Razor clamming on the Washington coast

Five layers. Hood up. Rubber boots on. Outside in the wind. Sloshing through surf. Whatever would voluntarily drive someone to those extremes? In our family, it was the call of trying out something new…razor clam digging on the Washington coast during the last day of its season at the advice of a friend. Notice I didn’t mention anything about rain. And it’s a good thing it held off because eventually I was soaked from the knee down and dragging around forty-degree sea water in my boots, all because I got a little preoccupied watching my nine-year old harvest her very first razor clam by herself. That surf has a way of sneaking up on you and catching you off guard. Never turn your back on the ocean or look down for an extended period of time, I tell you.


Anyway, we had a blast. Between the five family members and two friends that we took along we had purchased only four tags but had a haul of over fifty clams...fifteen-clam limit per tag holder. And these guys are big…about six inches long and several inches wide. Not bad for only having two clamming guns. Hopefully the photos will give you a little better idea what’s involved...scanning the wet, receding surf for signs of a clam digging in deep, popping the clamming gun over the top, getting it wiggled down through the sand, and then sealing the air hole while pulling it up with the clam hopefully trapped inside.



Cleaning them was an adventure for my husband about midnight last night, but I left him with the suggestion of checking YouTube for a tutorial while I took home a friend. Good thing, since the video’s advice was a little more specific than that he had been casually told. A pile of shells and innards later, there was a nice bag of clams waiting for the refrigerator.

Now I’m anxiously waiting returning from the girls charter school to start a fire and sit in front of it for an extended period of time to get warm down to my bones. And tackle the sandy, wet laundry and the dishes heaving out of the kitchen sink...but that's beside the point. I haven’t been able to really get warm since yesterday. Then it will be off to try my hand at throwing together some sort of gluten-free breaded and fried razor clams for dinner. Here’s hoping those guys will be delicious!


For those of you who might have noticed, this blog posting might be considered a bit of a celebration at least on my part. I have truly missed the chronicling of our hectic life. I just can’t seem to fit it in. Partly because my perfectionistic procrastination takes over…WANTING perfect photos...WANTING witty renditions of our family’s adventures…when all I really NEED is the recording of little fleeting memories to hold on to in some tangible form other than in photos and our aging memories. Our little day-trip has only been one of a million activities that has kept me away from my blog. It and a radical diet change for the entire family…supporting our catch-up learning of our little right-brained, creative learner who had been struggling with dyslexia…getting our senior son on track for deciding a college and applying for athletic and academic scholarships…being an active member with my husband in our fifteen-year-old’s musical theater program involving building sets and sewing costumes…keeping our livestock happy through the winter…all while trying to keep our focus real and on those matters that really count.

So…look for a blog post…once a week…once a month…whenever I can steal a few moments. I certainly will be relishing the opportunity.