by kdmac » Fri Jun 08, 2012 10:38 pm
When my parents retired they moved to Westport where my father was a skipper on his own salmon fishing boats. I spent literally years there with them fishing the ocean for salmon, the jetty for perch, had crabs and shrimp all in excess, it was a great place for us. We drove the beaches at daybreak to find Japanese glass floats until they started using plastic in later years. If you drive down further south of Grayland to Tokeland it's a beautiful drive along the beaches to Willapa Bay and the town of Tokeland has a quiet picturesque harbor and lovely views of the local foothills and out onto Willapa Bay were the channel is so shallow and dangerous that the surf can really be kicked up and wild out as far as you can see. Beaches full of driftwood as you approach Tokeland which has a little "cannery" (can't miss it as it's the only business down there). It's the only place you can buy canned salmon, smoked or regular, cans ofalbacore tuna unlike any where else...it's all not cheap but so worth it. We always got some each time we went down there...it is a must do. Also just before Tokeland is the "Wash-Away" area where for some years the ocean has violently eroded the beach back five miles from it's original position. You can see where the roads end right to the cliffs edge. Some houses may be hanging over the cliffs as they teeter into the ocean. I watched many houses go in to the ocean, quite a sight to see.
It's quiet down there and seems a "nothing" kind of place until you go out on the ocean with the sea lions, never tire of the frolicking otters, marvel at the agility of the porpoises as they ride the bows wake, spot the spray of the giant humpback whales, head out with the tide to beat the fleet in chase of the illusive wild salmon, see the harbor seals peek into your boat to see what's for lunch, be reassured of your father's skill getting you across the bar in wild ocean conditions that make other men turn into boys, to look across the harbor and see the white glaciers and snowfields of the Olympic mountain range just gleam in the clean ocean air. All that and more can become the best memories of your life and cause you to miss the times and the people that will never be again.
