The bounty of the sea or not

A couple weeks ago there was a great minus tide near Seaside about 7:30 at night. Sure I knew it was going to be dark but that's what my Coleman dual-fuel lantern is for. I love razor clams and other seafood so I figured it would be a cheap way to get a couple meals worth of seafood. With two adults and 2 boys I figured we could get 60 razor clams and have a bunch fresh and freeze or possibly dry some for later.

$50 later I had enough 4" PVC for 4 clam guns, after making two I figured one tall and one short version would be enough for the trip since I had a couple shoves that should work too. My wife decided she and the boys better have some rain boots since we'd be close to the water. Shellfish licenses for 2 adults ran us $13, the kids are still free.

We brought snacks and drinks but after a two hour drive and 30 minutes on the beach checking things out we decided it was still an hour before low tide and a hot drink would be nice. $10 more at a mini-mart we drove around sightseeing in the dark.

Well the big moment arrived, we parked on the beach and got out to enjoy the 30mph winds and horizontal wall of rain. I had decided a mag-light would work just as well, it didn't. The clam guns leaked air near the threads of the wing-nuts and only drew up about 2" of sand. The sand was so saturated with water the hole I dug with the shovel filled in almost as fast as I could dig it and to top it off, every time you tapped the sand to make the clam 'show' it was almost immediately washed away by the water, wind and rain.

After about 30 minutes I was soaked to the bone and knew everybody else was about as happy as I was. We got into the car with complaints of cold and hunger; we could have eaten more snacks and turned up the heater, we could have stopped at GAH! fast food, but Pig N Pancake sounded better.

I had the razor clams, I had been thinking about them for a week and didn't have a single one to take home. I figure those razor clams cost me $50 each, but I learned a lot and the next ones should only cost me the price of gas... I hope.

Next minus tides I can make it down for are next Saturday, wish me luck. After a month or two on the unsafe list mussels are back on the menu, I'll have to take a rake too.

Rick