Miss China Aground At Brant Point

The wreck, Miss China broke free from her mooring Sunday night during the storm and drifted onto the beach at Brant Point where she will stay until a salvage crew is arranged to tow her off.
Update: There are plans being made to remove the wreck from the beach at Brant Point. She will be towed to the Steamboat Wharf where she will be prepared to be towed to New Bedford and destroyed. A lot of people on Nantucket are happy to finally see the old girl leave the harbor.

1/3/2011 A tug towed the wreck to Steamboat Wharf today. A hazmat company was hired to remove the sewage from her. Not sure when the next tug will come and remove her from Nantucket for good. Stay tuned.

1/9/2011 The wreck is still tied up at Steamboat Wharf. All of the sewage and other hazardous materials have been pumped out of her. Not sure when she will be towed out of here. I want to be at Brant Point when she is being towed around the point bound for America. That will be the last time she ever rounds Brant Point.

BUCK OF THE WEEK:

Here, I had my trail cam set up at a buck rub. Several big bucks visited the rub including this one. Notice his antlers. The spike on one side and the fork on the other side. Click on the picture twice for a larger view.

Lobster Caught in Dredge/Dock Work

While scalloping way up harbor the other day, I caught a lobster in one of my dredges. I caught lobsters while scalloping around the West Jetty before but never have I caught one up harbor. And years ago I remember catching big starfish in my dredges all along Hulbert Ave and the West Jetty. Sometimes I would catch more starfish than scallops. I wonder what happened to all the starfish. I guess if there are no scallops for the starfish to eat, they will move out of the area.

There has been some activity around the waterfront lately. A new walkway has been installed between the Angler's Club and Commercial Wharf. I'm not sure who is doing the work. Usually it has always been AGM Marine but I don't see them or their familiar barge and crane doing the work this time. The new walkway is a nice addition to the waterfront. I tested it out yesterday.

Don't forget to scroll down to the end of this blog entry and check out the new feature: The Buck Of The Week captured on my trail cam.













Buck Of The Week. Here, I set up my trail cam on a tree overlooking a creek. I captured this big old buck walking down the middle of the creek early one morning. There are a few things to take note of. Notice the two broken points, the tall brow tines, and the grass caught in his right antler trailing down his neck. That is a trash bag on the creek bank to the right of the buck. Click on the picture for a larger image. Click again for an even larger view.

New Boat in Town

There's a new addition to the waterfront. A Donelle 43. Jonas owns her. She looks like an ex-lobster boat. She's big and beamy for a 43.

You can check her out on Straight Wharf at charter boat row. Here are a few pictures of her I took today-

Buck Of The Week. Again, I set up my trail cam at a buck rub. This time at a different part of the island. Several bucks visited the rub in the week that the cam was set up there. This big guy was one of them. Note the tall brow tines. The rub is to his right. Click on the picture to enlarge. Again for an even larger view.

Scenes from Scalloping 2010

I've been off the water for a while finishing up a job on land. I was able to get out commercial scalloping for a few days last week. The season doesn't look promising in the least. I am able to get my five bushel limit but I have to work at it. The days of getting my limit in one or two tows are long gone. There seems to be a bit of seed scallops showing up lately. If they survive the rust tide next summer it will be a miracle. In any event, here are a few pictures I took lately-

Postscript: I have added a new feature to my blog. At the end of each entry, I will post a picture of the buck of the week captured on my trail cam. Click on the picture to enlarge. Click twice for a larger picture.

Heading out to the scallop grounds in the early morning darkness.

Karsten & Tim Reinemo
Karsten & Tim Reinemo
Karsten & Tim Reinemo
Karsten & Tim Reinemo
Miss China
Boat Basin
Reflections at The Boat Basin
Sunset at the waterfront
Brant Point and the boathouse
A deserted Boat Basin
Bruce Cowan & father
Freddy Holdgate
Freddy Holdgate
Scalloping on a calm harbor
Penn & Sharon
Penn & Sharon
Buck Of The Week. From my trail cam. Click on picture to enlarge. Click a second time for an even larger picture. The tree on the right in the picture is a buck rub. The bucks rub their antlers on the tree to mark their territory. I had 9 different monster bucks visit this rub and have their pictures taken in the week that my trail cam was set up there.

Commercial Scallop Season 2010

Commercial Bay Scallop season has arrived. I was talking to an old local who has been scalloping here for close to 40 years. He told me he has never seen it this bad before. He also told me that he's pretty certain that the industry is over and probably will never rebound. I fear he is correct in his assumption. This is no surprise to anyone. We saw it coming for several years now. Nobody will ever know why our commercial scallop industry has failed. It's time to hang up my dredges and move on. It's been a great run for me.

Off-Topic/Deer Cam

It's been a little slow around the waterfront as of late. I am pursuing an interesting hobby lately. Deer watching. I bought a trail cam and set it up in the field and have been getting very good results. Here are a few shots the cam captured lately-

PS: I will return to the waterfront soon and resume picture taking there. Also, click on any picture to enlarge. Click on the picture a second time for an even larger view.
This doe had her face pressed right up against the camera! They are very curious creatures.
It looks as if she was posing for my camera.
Note the palmated right antler.
Here's a big, mature buck. Note the severely swollen left front leg.
A little 4 pointer.

A nice buck.
Close up of a doe.
Nice tall rack on this one.
Close enough to count the whiskers!!! And the palmated-antlered buck below is scraping.