Growing up around America’s oldest fishing port, my boys have learned a thing or two and I couldn’t be happier. I made this little movie (click on the link to see it) after spending the day watching them work over the weekend. There is a difference between growing up near the water….and growing up on the water. From the beginning we thought it was important, living where they live, to experience the working waterfront…and to understand the rich, honorable, and often solemn history of the fishing industry. I couldn’t even begin to add up the hours we spent walking the docks and going for drives to see different types of fishing vessels and to learn the inner harbors. Thatcher, in particular, practiced reading by sounding out the names of boats…. and a big part of both Finn and Thatch’s vocabulary came from conversations about marine life and maritime history. They both love to fish…especially Finn….and they both love to sail…especially Thatch. Lobstering is something they have both enjoyed for a long time and they’ve become pretty savvy in recent years. I love that at 10 and 12 years-old they not only love being on the water, but they also aren’t afraid of some hard work. They spent six hours getting some gear into the water on Saturday and then practiced hauling a couple of traps as well. I love watching them work and I’m so happy that they have had the opportunity to grow up on the water.
Tag: Lobstering
The Early Bird
With the alarm set for 4:30 a.m. yesterday Finn had his bag packed for a day on the lobster boat. He was grumpy for about a minute upon waking up but then rallied in typical Finn fashion for a day of work.
After some Fortnight and a quick nap on the steam out, it was time to haul.
Nice work, Finn. Growing up salty.
Gloucester Smiles-689(AB)
Video: End of the Season By Leslie Heffron
Hi Joey, The season’s winding down in Pigeon Cove. Here’s a one minute slice of life on the waterfront late Sunday afternoon.
Editor’s note: the season is far from over for everyone except the small part timers. We’re actually in the heart of it.
Ambie has fun Lobstering on the “Valerie Dawn”
Heading out 10/8/14 6:40AM
Ambie’s Smile Lives Into Retirement
Way to be, Jack Ass!
I guess for someone, stealing is easier than working for it. And from kids nonetheless. Allow me to explain.
If you’ve browsed any of my previous posts here on GMG, you’ve probably come to know a few things about me. You probably know that I’m long winded (does that actually apply to writing?) and you’ve probably gotten to “know” my two young boys….and maybe you’ve learned that they love the ocean. More than loving it, they work hard at being budding little lobstermen, and they’re pretty passionate about it.
If you haven’t seen it yet, maybe this will help paint the picture
My boys, along with their three great friends…on our friends’ boat, go lobstering typically twice per week all summer long. With only ten traps, they certainly don’t do it to make money….they do it because they love it. And, they do it for Lobsterfest! Once each summer (maybe twice if we’re lucky)… we gather our families and some of our local friends, and we have a feast to end all feasts. More importantly, we have laugh after laugh, in one of the most picturesque towns I know. It is, without a doubt, one of our favorite evenings of the entire summer.
We check the tide chart….we check our busy summer schedules…and we pick a day. This summer…that day was Saturday.
The kids feel tremendous pride that their hard work supplies the Stars of the Show: The Rockport Harbor Lobsters! They feel tremendous pride that our guests….friends who have watched them grow, learn, laugh, and cry…gather to enjoy a quintessential summer evening and “oooh and ahhhh” over their bounty! They feel tremendous pride in being such a huge part of such a special tradition.
So, maybe you can imagine our shock and dismay to discover that THE lobsters had been stolen from the water on Friday night. Holding tank and all. Gone. As a friend put it, “It’s like losing your uniform the night before the Big Game.” The night before Lobsterfest.
I get that maybe the thief wasn’t aware that those lobsters had been slowly gathered by a group of dedicated children…and their two amazing dads. Two dads who take the time to show those kids how to haul and set their gear. Two dads who, while they love lobstering with the kids, may actually prefer to cast a few rods, set an anchor at the beach, or play a round of golf on a few more occasions, rather than continuously tend to the traps. Or maybe they wouldn’t rather do those things, either way, that isn’t the point.
The point is, Stealing is wrong…and I’m pissed.
“The children must be crushed!” you may be thinking. Well, actually, the children don’t know. Luckily, those two amazing dads also had the wherewithal to not let the children know that someone had stolen their lobsters. They would have been beyond devastated. They would have been hurt. They probably would have been confused.
Those two amazing dads also didn’t want our guests to know that they had to scramble and buy lobsters in the eleventh hour. They certainly didn’t want any guests to run out and purchase lobsters themselves….not that any of those guests would have minded! Lucky also is that Cape Ann is the type of community where friends rally for each other. Lucky also is that, having lived here forever, those two amazing dads have people who were happy to help them and that getting enough lobsters to feed our friends was possible.
So, Lobsterfest was a giant success. Those little “lobsterkids” are none the wiser and, while we’re still mad, it would take more than a small time thief (Jack Ass) to ruin a wonderful summer evening with such amazing friends. Still, shame on them.
Young and Salty
We were on our good friends’ boat the other day with their 3 children, our two boys, and two additional cousins. As we watched all of the children laugh and chill on the bow while we made our way around the back shore of Gloucester, he said, “I love that these kids are all growing up so salty.”
Well, me too.
Today the boys asked if I would do a post in which they could talk about how they haul lobster traps. How do you say “no” to that! So, as they hauled some gear, I took a bunch of photos and they taught me what was up along the way.
This is what they had to say….
Setting Gear
Down The Dock This Mornin’
Lobster Fishing in New England 1937 Chevrolet Newsreel
Thanks John Todd for forwarding this video
Classic – Lobstering on a SUP
Hi Joey,
I was looking through some lobstering images on the web and came across these images of someone lobstering on a SUP. I was really surprised to see that these were taken off of Cape Ann, when I clicked through and read the post!
http://windagainstcurrent.com/2013/07/29/a-stand-up-paddle-board-earns-its-keep/
His comment: “This is harder in winter.”
Enjoy,
Bill O’Connor
North Shore Kid
Where North Shore Parents and Resources Connect
Working The Harbor
More Fun City- Roll Out The Barrel- Captain Joe and Sons 3:45AM
What were you doing this morning at 3:45AM? I mean where would you rather be than down the stinky wharf rolling out the stinky barrels to the stinky trailer of herring at 3:45AM.
I’m thinking of starting up a little side business for adventure travelers that would want to come visit Gloucester from all over the country. I’ll charge them a nominal fee to help lug the barrels out and offload the bait trailer. It’s a whole experience thing. Once in a lifetime opportunity. Get up early and fill your nostils with that pungent aroma of salted herring. Ahhhhh, just take it all in……
Music- “Bad Dream” By The Twees
Here we are preparing for a trailer load of barrels of herring. The empty barrels need to leave the building to go back to the herring plant For the next load’s filling which you see in the second video-
Video- Gloucester Zen- Tuffy and Crew Prepare To Head Out Lobstering
Tools Of The Trade- The Lobster Banding Tray Aboard The Degelyse
Video- The Final Trap Hits The Dock From the 2011 Lobstering Season Aboard The Degelyse
The Final Load
Molly Ferrill Shares Her Timelapse Video Settings and Another Video Lobstering Aboard The Arethusa
Molly writes-
Hey!
It’s manual focus, shutter speed 1/13, aperture 4.5, manual iso (400) and there are 335 frames included! I think I had the interval between shots at 5 seconds. Each image is a full-size jpeg, (which I don’t think was actually necessary, especially not for the web!) and I used final cut express software to edit the time lapse. (each frame is .03 seconds long I think). It was one of the first time lapses I have made with the intervalometer but I think it worked out pretty well… next time I will set the interval for a little shorter and take more frames so the final time lapse is a little longer! Oh and by the way, at the end I made the last few shots with longer and longer shutter speeds so that it would gradually fade to white. It wouldn’t have been that drastic at the very end if I hadn’t done that.
LOVE the one you did with the clouds! Gorgeous. It looks just like a time lapse but less jerky which is good for clouds. Very nice!
Here’s a link to a short little video I just made compiling some of the photos and short video clips from going out on the boat.