Crab Season

The day before the official crab season, Pilar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay was full of hustle and bustle. 

The moment I stepped onto the main pier, a harsh loud horn blasted.  A huge truck was coming at me like a giant monster from behind.  I  moved quickly aside and watched the truck go by.  Now, I'd really been awakened. I saw pick-ups, forklifts, hand-trucks, ..etc. on the pier.  People were busy unloading wire-baskets from the pick-ups, transferring them to hand-trucks, and delivering them down to the fishing boats.  Forklifts were moving around the baskets.  Fishermen hand-carried the baskets down to their boats as well.  People were yelling.  Trucks were honking.  Meanwhile,  boats of all sizes crowded around the pier.  In the mist of the morning sun, the bodies of boats appeared to be patches of dark silhouettes.  The boat masts branched up into the air in different directions.  The whole atmosphere was chaotic.  "What on earth is going on?"  I wondered.  "It's the crab season!"  Someone next to me shouted.  "They're loading crab pots into fishing boats."  What a coincidence!  I came down here for something else, but this is even better.  Wow!  I got so excited and felt lucky to be able to observe the crab pot scene.  Even if I don't paint any pictures today, it's well worth it.

I stood on the side away from the pier.  My heart was beating fast, my hands were trembling.  In order to catch every scene, I switched spots several times.  Images formed and changed swiftly right before my eyes.  After twenty minutes, I was completely overwhelmed.  No, there's no way to make a sketch in such a frenetic atmosphere.  I gave up and looked for my fellow plein-air painters. .

I was glad to join the other painters.  They were all stationed along the bank on the right side of the pier.  Everyone was concentrating on their work, seven or eight painters, standing or sitting in front of their canvases under the bright sun.  The scene must have been similar to what the Impressionists did over one hundred years ago.  Around 1:00pm, some painters packed up to leave or eat.  Three, including myself, stayed.  I didn't mind at all.  After the frantic sketching, now I could settle down and do an actual painting.  From this side of the bank, it was a peaceful harbor.  So, my first painting depicts a still fishing port.

Pilar Point Harbor - Half Moon Bay (HMB)

I decided to wait until 3:00pm to start a second painting.  The weather report had today as the last fine day before a series of rains.  It would be a pity waste this warm, sunny afternoon.

The harbor master's building sits on left front side of where I was.  There was a wall between the building and the water.  It was really busy at that spot as I ate a sandwich.  A machine with a large hook, picked up crab pots on one side of the wall, and swung across down to the fishing boats docked below.  Quite a few men were coordinating the transports - two men hooked pots to the machine, two on the boat received the pots, one guy climbed up and down a portable ladder against the wall, another couple of men unloaded pots from pick-ups, while another pushed the front end of the boat.   Meanwhile, there was a crowd of tourists along the wall watching the action.  I was fascinated by this chaotic scene - the physical operation, the crews, the crowds, noise, smoke puffing  from the motor, ...  So, my second painting of the day is based on the pot loading scene.



loading crab pots

When one boat was finished loading pots, the other would come in and dock.  The same process was repeated.  I wasn't sure exactly how many boats went in and out, except the operation never stopped.

I had a great day.  I hoped it would be a great crab season for the fisherman.

To my readers:  Any suggestions?  Please leave a comment.