What’s the best way to behave around sharks? This makes me quite nervous 😬

Make peace with the possibility that you'll be eaten.  Also, get the camera out as quickly as you can. 

Seriously though, there's no way to behave.  If you see one you will feel like you can jump straight up off your ass from a seated position and do Kung Fu - that's how I felt anyway.  The camera didn't come to mind until the shark was by someone else - I got lucky and it circled around and went right by me shortly after I started filming.  Made a $thou and got on Shark Week, but should've left out the F-Bombs I guess...

Sad news.   

There is an entire crew of watchstanders sitting in the Communications Center 24/7/365.  Additionally, each small boat station has a watchstander at the radios 24/7/365.  This doesn't ever change.  There is no instance where the radio does not have a watchstander, ever, period.  If I was the sole watchstander at the radio at the station in the middle of the night and I needed to walk away to use the bathroom, I needed to either wake someone up to come relieve the watch or I needed to contact the Comms Center above me in the chain of command to have them take my radio guard.  This is true for all watchstanders across the entire service.

The reason you didn't hear back on 16 for a radio check is because it's not legal for you to do radio checks on 16.  You really should brush up on your Marine VHF skills.  Every professional mariner and most recreational mariners at sea that night were hearing your radio check and not responding, too.  Why?  Because that's not what 16 is for.  16 is the International Hailing and Distress frequency.  You use it to call maydays, pan pans, securites, and to hail another vessel before immediately moving the conversation to another, more appropriate channel. 

Channel 09 is the proper channel for radio checks when 68 or 69 are not yielding good results.  That's the legal and proper way to do a radio check.  You should also brush up on local knowledge to know who your resources are.  You launched out of Pillar Point Harbor.  There's a Harbor Master there with an entire rescue force that consists of 2 boats and numerous jet skis.  They monitor VHF Channel 74 24/7.  You can do a radio check with them, too.  There are free publications called the Coast Pilot that outline all these details for all US coastlines and more.  As a distance sailor, you should be learning these things.

You often call my words harsh, but this is why.  You are proving that you are going out underprepared and riding a wave of luck.  Learn your shit and do better.

End rant and apologies for the threadjack.

100% agreement from me too.  Thank you, Tedski, for your valuable and informative contributions here and across the wider community.

Mr. X:  You are a humble and able guy with a passion for adventure.  I enjoy your posts and presentation and admire your vision and drive.  I hope that you'll take Tedski's words to heart and dedicate more of your energy to upping your game.  We all need that focus - especially in this sport.

Search the site for "Midnight Crab" and you'll have lots of fun reading and pix about what is a super awesome tradition in my life and a strong part of my Seasonal Rounds.

Yesterday I worked at Shelter Cove all day - 10AM to 10PM, painting an interior.  The rain was coming in sideways all day, and I didn't hold out a lot of hope for the conditions or for having the energy to fulfill the Midnight Opener this year.  But once I got home at 1130 the front had passed, the stars were out, and there was no question about it - I was all in!

I headed for Crab Park, which is right at the mouth of the Eel and only a few miles from my home.  I've been going down there since I was a kid in the 70's, and I've been crabbing there since the 80's when my buddies turned me on to it.

There was no one there - perfect!  With no moon, a few glow sticks allowed me to locate my buoys.  I ran two rings with freezer bait like herring and clam parts.  Lots of little crabs, as usual, and I managed to pull two keepers right before the tide slacked out.  I knew the bite was about to get better as the flooding current mellowed, but two was enough, and it was 2AM after a 12 hour work day.

This might have been the first time I've crabbed the Midnight Run on my SUP - it was a piece of cake, with the ideal conditions.

Steamed them in the kitchen - also maybe a first for the opener, and I was in the hot tub at 3AM - early for a Midnight Opener!

Go get em!  And be sure to turn the dial up to Maximum Adventure.   

Balloons should be illegal.

Nice work, Whippa Mon.   

There have been a few big ones still coming of Humboldt Bay, but lots of skunks lately.  I might give it one more run this week...

You might try using the Search feature in the upper right corner.  Look for "cast net", and you'll probably get more than you can read in a day!  Add in "Marin" or "Pier" and you have a good chance of learning enough to make some solid plans.  Best of luck.   

Welcome to the community, Gus.  Once you have 10 posts you can see the Members Only Reports page - there's a lot of Delta info there, and the Search feature in the upper right corner will provide years of resources.

Enjoy~   

Welcome, Batrat24!   

Would love to see some of your Alameda catches!