A fisherman's holiday

WOW, just returned from the New Bedford Working Waterfront Festival. It was a treat for us. Thank you Charley York, Laura Orleans, Kristen and Reirdar, and all the volunteers and helpers. Another great festival. A highlight for me was meeting a lovely woman with the same name as mine. First time for everything. Turns out she had the name before me since I married into it and she inherited it.  "Would a rose by any other name still smell as sweet?" I am Judith Jahnig Dutra and she is Judith Dutra Iskisen.  She came to the boat to meet me, knowing I would be there to answer questions and sell books. And yes she bought one - in other words: Judy Dutra sold a book to Judy Dutra. I wonder how the IRS would look at that? It was terrific to meet her, we laughed and held hands. And I have to say, she reminded me of me. We both couldn't stop smiling. She has worked with children in the schools and so have I. And if she's reading this I'd like to say, "Nice to have met you Judy Dutra." can you hear me chuckling.``````````````````````````````  

The trip across the bay, through the Cape Cod Canal then Buzzards Bay was uneventful - the way we like them. New Bedford Harbor looks busy, but it is nothing like when Dave unloaded fish there in the 1990's. Durning that decade the harbor was filled with many different kinds of fishing boats - all working. Now most boats are tied up, having used up their quotas for the year. The old draggers are gone and just  few scallopers and clammers are working. Looks can be deceiving, the harbor is filled with boats that can't work. ~~~~~~~

From the minute Charley and John came on board to guide us into our berth - to backing out of the same slip three days later Dave and I talked and listened.  Thousands of people came out to the festival, we couldn't have asked for nicer people or better days.   

I met a man that builds canoes with his hands and by the way he described the process we could tell he formed each boat with care. He said that for many years he's built canoes with all kinds of materials, from the old birch bark to the most watertight compounds on the face of the earth and he found the best to be the old birch bark - because when you no longer needed it - you can drag it into the woods and leave it there to rot.

We met fishermen, tug-boat builders, firemen, musicians, poets, writers and lovers of the sea. And best of all we had a visit from Mr. Arnold Parson who's father brought the F/V Richard & Arnold to Provincetown in 1927. The boat was named for him and his brother Richard. Arnold is now 82 years old and still loves to go out on the water, he was there with his son and his grandson. The Richard & Arnold has had many owners over the years, she the oldest working fishing boat in New England, at least that's what we've been told. If there is another - older and still working, we'd like to meet them.  

This was a great vacation for us. 

We left New Bedford on Sunday afternoon, caught the tide to Martha's Vineyard and Menemsha, spending a night in one of the sweetest harbors. There's a pace to the place, just a little removed from our restless society. Best of all I got to sit on Squid Row and talk to Jonathan, Wayne, and a few of the locals who gather at Marshall's. Thanks for the stories guys.  It was another season of fish and boats, tourists and sun. Thanks for your hospitality. We hope to see you in the spring. 

The next morning it was off to Oak Bluffs. Another unique harbor. Busy but not hectic, ferries and yachts, sailors and fishermen - everywhere we go and we are greeted by people with smiles, questions and stories. 

It's been a great bus-man's holiday, a great festival and for sure it's been a great ride. Thank you to all who make that possible. 

Fluke season closed for another year

The Fluke are now protected from all - except the other fluke eating creatures in the sea, the predators of the sea and there are many. We put a sign on the net that says, "No Fluke allowed." We've picked up our nets and have moved back to Provincetown. Traveling with Dave to bring the Richard & Arnold back to her homeport from the Vineyard took 6 & 1/2 hours, across the Sound, through Woods Hole cut, up Buzzards Bay to the Cape Cod Canal, under three bridges to slip into Cape Cod Bay. The Pilgrim Monument was visible, the tide flowed east and there on the horizon was home. It's good to have Dave and the boat back. The schedule for summer fluke is hard on us because we can't afford to miss time fishing, its just about the only fishing we can do that makes us a bit of a profit.

I was talking to a young fisherman in Provincetown yesterday and he told me that the Feds just cut 27% of his allocated sea scallops. You have to first understand that he borrowed money from the bank to purchase the allocation of scallops from a broker / agent - so that he could keep going out for scallops and hopefully make some money. Now the government has cut him back another 20%. So even though he is paying for 100% of his purchased scallop allocation, a loan from the bank, he can't catch them - he's out 47% right off the top. There is something wrong with this picture, because if you ask any of the full time scallopers who control 97% of the allocation, they'll tell you things have never been so good. So how now brown cow - can't we simple let a handful of men do their thing. Go to work and share the scallop pie. I remember when there were no regulations, no us against you,  we'd fish right next to 100 footers, we made money and so did they. What's the big deal?

I saw no draggers on the way home, no sea scallopers transiting, just a few run-about skiffs and a couple of sail boats and two luxury yachts.  Where have all the boats gone?

With Fluke season fast approaching its end, I was happy to have spent time with Dave on board the Richard & Arnold. Even better my son and his son spent two days with the old man. Three generations fishing and living aboard in Menemsha Harbor, on Martha's Vineyard. The Captain was proud! With the catch coming quickly on the day the three generations went fishing together.  Must have been good juju - because they caught their 300 pound limit in one tow. I am including here a video of the catch of the best tow of the season. This is what a good catch looks like for the 85 year old Richard & Arnold, just like the old days, but instead of making another tow like the captain would have 20 years ago,  they headed in. Second generation took third generation to the beach after the fish were unloaded and they played in the surf like a couple of fishes.

Fluke season opened on June 10. Today is 7/15/2013 and the total allowable catch is over 56% caught up. That means more than half way through the season. For us it means sixty days of work and then we hang it up - pretty much for the rest of the year.  Can't drag anywhere around here, most areas that could be productive fishing are blanketed with lobster pots and seals.  Limited amounts of fish allowed to  land wouldn't be enough to pay the fuel and we - after forty years in the business - weren't given enough allocation to make a profit at it,  like being starved slowly at a banquet. We were told (God's truth, by a secretary at NMFS) that we should get out of the business. Well we would but the business doesn't seem to be worth much. Catch share advocates say we could buy allocation, well, maybe- if we had the cash and know someone who sells it at an affordable price, but that won't happen at our house. We don't see much sense in buying fish before you go out and catch it - what if you don't - or have a break down or get the flu? All I can hope is that change comes. I would welcome a bureaucracy that knows when to help the people, how to give freedom and support to the fishermen who have obeyed every law and regulation since the introduction of the Magnuson Stephens Act in 1976.  Since that time thousands of fishermen have gone out of business.  And now, people who want to go fishing, who know how and can make it work - are few and far between. Why can't we just give fishermen a chance, give them the right to continue, give them help and turn this thing around.  I think it is time for everyone to stop saying the sky is falling and get back to work. We are doing ourselves a disservice by not allowing, focusing on the negative, and limiting our incentive as hard working citizens of this great country, our great oceans. In thirty-five days the old man comes home with his old boat and we try to figure out how to make enough money to keep paying the bills.  Don't get me wrong, it's not all doom and gloom, I get to eat fresh fish and vegetables from our gardens on land and sea. In order to be a fishermen's wife one has to have faith in God, in man and in our country, we are controlled by all three.

For a view into the world of the small-boat, inshore fishery and how it has evolved, read my book - Nautical Twilight, the Story of a Cape Cod Fishing Family  by J.J. Dutra   It's an eye-opener, or so I'm told. It is available at Create Space  or at Amazon and let's hope it's in your local book-store or ask me:  
nauticaltwilightdutra@gmail.com   I'd be happy to send you a copy  $15. plus postage.

Rough and tough and used to hard ships.

We were off to a rough start this June, no squid and a few breakdowns. Exhaust fixed, batteries replaced, nets replaced, doors and wire lost overboard / new doors, but still no squid.  And on and on it goes. And yet my optimism prevails.  If at first you don't succeed - on to Fluke. A friend of Dave's tells me that when Dave catches a fish, it's a fluke. We take that with a grain of salt, knowing that we'd catch more fish if we were allowed. Just doesn't seem right somehow, working so hard to have more restrictions placed on you, like being held back from the feast, knowing it's there, and others are enjoying it, but we can't have it. "What? They have no bread," she said from her palace with a pension plan, "Well let them eat cake."
Fishermen are curtailed and limited.  We, the old timers, long-time fishermen, have given up the most -beginning with our fishing rights. For forty years we have limited our fishing in the name of sustainability, trying to play by Washington's rules and now when we should be reaping the harvest, savoring our rewards for catching less, giving up licenses, reducing our by-catch, fishing for under-utilized species, experimenting with new gear and living by the rules, now when we are in the 'golden years' - we are just about out of business because we are so limited, given an allocation that is laughable, if it weren't so sad, not enough fish to make it profitable. How's that for a government pension plan. I was hoping for better, wishing (rhymes with fishing) that our license would be worth the paper it's written on, wrong again. Seems like not only were we off to a poor start this past spring, but we are finishing dead last. I miss reading Richard Gains' editorials in the Gloucester Daily Times. He knew how to put it into words - the wrongs being perpetuated by people who think they know what's best for us. Like PEW who's acronym  means just what it is if you say it out loud. And don't let me go on about some of the other NGO's who's only thought is money.  Well thank heavens I will be getting away for a week, fishing from the deck of the Richard & Arnold, I need it, I think I may be coming down with political-itis.

P.S. if you want to read a really terrific review of 'Nautical Twilight' as well as hear wonderful electric violin and MDI music - here is the link      http://silzel.com/cgi-bin/weblog.cgi?blogfile=130618

I have just read a tribute to Richard Gaines, the journalist who worked most recently for the Gloucester Daily Times, but who also wrote for the Phoenix and UPI during his career. His talent for telling the story concisely so that everyone understood was a gift to the reader that will be very much missed. He was a true friend of the fishermen. He saw injustice and wrote about it. As a matter of fact he was most likely the only spokesperson that fishermen could rely on. I never met the man and yet I have been brought to tears many times during the past week by the thoughts of his passing. I did get a chance to thank him when I sent him a copy of my book and received a nice letter in return. He was special, I can't tell you how, but the tribute I just finished reading was by Walter Jones on the floor of the House of Representatives so that his name would be read into the record, thanking Mr. Gaines, posthumously for helping bridge the wide water between Washington and fishermen. I would like to add my thanks to that tribute as would anyone who fishes. My husband has always referred to Mr. Gaines as his hero. Thank you for seeing the truth, writing about our plight, and for being unafraid to speak out on our behalf. Blessings to you and to those you have left behind. I am very much afraid that there is no one who will be able to fill Richard Gaine's boots.

Squid Madness

April/May 2013, squid season is still developing. Everyone is hopeful as all fishermen must be. I told Dave he has squid-madness, a form of love: anticipation, anxiety and a rolling of the ocean. So far, in the past two weeks, Dave has changed the net three times. Son Jackson helped him put the nets, one at a time, into the truck, and some of the other fishermen lent a hand on the dock. It's getting a little harder for my old man. Even though we think like forty year-olds our bods have been used for many more. Age may be meaningless, it's the time we are here that counts, but somehow nature does take its coarse.  On a more serious note, a  friend of ours experienced a fire aboard his boat, in the engine room from an exhaust pipe. We've been there done that, had a fire in the engine room due to wear and tear on the exhaust system.  It took three fire extinguishers to put it out. The important thing is that our friend was able to put it out quickly and make it back to the dock safely.  Boats can be repaired. We wish John well.  First take a deep breath and thank the spirits of fishermen who kept him safe, then tackle the job. Before you know it the boat is repaired and back out doing her job, searching for the illusive squid, waiting and hoping for a good catch.
I got to spend two days out with Dave a week ago. I had such a wonderful time. It was calm, that's my first preference. The sun shone while we made a half dozen tows and caught a hundred pounds of squid. Just enough to pay the fuel and go out for supper.  Dave took me to Martha's Vineyard where the good people welcomed us and allowed us to plug in for the night.
We met the skipper of the 'Skipper', Jonho. What a beauty that little head-boat is.  It's kept in pristine condition and takes people fishing with rod and reel during the summer months. The captain gave me a hug, even though we'd never met before, said he loved my book. He showed us his 'Skipper' and then we walked up-town. Ate at a nice place Linda Jeans, loved having fish and four vegetables. The Richard & Arnold is comfortable and that's all I could ask for. I get to sit at the table without bumping my head. We have a stove and refrigeration, a head and a holding tank. We walked around Oak Bluffs, a most refreshing town. There's something about life on an island, maybe that's why we enjoy being on the Richard & Arnold, I've not been able to figure out why I like it so much.
Dave and I were standing on the deck after our walk when a nice 50 foot fiber-glass lobster boat passed by our stern and the captain hollered out to us, "That's the prettiest boat on the east coast." I didn't get his name but I'd like to thank him and let him know that we think so too.
I think I'll get up and do another squid dance, this week could be the week when the squid come. Keep hoping for the best.

I'm about to do the squid dance. I can hardly control the urge to just get up, turn up the volume and let my self go. The squid dance is a tradition at this time of year. It's done with love and passion; hey a good squid year could depend on it. Amen. It takes effort to get to the place where everything alines  and squid come for the taking, its one of the joys of spring, like daffodils or the mating calls of birds. The nets have been stretched in the yard and mended. The wires strung out and marked in fathoms, the engine room has been cleaned, my foc'sle is ready and the lazzerette that will hold the boxes are all waiting for me to do my squid dance. I'm hoping for good music, calm seas and enough squid for all.
The Richard & Arnold has received my seal of approval - is now officially a fishing-yacht. It has become more than I could possibly have wanted or dreamed. She can fish - we know that - and now she will keep us dry and comfortable  as well.  I was just telling Dave I remember a couple of years ago trying to sleep on the bench next to the table -  to keep the water from dripping on me - I slept in all my oil-gear.  The boat is still the old girl, the same boat we knew and loved, but she now seems to have matured, become more, moving along with the tide and time. It's like giving berth, a new generation - a better life - Get up and dance - a good time will be had by all.  We want to keep fishing. The old boat has been dancing over the waves, fishing, doing it 'right' for over 85 years and so - why not us along with her?  Next chapter ? who knows - but think, "Sail".

Spring is taking her time this year and everyone is wondering why. It is my understanding that it is called Mother Nature and man has never been able to figure it out, but we'll keep trying. In the meantime live well, be grateful, create something, help when you can.

Dave and I have the beginnings of another chapter in our lives, exciting times, new beginnings, lucky to be where we are. I was told by a friend that we create our luck and that when good things happen it's because we helped to create it. I sat in their kitchen looking out over wind driven water, dark blues and greens, with the tide high and the sun shinning strong we chatted about the choir that Vera sings with and the teachers that George works with. We ate apples and hugged their dog Jack, who also likes apples. I think it is more than luck, it is allowing, it is learning and believing. We feel lucky to be able to spend time keeping an old boat going, finding a way to keep it all happening.

I plan on living aboard as much as possible when it warms up a bit and the wind let's go a bit.  I will move aboard gradually, letting go of all that ties me to the shore - the people I love. At the same time I feel guilty for knowing how much I will enjoy it. I plan on finishing another book while Dave makes another tow, always hoping for a good catch and a good story.  'The Fishermen's Ball', a mystery that takes place in Provincetown in 1937. As Provincetown plans a grand occasion to celebrate their good fortune while helping raise money for neighboring towns that were  devastated by the hurricane of Sept 21, 1937 - a family becomes embroiled in a murder. AH - HA! For all my friends that have asked for more fishing stories I have included a few in this book. I'm not sure I can write anything that doesn't include fishing.

Also  (if I ever get it finished), "Arethusa" will have lots of sea stories, but it's still developing. Arethusa was our sailboat and the book is another memoir. Can one have more than one Memoir?  And so as spring begins our boat has a comfortable new foc'sle, one any fishermen's wife could love and because it was built with love - I know it will be a good place to write. I'll send pics, but in the meantime spring is coming and I'm finishing my first mystery. www.provincetownfishwife.com

They say - 'Time flies when your having fun.' We are having fun rebuilding the Richard & Arnold, but the weather has slowed us down. The cold & wind has kept progress at a minimum, but even with just a couple of hours of work each day the foc'sle is progressing nicely. We have plumbing, 2 sinks, fridge, stove, bunks, table, and a cabin heater. Now we need cushions, gas connections, pump-out connections and hot water connection. We have a ways to go, but it looks like spring will find her working again, with a new outside and a new inside. You can read all about what we did last winter and see photographs of the process in Feb edition of Yachting Time Magazine.  My first published mag. article.  http://yachtingtimesmagazine.com/issue/10spring2013/pageflip.html

I'm trying not to let it go to my head.