12/10/2007

Very quiet around the waterfront lately. I spied a barge and crane in the north slip of the Steamship Authority today. Not sure what work is being done there. Perhaps they are going to fix the dolphin which has been leaning over for so many years.

The big steel western rigged sea scalloper, Predator, was in for a short stay last week. Her crew was repairing one of her dredges-



The Boat Basin is quiet and empty this time of the year-


Brant Point Light and a calm harbor-


It's very dark early in the morning this time of the year. Here's a shot from my boat while I was preparing to make my first tow of the day. The lights of town can be seen in the background-

Scallop Boat Sold

Angus Macvicar's scallop boat advertised here recently has been sold.

Rafted Up

The temp was too cold to go scalloping early this morning. We spent the morning rafted up to each other waiting for the red flag at the Marine Department to go down. Christy Bassett from the Dockmaster's Office made us all coffee as we were hanging around the fuel dock. Thanks Christy!
The red flag was finally lowered a little after 10am and we were able to go out scalloping.
Here are a few scenes from today as we were waiting-

Cold Morning

It was cold out on the water this morning. The temperature finally made it up to 28 degrees at ten to eight. The law is that you cannot fish until the air temperature reaches 28 degrees.

Heading out under threatening skies-



Vic Reed-




Ken Kelley-


Karsten and Matt Reinemo-


The hard NW gale of yesterday stirred things up a bit revealing tons and tons of scallops. It was easy fishing for me today. Too easy for this time of the year-

Flat Calm

Nice morning out on the water today. It was flat calm and very warm. Very rare for this time of the year. It felt like Summer. Here are a few scenes I grabbed while I was fishing-

New Bay Scallop Boat/Skiff In Surf

There's a new addition to the bay scallop fleet. Captain Karsten Reinemo recently took delivery of a 25' C Hawk. He splashed her today. She used to belong to Buddy Ayers. She is powered by a 150 horsepower four stroke Yamaha outboard motor. I was down at the dock today when Karsten was tying her up and I was given the grand tour. She's a big, heavy and stable boat. Karsten has fished out of several boats in the past including a Tripp Boat and two Sea Oxes. Karsten brought the very first 23' Sea Ox boat to the Island and used it for scalloping. Albert Johnsen Jr. owns her now. They are great boats. I am currently fishing my second Sea Ox. My first one, I bought from Buddy Ayers. Here are a couple pictures of Karsten's C Hawk-



There was a bit of drama out at the west end this afternoon. There was a person in a little skiff and two divers. They were trying to retrieve some tide monitoring equipment. At one point, the skiff was stern to the surf and almost swamped. She had to be bailed out. Not sure if the equipment was recovered as I had to leave the scene early. Here are some pictures I grabbed while I was out there-




Billy Sayle's catboat decked out for Christmas-

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-