Icy Waterfront

The waterfront was icy, cold and windy today. Last night the temperature dropped to 6.4 degrees. Ice formed on the west jetty as seen in the above picture.

Here's a shot taken late in the afternoon-


Even the seagulls looked miserable and cold as they hunkered way down low in the water-


This one had ice hanging off of him making it difficult to walk-


And these two swans sitting on the ice in the lagoon at Sesachacha Pond weren't going anywhere with their heads tucked under their wings-


Here's a shot of the wind whipped channel with Brant Point Light off to the right-


With the temp only 6 degrees early this morning, obviously nobody was able to go bay scalloping. The temperature never came close to 28 degrees all day today. The guys got a well deserved day off from the daily grind of fishing.

The Ruthie B and the Paul and Michelle are still in.

Looked like little if any work was done by the Robert B. Our Company today down at Children's Beach. I'm getting a little concerned that they will not make their deadline at the rate they are going. I read in one of our local newspapers that they expect to complete the project in 6 to 8 weeks. They've already been working for almost 3 weeks now. AGM Marine over at the White Elephant and Lawrence Lynch over at GHYC put a full day in working on their projects.

With the temperature being so cold today, I thought I'd see some sea smoke. I did not see any. Did anyone reading the blog see any today?

Straight Wharf Pigeon Update:
I spoke with one of the girls down at the Hy-Line office this afternoon about the pigeon. She told me that he was seen courting another pigeon a few weeks ago. He has not been seen since. I guess he's in love.

Housekeeping:
I Have enlarged the pictures I post to the blog as of today. To get an even larger view, (800X600), simply mouse over the picture and click. This method works for any picture except for the pictures in the sidebar. ------------>

Today's High & Low Temps.
High (missing)
Low 6.4

Children's Beach Panorama

Above is a panorama shot of Children's Beach that I assembled today. It shows all the heavy equipment and machinery used for the new boat ramp project. Click on the picture to enlarge. Today they were busy building the cofferdam. It is a very slow process of lifting the steel sheathing up off the beach, swinging them in position and driving them into the harbor floor. They installed around 15 or so sections of steel today. They have a long way to go to complete the dam. At one point this afternoon, there were three cranes working in the area of The White Elephant and Children's Beach!

Click here for the website of the Children's Beach boat ramp contractor


I have never seen so many cranes here working all at once. I cannot remember a winter where there has been this much work going on around the waterfront. There are at least 6 different projects going on at once. Here's a picture of the big sections of steel they are using at Children's Beach to build the dam-


One western rigged sea scalloper "Paul & Michelle" came in and tied up on the east face of Straight Wharf today. She had two of the biggest dredges I've ever seen on a sea scalloper. They are at least 15' wide. You need a lot of horsepower to tow those things around. Most of the big New Bedford boats have huge diesel engines and have no problem towing big dredges. The Ruthie B was in today. I thought she was gone on a scalloping trip yesterday but I think she was in New Beige getting fuel.

7 or 8 bay scallopers went out today. Looks like the guys will have a day off tomorrow as the temperature is forecasted to go well below 28 degrees tonite. And it's not going to get out of the teens or low twenties tomorrow.

Today's High & Low Temps.
High 35.2
Low 25.0

Tranquil Waterfront

The waterfront was tranquil early this morning as evidence of the above picture I took while I was making my rounds. Not many people are down around the docks early in the morning making it the best time of the day for a visit.

The tug "Thuban" came into the Boat Basin at some point during the night with a small barge loaded with fuel. Not sure if it was #2 fuel or aviation fuel for the airport. #2 fuel usually comes in a much bigger barge or tanker. Here's a picture of the Thuban and the barge berthed at the fuel dock-


I spotted the R/V "Shanna Rose" about 4 miles to the east of Sankaty Head this morning. I wonder what they are researching out there. Do you suppose it has something to do with the 'Sconset erosion control project?

Two big western rigged sea scallopers came in for a short stay today. The Luso American 1 and the Casa Blanca. The Ruthie B came in during the overnight. Not sure if they caught their limit of scallops this trip. She left late this afternoon along with the other two sea scallopers.

Around 12 guys went bay scalloping today. Most never left Hussey Shoal. Word doesn't take long to get around that an area has opened up. I know two guys who were able to get their five bushel limit today. I talked to one scalloper this afternoon and he said that there's a lot of seed scallops up harbor where he fished most of the day today.

Robert B Our Company was very busy today down at the Children's Beach boat ramp. They moved the big crane, "Mantis" into position so they can finally begin building the coffer dam. AGM Marine was there as well but I'm not sure if they were working on the White Elephant property or the Children's Beach boat ramp project. I think they are working mainly in the Boat Basin and over at GHYC. There are so many projects going on at the waterfront now that it's hard to keep track of which company is doing what project.

Today's High & Low Temps
High 38.3
Low 20.8

R/V F/V Shanna Rose

The R/V F/V Shanna Rose arrived in the Boat Basin at some point last night. Notice the massive A-frame on her stern. I have seen her here before. And I have also seen her doing some work off of Sankaty.
Click here for info on the Shanna Rose

Not sure what this boat is being used for here. What are they researching? If anyone knows, please leave a comment in the comment section. Thanks. I found some information on the Lophius, a boat we were talking about a few weeks back.
Click Here


Nobody was able to get out on the harbor and go bay scalloping today. The temperature never made it to 28 degrees by 10 am. I think the guys will be able to go tomorrow but Thursday and Friday look iffy as the temps are forecasted to plummet. The price is still holding at $17 per pound paid to the fishermen.

The Ruthie B is still out on a sea scalloping trip. I'm guessing she'll be back here later tonite.

Very little work was done at the new Children's Beach boat ramp today. Some sort of a huge bag was spread out on the beach today. I'm not sure what that will be used for. Hopefully they will start work again and meet their deadline. Can you imagine not having a boat ramp there this Summer?

AGM Marine is busy replacing pilings on the east face of Straight Wharf.

Today's High & Low Temps.
High 33.1
Low 26.4

Housekeeping

The video hosting site I use for the blog is down for upgrades and maintenance. It should be back up and running soon.

Early Morning Seal Cruise

I had to wait for the temperature to reach 28 degrees (Town Law) this morning before I could go scalloping. As I was waiting, I went to visit the seals at the east jetty. I shot the above clip of them lounging on the rocks and swimming around in the calm water of the early morning. Sorry for the poor quality of the clip. I forgot my monopod again. Note to self: don't forget monopod before going out on a shoot.

The temperature finally made it to 28 degrees by 9:30 am. Nine of us were out fishing today. More than usual. The strong wind we had over the weekend cleared a lot of grass off of the scallop beds making the fishing much better. There was a small fleet of us fishing the north west part of Hussey Shoal this morning. Sometimes when you're on a good spot, there are several boats fishing with you. At times you can get very close to each other as this picture shows-

I had to throttle back as I was towing to let this guy pass. We all know each other out there and know what to do so we won't run into one another and get all tangled up. I remember back in the 80's fishing in a fleet of 80 or 90 scallop boats! You really have to be on your toes in that situation! Some guys are downright nasty and get very angry if you get anywhere near them while they are fishing. I knew one guy who is dead now that used to throw rocks at you if you came within a few yards of him.

I noticed a lot of seed today that I had not seen before. Next season does not look as bad as I thought. Here's a picture of some seed from today. The adults have already been culled into the wire 1/2 bushel baskets from the tow-


As I was out on the harbor today I noticed a camera on Brant Point Lighthouse. As I passed by the camera in my boat, a flash went off. I did not know there was a camera there taking pictures of every boat coming into the harbor and leaving the harbor. I talked to one of the guys at the Marine Department and he told me the camera was part of Homeland Security. I'm hoping that someday the Coast Guard will make the camera images available on-line for anyone to see. What a great place to have a web cam as well! Here's a picture of the camera on Brant Point Lighthouse-


Work started up again down at the new Children's Beach boat ramp today. If you were down there over the weekend, you no doubt noticed the huge white crane that showed up. The crane was so big and wide that it would not fit on the SSA Eagle or it's freight boats. To get the massive rig here, they had to remove the two tracks and load them on a trailer truck. The body of the crane was also put on a trailer truck. After arrival to Nantucket, the tracks were attached to the body of the crane. Here's a picture of the crane-


Work is going along at GHYC. I heard today that while they were driving steel sheathing deep into the ground, they struck a locomotive from the old Nantucket Railroad which used to run through that area.

No fishing boats were at the docks today. The Ruthie B left last night for a sea scalloping trip. Last trip they only caught 90# of sea scallops. Not enough to pay for the fuel! I hope they have better luck this trip and are able to catch their 400# limit.

Today's High & Low Temps
High 37.4
Low 24.1

That is all for today.

Day Off

No blog entry for today. Check back in tomorrow evening. Thanks.

Go Patriots!!!

Windy Waterfront

It was very windy around the waterfront today. I shot the above picture from Jetties Beach looking out over the west jetty. Notice all the seabirds feeding there. I spotted several species including Eider Ducks, Herring Gulls, Brant, Black Ducks and Sandpipers. The Gulls were picking at the sweet meats which had washed ashore. The Eiders were pulling mussels off of the rocks and the Brant were eating eel grass.

The M/V Eagle did not miss a trip all day today. I would not want to be on her on a day like today. The M/V Grey Lady made most of her trips with the exception of the late afternoon and evening runs. I don't think the wind ever topped 50 mph as was forecasted.

No new fishing boats came in last night or today. The guys were busy doing gear work today to the boats that are here now. Most likely they will be able to leave late Sunday night or early Monday morning when the winds lay down.

Other than that, not much going on around the waterfront today.

Here are a couple of pictures I took from Madaket late this afternoon. It looked like a mini sand storm with all the sand blowing around out there-

The ocean was in a fury at sunset-

Today's High & Low Temps
High 35.6
low 24.3

Busy Day At The Docks

It was a busy day down at the docks today. If you are fan of fishing boats, this blog entry is for you. A steady stream of boats trickled into the harbor today. The final count as of late afternoon was 5 sea scallopers and one dragger. All were western rigged with the exception of one eastern rigged steel sea scalloper. Here's a listing of their names. Madi J, Ila Brava, Humbak, Vila nova do corvo, Vila nova do corvo 1 and Vila nova do corvo 2. I thought the two scallopers in the above picture were sisters. They both have the same name but if you look closely at their hulls, they are different. The guys on the Vila nova do corvo 2 were busy doing gear work. They were using cutting torches to cut the chain bag off the dredge. Sea scallopers go through a lot of chain bags, sometimes one per month or more especially when they are fishing rocky bottom. In comparison, I change out the chain bags with new ones on my bay scallop dredges every 10 seasons or so. Here's a picture of the crew doing gear work-

And here's a picture of a big dredge partially raised up off the deck ready to be worked on-


The scalloper, Vila Nova do Corvo 2 has a very interesting set up that I have never seen on a scalloper before. She has the standard western rigged wheelhouse up forward. But behind the main wheelhouse was another one. And the winches were positioned up on the roof of the cutting house. Usually the winches are mounted on the main deck. I'm thinking that the little wheelhouse behind the main one is used as a station for running the winches. I wonder if there are redundant steering and throttle controls up there as well. Here's a picture of the set up-


As for the local bay scallop fleet, three guys fished today including a frogman. I was talking to the frogman yesterday and he told me that there is still a huge amount of eel grass covering the scallops in certain areas of the harbor. We haven't had a good gale lasting through at least two low tides to clear this grass off. Hopefully we will get some wind before the season is over so we can get these scallops which are unavailable now.

No work was done for the second day in a row at the new Children's Beach boat ramp. I would have thought that the coffer dam would have been in place by now. I'm not sure what is holding this project up. Work is continuing along at the GHYC job site.

I fear the Straight Wharf pigeon is either deceased or has flown south for the winter. Hopefully the latter. I have not seen him or fed him for a long long time.

Today's High & Low Temps.
(Unavailable. I forgot to reset my thermometer. Sorry)

Cold And Calm Waterfront

I went for a walk around a very cold and calm waterfront this morning. It was only 19 degrees when I was down there. Slushy ice had formed overnight in the Boat Basin. First ice I've seen in the basin all winter.-

This gull seemed to be cold-


No sea scallopers or draggers came in overnight. The Madi J left as well as the Ruthie B. It'll be interesting to see how many boats come in here this weekend as there is a gale approaching. If we get more than one day of wind, most of the guys will spend the extra five hours steaming home to New Beige and not layover here.

The bay scallop fleet was able to get out this morning. They just made the cut-off time of 10 am. I counted around 4 boats out fishing.

A tug and barge loaded with aggregate for Glowacki arrived overnight and tied up to Steamboat Wharf.

Work was halted today at the new Children's Beach boat ramp. Not sure why they took the day off. If the ramp is to be completed by Spring, these guys better get cracking!

Today's High & Low Temps
High 38.1
Low 13.6

Fly-Along With George

I took the above video clip of Muskeget from George Riethof's airplane this afternoon. George invited me to go along with him and two people who were conducting a seal count. We left the airport, flew along the north shore , over Madaket Harbour, then over the south part of Tuckernuck Island and finally over to Muskeget Island. We made a couple of passes around the island as the girls counted the seals. We were able to fly low and get a great view of everything. I was surprised at how far inland on Muskeget the seals actually go. I always thought they hauled up a few feet on the beach. A lot of the seals were several yards into the terrain of the island. We left Muskeget and headed back towards town, along the harbor, over to Coatue, then up to Great Point and down along towards Sankaty. I saw the 'Sconset erosion control project that I mentioned yesterday. The project looks much bigger from the air. I spotted two Bobcat machines busy moving sand around. I could also see the fiber mat material they are putting up against the bank. They are using a huge amount of it. Much more than you can see from land. We then flew along the south shore and finally back to the airport. I had a great time seeing parts of Nantucket from the air that I have never seen before. Thank you very much, George, for having me along!

Here's a shot of some seals hauled up on the beach at Muskeget-

And another-

Here's a shot of East Pond, Tuckernuck Island-

And finally, a shot of the main channel with Brant Point on the right and Coatue Point on the left-


As always, click on any picture I post to the blog and it will enlarge.

Getting back down to earth now. Nobody was able to go bay scalloping today. The temperature never made it to 28 degrees. I'm sure the guys welcomed a day off as most of them have been going hard at it every day. Looks like they will able to get back out on the water tomorrow as it's forecasted to be in the thirties. They will probably get a late start, though.

As for the big boys, A western rigged sea scalloper named the Luzitano came in late last night due to the wind. She's a big boat. 84' As soon as the wind laid down this afternoon, I spotted her headed right back out. The Madi J was in as well. And the Ruthie B. is at the Town Pier still. I'm thinking she'll be able to make a trip starting tonite. The wind isn't going to be a factor for a few days. We'll see.

Today's High & Low Temps
High 31.6
Low 14.7

'Sconset Erosion Control Project

I took a drive out to Baxter Road in 'Sconset this morning to check out the erosion control project that has been going on there for a long time. I shot the above clip of the site. Workers were busy moving dirt around with a Bobcat machine. A fresh load of dirt had just been dumped over the bluff. I have been following this project closely ever since they started it. I cannot tell you how many dump truck loads of dirt have been dumped over the bluff just to be washed out to sea by the next storm. It seems like hundreds of loads. Here is a picture of the fiber they are using to keep the dirt against the bluff-


When I drive the beaches, I notice this fiber all over the place from Great Point to Smith's Point. Seems like every time we experience a minor storm, all the work that has been done at the site is destroyed and all the dirt and fiber and wooden posts are washed out to sea. The next day, the workers are right back at it replacing what was lost. Here's another shot I took today out there-


I'm no expert on coastal erosion or rebuilding bluffs but it seems to me that this is not working very well. I will say, though, that I give these guys a lot of credit for trying.

A little western rigged sea scalloper named "Madi J" came in at some point during the night and tied up at the east face of the Boat Basin. Her crew was doing gear work this morning. The Ruthie B is still tied to the dock. It is going on three weeks since she's made a trip. I'm not sure why they haven't gone out in so long. I'll ask one of the crew members. That's a long time to be tied to the dock and not fishing.

As for the bay scallopers, 5 guys went out today including one frogman. The Summery weather we have been experiencing the past few months seems to be over. These guys will most likely miss tomorrow. I'm thinking the temperature will never make it to 28 degrees by 10 am.

Today's High & Low Temps
High 50.7
Low 30.7

A Work In Progress

While I was down at the Town Pier the other day, I noticed a little sailboat tied to the dock named Quahog. The owner of the boat is David Wiley. You probably have seen this boat in his driveway on Union Street for several months while David did a lot of work to her. He splashed her in late September and kept her on a mooring out in the harbor. He figured he better bring her into the dock in anticipation of winter storms. I'm not a big fan of rag boats. Does anyone know what type of boat this is? Click on the picture above for a larger shot. As always, you can click on any of the pictures I post on the blog and they will come up larger.

Five or Six guys went out scalloping today. A couple of them are steaming way up into the head of the harbor to fish. I heard that one scalloper fell out of his boat into the icy water this morning. Luckily someone saw him go in and rescued him. The water temp is around 44 degrees now. With heavy oilskins, several layers of clothing and a pair of boots on, one would not be able to jump back into a boat without help.

No work was done at the new Children's Beach boat ramp today other than AGM Marine delivering a barge and crane there.

Work continued today at GHYC.

Over in the F/V Regulus thread, I asked what the insignia was on the bow of the boat located down by the waterline. Two people left comments thinking it was a Plimsoll line. Recently, a reader posted a comment saying it is an indication that the vessel is equipped with a bulbous bow. I'm thinking this may be correct seeing that the insignia looks like a bulbous bow.


In case you're wondering what a bulbous bow is


Today's High & Low Temps.
High 51.4
Low 41.7

Seal Cruise To The East Jetty

I went out on a VERY foggy seal cruise in my boat today to the east jetty. There were around 100 or so harbor seals lounging on the rocks. I spotted one horsehead seal in the mix. All the seals appeared to be healthy except for the one I took the picture of above. He looked to be sick and he has some sort of injury to his right eye. I hope the poor little guy makes it. Here's another shot of the seals-

Sorry about the poor quality of the pictures. It was so foggy out there, I could hardly see the seals. And I had my camera on full zoom without a monopod making matters worse. I did a little work on them in Photoshop to clean them up a bit. Anyway, I hope you "get the picture."

While I was out there cruising around, I noticed the #2 buoy at the entrance to the main channel was recently replaced with an odd shaped one. I have never seen this type of buoy here before. Here's a picture of it-

Does anyone know why the old #2 buoy was replaced with this new one? Please answer in the comments section.

Two boats came in early this morning. The United States and the Luso American. Both are sea scallopers. When I was down there at the dock checking them out, They were both boarded by the Environmental Police and the Coast Guard. It's nice to see both of those agencies doing their job checking these fisherman out and making sure they are playing by the rules. I did not see any violations being given to either boat.

Today's High & Low Temps.

High 49.6
Low 41.4

(OT) USS New York (OT)

Sorry about the off topic post today, folks but there really wasn't anything too interesting happening around the waterfront. I received the above picture in an e-mail from my buddy, Ron. Ron is a part time delivery captain. I used to own a 38' Marine Trader trawler. Ron delivered it from Florida to Nantucket. Here's a picture of her. I named her First Light-

Anyway, Here's the text that was included in the e-mail:

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
USS New York

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center .

It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept. 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up" "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? "Never Forget"

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A reader posted a question to me in the comments section of the blog last night. He wants to know the difference between a western rigged fishing boat and a eastern rigged fishing boat. An eastern rigged boat has the wheelhouse located in the stern. And a western rigged boat has it's wheelhouse a little forward of midships. You see a lot more western rigged boats here than eastern rigged boats. I like the lines of an old eastern rigged boat especially if she's made of wood.

Very quiet on the waterfront today. No boats (other than the Ruthie B) were in.

Today's High & Low Temps.

High 50.4
Low 42.6

Whale Bubble Net Feeding

I shot the above video of a whale bubble net feeding when I went out on Blair Perkin's boat, the Shearwater, back in July of 2005. The whale creates a tall circular net out of bubbles deep under the water as it exhales. It then goes up through the net where the bait fish are trapped with it's mouth wide open. When the whale gets to the surface, it swims off with it's mouth partially closed straining the sea water through it's baleen and eats the fish that were in the net.


Click here for an explanation of bubble net feeding


Three western rigged trawlers were in at the docks this morning. The United States and the Luso American 2 were at the Town Pier. There was another boat at the Dockmaster's Office. I did not catch her name. I'm not sure why these guys are coming in here late at night and leaving the next morning.

The Ruthie B is still in. It's going on two weeks since she's gone out and made a trip. I heard she got a new dredge a few days ago.

Five guys went out scalloping today. I spoke to one who fishes in Madaket and he told me he got two bushels after going hard at it all day long.

I'm going to add a new feature here at the end of the post. The daily high and low temperature.

Today's High & Low Temperatures:

High 51.4
Low 33.1

F/V Regulus

At some point during the night last night, a big western rigged stern trawler came in and tied up at Straight Wharf. I went down and had a look at her this morning. Her name is Regulus. Her homeport is Stonington, CT. This is one impressive ship! I figure she's around 90 feet. Don't let the net reel in her stern fool you. She's currently being used for sea scalloping. The owners of the boat run a tight ship. Nothing on her deck was out of order. Everything was neatly in it's place. These are all signs of a highliner. Here's a picture of her two 14' wide dredges-

And here's another shot of her-

I went down late this afternoon to have another look but she was long gone. If you look closely at the first picture, You will see a crown and a star on her bow. The name Regulus is Latin for little king. It is also the name of the brightest star in the constellation Leo. Just above the waterline there is some sort of insignia I have never seen on a boat before. Does anyone know what that stands for? If you do, please leave a comment in the comment section.

The Trunfo went back out sea scalloping late this morning. The Ruthie B is still here. They were doing gear work on her today.

Nobody was able to go bay scalloping today. The temperature never made it to 28 degrees before 10 am. The law is if the temp doesn't make it to 28 degrees by 10 am, nobody is allowed to go out and scallop. Salt water freezes at 28 degrees. The theory is if you bring up scallops from the water into the 28 degree air, the seed scallops would freeze and die. I think most of the guys welcomed the day off from their daily grind. Tomorrow they'll be right back at it as the temp is forecasted to be in the fifties.

A tug and barge loaded with gravel for Glowacki arrived last night and tied up at Steamboat Wharf.

And finally, check out the new weather forecast links I added in the sidebar. ------>

Richard Arnold

Kinda quiet around the waterfront today. I was going through an old photo album I have today and came across the above picture. I took it in June of 1995. The boat is an old eastern rigged dragger named Richard Arnold. I used to know her owner. His name is Dutra. He usually brings her here from P Town every Summer to fish for Fluke in the sound.

Work is going along well at the Children's Beach boat ramp. The old bulkhead between the beach and the parking lot was removed today. A trailer truck load of steel sheathing was delivered today. I hear they are going to use the sheathing to create a dam so they can pump the water out around the old ramp while they are working on it.

Work is also continuing on the GHYC. They are still working in front of Sayle's Seafood. The road is still open, though so you can access the fish market.

The Ruthie B is still tied to the dock where she's been for the last week and a half. The sea scalloper, Trunfo was in today. I wonder if they were able to get a trip in the past few days in all this wind.

Six guys went out bay scalloping today. Most of them fished on the north side of the harbor in the lee of Coatue to get out of the strong NNW wind we had all day.

Schooner

I was able to see the schooner early this morning that has been tied up at the Boat Basin the past two days. Click on the above picture of her to enlarge. She looked to be around 45 to 50 feet in length. Her hull and topsides were all freshly painted. It looked as if she was built in the 1940's. Check out the old pyramid shaped compass binnacle. There was no name on her stern. I'm glad I was able to see her before she left sometime this afternoon. I'll get the scoop from George Basset when I see him again. Does anyone have any information on her?



Click here for a description of a schooner


Here's a close up shot of the binnacle-


Work began on the new boat ramp at Children's Beach this morning. AGM Marine was not there but another outfit named Robert B. Our out of Harwich, MA was doing the work. I have seen the Our company here in the past doing projects around the waterfront. The area was blocked with a yellow containment boom. They are cutting up the wooden finger piers and removing them. Here's a picture of the operation I took late this afternoon-


7 guys went out scalloping today. Most of them were tucked up in the bends as the wind was strong out of the west. The price paid to the fishermen is holding at $17 per pound.

That is all for today.

Hauling Back

A lot of people ask me what is involved in hauling back a bay scallop dredge. A friend of mine went along with me scalloping one day a few years ago and shot the above clip. I hope this gives you an idea of how it is done. I tow eight dredges so the process is repeated eight times per tow. The file is pretty big and I did not compress it so it will take a while to load especially if you have dial-up.

So the consensus is to keep the current template for the blog. Sorry, Jo. ;^)
Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond in the comments section. For some reason, some of your comments are not making it through to the blog even though I publish every one of them. Hopefully this bug will be resolved in the future. Please continue to post your comments. I thank you for the feedback.

Heavy equipment was delivered to Children's Beach this afternoon. No work was done there for the new boat ramp today probably due to the weather. Most likely they will start the job tomorrow.

Two brave souls went out scalloping today. It wasn't a very nice day to fish but at least it was almost 60 degrees out on the water. I talked to one scalloper today and he said he doesn't see himself going much longer. He also told me that his old boat is starting to fall apart. He wants to buy a new boat but is not going to seeing that next scallop season looks as lean or leaner than this one.

At some point last night, a schooner came in and tied up at the Boat Basin where the dock master's office is located. Not sure where her homeport is. I'll look into it tomorrow.

The Ruthie B and the Trunfo are tied up at the Town Pier.

George Riethof was at the docks the other day and took some great shots that he wanted to share here. Thanks, George.

Click here for George's waterfront pictures

What's The Consensus??

Not much going around the waterfront today so I thought I'd pose the following question.

Which of the two templates do you prefer for this blog? The current one-


Or this one I have used a few times in the past-


What is the consensus among the readers of the blog? Please comment in the comment section. Thank You.

Casa Blanca

Two fishing boats made their way into the harbor early this morning and tied up at the end of the Town Pier. One was a western rigged dragger named Casa Blanca pictured above and the other was a western rigged sea scalloper named Trunfo. I have never seen the Casa Blanca in here before. I have seen the Trunfo here before though. I believe the Trunfo has a 400 pound sea scallop license and is selling to Sayle's Seafoods. Not sure where the Ruthie B is now. I know she's not out fishing because I spoke with one of the crew members today. I'm thinking she's in New Beige getting fuel for the next trip out.

The area of the old shipyard looks like a war zone now. The area in front of Sayle's Seafood is all torn up. The contractors are being pretty cooperative with the neighbors. They are able to keep the road open while performing the work. Here's a picture I took this morning of the work going on down there-


I counted 10 guys out scalloping today. 4 of them were fishing in a spot that hasn't been hit all season. The beach where they were fishing off of was loaded with jap moss and sweet meats.
Here's what sweet meats look like

Here's what jap moss looks like
The area finally opened up and it looked like they were catching a lot of scallops there. It was a little breezy out on the water today as the temp almost made it to 60 degrees! Looks like next week this warm weather pattern is going to change and become a little more seasonable.

A tugboat and a barge loaded with stone dust for Myles Reis Co. came in sometime late last night and tied up at Steamboat Wharf.

I was chatting with a shellfish warden from the Marine Department today. He told me that work on the new Children's Beach boat ramp is slated to begin on Monday. I suspect that AGM Marine will be doing the work.

!!Exclusive!!

George Riethof sent me this today-

George's Muskeget Seal Pictures

George took to the air yesterday and grabbed some spectacular pictures of the seal colony on Muskeget Island. Thanks, George!

A Blast From The Past

I was going through one of my old photo albums today and came across the above picture. I took the picture 27 years ago at Straight Wharf. The boats pictured are wooden eastern rigged draggers. And there is a steel western rigged there also. I remember back then seeing as much as 30 fishing boats tied up at Straight Wharf during a storm. All those boats are long gone. Either they were abandoned or the Government bought them as part of their vessel buy back program.

I spotted a sea scalloper coming in early this morning. I have never seen her here before. She has strange lines. Wide and rather low slung. Most likely she's a southern boat which has been converted to sea scalloping. Her name is Vila Nova do Corvo 1.
Click here for a description of the name
Here's a shot of her-


12 boats were out scalloping in the harbor today. The Summer-like weather brought a lot of the guys out. This warm weather just keeps going on and on! At this rate, we'll be scalloping in our Bermudas and short sleeves. As a weather buff, I find this weather pattern boring. I need a good blizzard. At least I have no heating bills this "Winter."

All Smiles

I took the above picture back in 2004. I was out scalloping in the fog towards the end of the season and came across the two scallopers rafted up having a gam. These two guys are hard core scallopers. They go out every day regardless of the wind and weather. They always end up having a great season as a result of their hard work.

Not much going on around the waterfront today. Four guys went out scalloping. The strong NW wind kept a lot of them off the water. The four who ventured out tucked up into Third Bend where there was a lee.

Looks as though AGM Marine is done driving the pilings for the house on Old North Wharf. They are now working on a dock in the Easy Street Basin.

The Ruthie B is still tied to the Town Pier waiting for the wind to lay down. I spotted a dragger at Straight Wharf tonite but was unable to catch her name.

There was a nice moonrise over the water tonite. I believe it's full on the fourth.

Dead Humpback Whale

George Riethof e-mailed me the above picture he took from his airplane yesterday of the dead whale. Like myself, George is an avid photographer. He takes some great shots of the Island from his airplane. Thanks for the picture, George!

I went to see the dead whale for the first time yesterday afternoon. It was washed up on Low Beach near the Loran Station. It is rapidly decomposing at this point. There are some bones from it on the beach around it. I think eventually it will break up as a result of the pounding surf. I'm hoping that when the people from the New England Aquarium were here, they were able to get some samples so we can learn how it died.

The past several weeks, I have noticed a huge amount of bait fish in the Boat Basin. I have never seen so much of it in all the years I've lived here and kept a boat in the basin. I'm not sure what kind of fish it is. Here's a picture I took on Sunday-

Can anyone ID these fish? If so, please do so in the comments section. There are several Loons which have taken up residency in the Boat Basin this year. They are feeding on the bait fish. If you go down to the area of Straight Wharf where all the bay scallop boats are docked, you will see them. I counted seven of them there last week. Sometimes you can see them diving under the water and feeding on the fish. Here's a picture of the Boat Basin Loons-

They all appear to be first year birds.

Only four guys went out scalloping today. This is way down from previous counts I've taken. I'm thinking that the guys that didn't go scalloping today partook of too many tankards full of their favorite spirit last night and were unable to make it to their boats early this morning. I'm sure they'll be back at it tomorrow drilling away.

The Marine Department was dispatched to a bay scallop vessel which was in need of a tow this afternoon at 3:30. The vessel was disabled just east of Abrams Point. The scalloper was able to get his engine started before the Marine Department arrived on scene. The scalloper made his way back to the Town Pier unaided and in good shape.

The weather this "Winter" still amazes me. Right now it's 51 degrees! It may even reach the mid sixties later in the week. I have never seen it this warm here. It feels more like June 1 than January 1. I would like to see it snow at least once before the Winter is over.