laminaria Longicrurus

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