The Richard and Arnold heading out, this time to Woods Hole then on to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Sound to chase the summer flounder. In the two weeks before this picture was taken Dave added a layer of fiberglass cloth and resin over the doghouse and forward deck, the hatch lip was lowered by four inches and a new cover added. Doors to below deck now swing open and are louvered. We drove to NJ and back with a net reel and doors. Dave changed doors, but then changed them again - put his old ones back on, the net needed the bigger door. Each door weighs about 600 pounds. I watched as he used a sky hook to put them into the back of his old truck, using a three part tackles system on a gin-pole. Nets were changed, the squid net for the 'flat-net', he had a beauty built by the Levin's in Fairhaven since the last one he had built by them lasted many, many years and caught its share of flat-fish. He stopped squid fishing because the boat's muffler was leaking fumes into the wheelhouse. The old muffler was removed and a new elbow, pipe and stainless steel muffler were added, thanks Wellfleet Welding - Matt.  This all takes place before he can even set the net. Oh and he changed the oil in the engine. Lots of small issues taken care of, all good, all to keep the boat safe and catching. Let's hope this will be a good Fluke season.

Fishing is what Dave loves to do and he's now doing it with our fishing/yacht. Our vessel will be leaving the wharf again for a June Fluke season off Martha's Vineyard. The daily catch allowance is small, 300 pounds, but we can live with that. There is hardly any fishing left around here, I mean that the cod allocations have been caught up, there are lots of back door dealings as far as the yellow-tail flounder go, the rules have pretty much overwhelmed most fishing businesses and the lobster gear has moved in for the season. The latest scheme for dividing up the fish - the current trend, it's not a good one. First of all it was based on a time frame that did not take into account the years leading up to allocation. Too many people have been pushed out of the fishing business using faulty data and over zealous regulators. The control and money are now in the hands of a few and they can sell allocation to whomever they choose. It's the thirty year cycle - weirs, dorymen with hooks, gillnets and draggers, harpooners and hand-liners- after thirty years no one will remember what the broo-haha over catch shares was all about and no one will remember when men were free to fish the way they wanted. We hope to leave all the bureaucracy at the wharf when we cast off the lines, catch a few fish. If the price stays up we'll have a good summer.   I have been busy writing, speaking, and spending time meeting lots of friends who tell me they enjoyed reading my book, 'Nautical Twilight'. I will be in the author's tent in Wellfleet for the Wellfleet Harborfest on the pier at 10 am Sat.- June 16, 2012 - and will talk about the book. I'm not used to tooting my own horn - but so many people have been telling me how much they've loved it. It's a small slice of our lives and a look at what was once the Provincetown fishing fleet. I have been invited to speak at the Eldredge Library in Chatham,MA at 2 pm on Thursday, June 21                     ALSO Dave and I will be participating in many of the events at the Provincetown Portuguese Festival and the 65th Blessing of the Fleet, June 21-24. visit their web page: www.provincetownportuguesefestival.com  I will be sharing a table with Nancy Bloom on Ryder Street all day Friday and Saturday. Stop and say hello.   Dave has promised to bring the boat back for that weekend- he's not allowed to fish for fluke on Fridays and Saturdays anyway, don't ask me why. The Richard & Arnold will be in the parade of boats on Sunday, this is our 31st with the R&A, but we had lots of blessings and parties with the 'Wildflower' back in the 1970's. Looks like June is going to be a fun month.   Thank you one and all