The Case of the Missing Crabs

One of the best vacations we could ever have was on the waters of Puget Sound. We were with Marcie and Mike and had left their home in Issaquah to head north for a boat Mike had leased for a week of water wrest and wrelaxation. (How else can you achieve alliteration if you don't cheat?) The boat was about 35-40 feet long and Mike, although not an intrepid sailor, was at the helm and doing a very nice job of playing captain. We were heading out to visit the various island that had small villages on them and were a very interesting diversion from our mundane lives ashore. Docking at different piers that dotted those islands or finding a quiet bay in which to anchor for a peaceful night made for a peace unattainable in our normal mundane lives on shore. And while this was pure joy to me, this is about our grandson Logan who was about 14 at that time and had discovered a crab trap and was excited to try his luck. Logan was an inquisitive boy, living with Marcie at that time, and was into every moment spent ashore when ever we docked. On one of the islands he discovered a bait shop and returned to the boat with the vilest, most unbelieveably smelly stuff he had found. "Its for the trap" he exclaimed and at the first anchoring, he put this stuff in the crab trap and lowered it over the side. It was late that evening and I suggested he check the trap to see if he had had any success. It was amazing to see several crabs already in the trap with others clinging to it, but dropping off as we lifted it out of the water. Because it was late, I thought it would be a good idea to leave the crabs in the water and worry about cleaning them the next morning. That was acceptable and the trap was brought on deck and I tied, with a stout string, each entry, assuring Logan they would be put to good use the following morning He reluctantly agreed and having prepared the trap to be sure to hold the crabs captive, it was lowered back into the bay.with the 5 or 6 creatures balefully staring at us. He could hadly wait to observe his successful attempt at crab trapping and the following day we brought the trap back on board. It was empty!!! We checked to determine that all the entries were still tied and it was mystery for the ages. Thinking as hard as we could, we had no explanation as to the disappearance of Logans crabs.He was sure some of those fisherman that were in the bay had pilfered his prize and was greatly disappointed that his crabs were gone. How did it happen? What was the explanation? It was a puzzle of huge proportions and Logan was inconsolable. But he recovered quickly and set about resolving to try that night after we were again anchored. We did enjoy some of his adventures into the crab world but it was a story to never be explained. On our return to the city, I purchased a large crab, froze it, carried it back to Minnesota and gave it to Logan at Christmas time. He was delighted and took that opportunity to relive the adventure of the case of the missing crabs..