Remembering Dave Coombs

We lost a good man. Dave Coombs left this world a few months ago. I met Dave the very first day he moved to Nantucket back in the early 80's. He was a fixture down at the waterfront every day up until he died. When Dave first moved here he worked on the sea scallopers the Sankaty and the Nobadeer. After that he ran his own little Novi Boat that he bay scalloped out of. I remember he was always tinkering with that boat. Dave was extremely frugal and fixed everything himself. Dave was good friends with Charlie Sayle. They would sail together on Charlie's sailboat the Argonaut. During the bay scallop season Dave only fished one spot in the harbor. The NW corner of Hussey Shoal. He never went anywhere else. He liked that spot because there was fast water there and huge scallops. Dave never got his 5 bushel limit of scallops at his spot but he always got the biggest ones in the harbor. I opened my scallops down at Sayle's shanty. Dave opened his scallops right beside me. When we were opening Dave would always have a story or two to tell me about boats and fishing, etc. Dave was kinda gruff but when you got to know him you would learn that he had a heart of gold. He was always willing to help me out in any way. I would often visit with Dave in his home on Union Street. He would always like the company. I would sit with him and talk about boats and scalloping. During the summer months he would always like to take his boat out to the end of the east jetty and go scupping. I would see him out there all the time when I was in my boat and pull up to him and have a gam. I'm going to miss that old guy. Here are a few pictures of Dave I took throughout the years.