Oldest Scalloper/Heading Out/Angus/Santa

The picture of the week is of Donnie Holdgate(wearing the orange oilers) and his son, Richard, scalloping off Pocomo. I believe Donnie is the oldest scalloper. He is 80. I asked him how long he's been scalloping. He told me 60 years!

My buddy, Angus Macvicar, took these shots of me heading out in my scallop boat one morning this past week. Angus and I are the first ones to leave the dock each morning. We usually meet up with each other somewheres off Brant Point.



And here are a couple of Shots of Angus scalloping up harbor-



Santa arrived on the Island today via a Coast Guard utility boat. Captain Tobey Leske sent me this shot. Thanks, Tobey.

Scalloper Falls Overboard

A scalloper fell out of his boat this morning on Hussey Shoal and ended up in the icy water. The boat was in gear and going around and around in circles so he was not able to get back into it. Several other scallopers were fishing nearby and saw what was going on and rushed over to help. The scalloper was pulled from the water and rushed over to the Brant Point Coast Guard Station where there was an ambulance waiting to transport him to the hospital. I saw the scalloper this afternoon. He is fine.

Helicopter At Madaket/Esther's Island

A helicopter was used yesterday at Madaket to transport building materials for a new house to be built this winter on Esther's Island. Captain Tobey Leske was on scene and sent me these pictures of the event. Thanks for the pictures, Tobey!

Ready for take off-

Hovering, attaching the sling-

Paying out the sling-

There goes the dumpster-
Ground officer directing the approach. Signal means descend slowly-

Attaching the sling-

Take it away!-

Setting the load down on Esther's Island-

View from Millie's-

Octopi

While Dan Pronk was lobstering just west of the Island yesterday, he discovered several octopi in his pots. I did not know that we had octopi in these waters. And I have never seen an octopus until Dan showed me. I met up with Dan at the pier in Madaket as he arrived from offshore with the octopi. Click on any picture to enlarge

Dan holding an octopus-


An octopus next to a sand dollar-


One on the dock-


Octopi on the gunwale of Dan's boat, Hannibul-


Jo Perkins was at the dock when Dan came in with the octopi. Here she is holding one-


An octopus is an interesting sea creature. I learned among other things that they have three hearts and they are very intelligent.

Click here for information on octopi

Sunset/Moonrise At The Waterfront

It was a nice sunset and moonrise at the waterfront yesterday. Here are a few scenes I took-

Thanksgiving Sunrise

This mornings sunrise while I was scalloping was one of the most spectacular ones I have seen in a long time.

Commercial Scalloping. Week Three

Week three of the commercial bay scallop season is nearly over. There is still a huge amount of scallops out there to be harvested. The guys are getting their limits in record time, usually in one or two tows. Word around the shanties and docks today was that they are thinking of increasing the limits to six bushels for a single limit and twelve bushels for a double limit. I am against this idea. I say leave things alone. There is also talk about opening up Second Bend to fishing. The bend is closed now and off limits to the fishermen because it is being used as a seed sanctuary.

Here are a few pictures I grabbed this morning out on the grounds.

Angus on a good tow-


Part of the fleet working an area up harbor-


Captain Jack Dooley and Shamus-



Jan Jelleme and Lee Busky-


Scallops on my culling board after a good tow-


While I was headed out early one morning this week, I met this tugboat rounding Brant Point Lighthouse. It was one of those rare mornings when it is flat calm and quiet-

New Feature

I've added a new feature to the blog. It's a slideshow of some of the pictures I have put on the blog. It is located in the sidebar to the left. If you want to get a closer look at any picture, simply mouse over the picture and click. You can also pause, rewind and forward the slideshow. Enjoy.

Surfboat

I spotted an interesting old boat in the Steamship Authority parking lot this afternoon. After talking to Chris (Floppy) Fuller, I learned that she was used as a launch by Peter England years ago. After that, she sat in John Austin's yard up on West Chester Street for several years. Does anyone know what she was used for before she was a launch? Here are a few pictures. Notice the trailer she's resting on.

Sun Dog

Not really related to the waterfront but I thought I'd post a picture of a sun dog I saw today. It was the biggest one I have ever seen.


Click here for an explanation of a sun dog

Foggy Morn

It was very foggy out on the water scalloping early this morning. A lot of guys got confused and lost trying to find their fishing spots. While I was towing, a guy pulled up to me and asked if he could fish alongside me because he said he had no idea where he was. He didn't even have a compass on board his boat.

The fog finally lifted to reveal a beautiful morning-



Bernie-


Captain Kenny Wiggin-

11/12/2007

I shot the above video clip from my boat today while heading out to the scalloping grounds. It was yet another beautiful day to be out on the water. Here's a shot of the sunrise-

Captain Harvey heading in-


Bill Blount's boat-



The scallops are still very very very thick out there. I usually only have to make one to two tows for my five bushel limit every day. There seems to be no let up in sight. The price paid to the fishermen went from $11 per pound to $9 per pound as of last Friday.

There were a few draggers and sea scallopers in here over the weekend. One of which was the Luso American 1. She's been around a long time. It's interesting to see these guys maneuver The Luso American 1 inside the Boat Basin when she only has one screw-


This little sea scalloper was in as well. I've never seen her here before-

Scalloper Strike Averted

There will be no strike. The scallopers met at the Fairgrounds this afternoon. There were around 50 people in attendance including three selectmen. Charles Sayles, owner of Sayle's Seafood, was there as well. Everyone agreed not to fish on Fridays from now on. This will have to be brought up at the next SHAB meeting. Then the Board of Selectmen will have to put it into law.