Bird Watching At The Boat Basin

One of my favorite pastimes is bird watching. There is always something to see in the Boat Basin especially this time of the year when there is no boat activity there. I was there this afternoon and saw several different kinds of ducks.

A very empty Boat Basin-


Mallards feeding. Bottoms up!-


A raft of male and female Buffleheads-


An Oldsquaw -


A Common Goldeneye-


A female Eider-

Bay Scallop Boat Sinks

There was a bit of drama out at the west end this afternoon. Two commercial bay scallopers are very lucky to be alive. I was working on land and noticed two guys in some serious trouble. Their boat had sunk and they were quite a ways from land. Luckily they were able to stay with the boat until a fellow scalloper noticed what was going on and rushed over to rescue them. I saw what was going on and contacted the Marine Department. They were on scene a few moments later to assess the situation. Eventually they were able to drag the boat close to shore and de-water her. She was then towed to the ramp at Madaket by the Marine Department's boat.

Here are a few shots I grabbed.

Moments after the sinking-


A closer look-


The Marine Department on scene along with the scalloper who rescued the two men-

Bay Scallopers

The commercial bay scallop season is still going very very well. The guys are still getting their limits in record time. Next year looks good as there is a lot of seed scallops showing up. I have gone back to work but will still get out on the water a few more times before the season closes at the end of March.

Here are a few scenes I took today.

Ken Wiggin heading in after a day out on the water-





Captain Harvey Lynch with his limit of scallops-


A Black Back Gull and an Eider preening their feathers on the rocks off North Wharf-


An immature Herring Gull-


The shell pile down at the Jetties and the sea gull feeding frenzy-

Western Rigs

Two western rigs were in here riding out the blow. One scalloper and one dragger. The scalloper was the Sassy Girl out of New Bern, North Carolina. The dragger was the Fisherman from New Beige.




The dredge on the Sassy Girl. Note the roller rig on the rail-


The Sassy Girl has an air conditioned cutting house! I have never seen that before-


I have also never seen a memorial on the hull of a fishing boat. this one was on the bow of the Sassy Girl-