Nautical Twilight Live

www.provincetownfishwife.com The Provincetown Portuguese Festival and Blessing of the Fleet committee is having a fund raiser -- One of the guest speakers is me.  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to be talking and reading from my own book - Nautical Twilight. I am excited to share my work with the town that inspired it.  The fund raiser begins at 12 noon on May 20, 2012 at the Red Inn on Commercial Street. Cost is $15.00 at the door. I will be speaking around 1:15. I'd like to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity, I consider it a privilege. Last Sunday and Monday I went fishing on the Richard & Arnold with Dave for squid. I spent Sunday night aboard in Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard, but was so tired that I didn't go ashore, I didn't touch land until Monday evening when we unloaded 1400 pounds. It took me two days to recover, so this Mother's day I'm having a day without touching the Ocean and Dave is catching squid without me. I only feel a little guilty. Next weekend I'll be dressed in my finest  instead of boots and oil gear and I'm hoping I can get Dave to give up a day of squid to come to the talk at the Red Inn, after all the story is really about him. Hope to see you there or at the Portuguese Festival on the last weekend in June. I'll have a table on Ryder Street to talk, sign and sell books. My friend Nancy Bloom will have her photos of the Provincetown Regatta on tiles, in frames and on calenders. Dave just called, he's on his way in from fishing and is coming home tonight to wish me a happy mothers day, now I really am having the best day possible. To all the moms out there in cyber land I hope your day is as good as mine.

Mark and the Tuna

The Richard & Arnold is back fishing--but I am remembering another kind of fishing today.

For all those who love fishing stories - here's another:

An unusual tuna affair was held at Ballston Beach in Truro, MA on an overcast September morning many moons ago. Mark was out to surf-cast for Stripped Bass as the sun was breaking over the wet horizon. This time of day was a favorite, before he went to work as a house builder. With a pole in his left hand and a gaff-hook looped by a leather strap over his wrist in the other, he walked beside the curling waves. At first he was not sure what he was seeing. There was a silver flash, then another. Could that be a tail? Mark Instinctively threw out his right arm like a surprised Captain Hook and sank the barbed end of the gaff that was secured to his wrist, deep into the head of a three hundred pound tuna-fish. Without thought he yanked, pulling the denizen of the deep out of the water onto the beach in front of him. The fish began whipping its body about in a wild frenzy and Mark wondered if the fish might break his arm. It would either drag Mark back into the water or Mark would land it.The muscled and scaled mass thrashed about continuously bruising and cutting Mark's legs and arms until the impulsive fisherman was able to position himself at the sea creature's head. He held the hilt of the gaff with both hands. Using brute strength and the buoyancy of the water under his feet Mark was able to pull the fish clear of the briny world. His dog was barking, rushing at the big fish then quickly retreating. Mark's whooping and holler was lost in the crashing surf and barking dog. Mark wrestled the fish away from the tide line as the struggling contortions of the fish with its flapping motion actually gave the fisherman the edge. The big fish ceased motion, the enormous eye clouded and the gills stopped pumping when Mark was sweating from fatigue and could not pull another inch. They were only ten yards from the water. He slipped the leather strap from his hand and sat on the sand, admiring and contemplating the fish. The enormous scales of rainbow colors were fading to gray, matching the sky and water. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, instead he ran to his truck for a longer rope which he placed over the fin at the large 'Y' where belly and tail met. He put the other end of the rope over his shoulder and pulled the creature up an incline until he was close enough to use his pick-up to winch it into the back. There was not one other person there to witness the 'catch of the day'.  Word got out and friends gathered to hear the telling and retelling, while the process of bleeding, gutting and washing took place in Mark's garage. He hung it up like a deer carcass during hunting season for everyone to admire. The men shook their heads in disbelief but Mark swore the story was true. That fish fed half the town of Truro that night with some left over for freezing. It was a tasty delight, a one of a kind fish dinner and a tale worth the telling.www.provincetownfishwife.com

Well - it is done, over, complete and well done. She's back in town tied to MacMillan Wharf and what a beauty she is. The Richard & Arnold came out of the cocoon a new boat. She solid, strong and there's not a cup of water in her bilge. Dave said, "I've owned her for 30 years and this is the first time there's no water leaking in." He spent three months living in a motel room, worked 9 hours a day and ate fried food in restaurants. The clothing he brought home is covered in sticky fiberglass and I've thrown them all away. We had some good help, Dick Crowell has got to be one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to how to cover a boat with resin and fiberglass cloth. He was sent to us by angels. The folks at Rose's Marine in Gloucester, MA are the best, most helpful and friendliest we've had the privilege to know. Where we go from here is not yet decided. We'll have to take one step at a time. The foc'sle is in great need of carpentry. Hopefully that labor of love will happen after Dave catches a few fish. We've still got to pay back what has been loaned. It is well worth the effort, the time and the money , because we have a brand new 62' fiberglass beauty that doesn't leak, what a joy. We have begun picturing her with sail assist, motor sailor, fishing-yacht. They say if you can dream it -

Mild Winters

It might have been a mild winter by some standards, but if you are trying to cover a 62 foot schooner hull with four layers of resin and cloth, then the winter becomes one that is anything but mild. The wind has calmed and we are grateful for that. On one windy day the dome covering the entire boat almost blew off into the air, sixty knots I was told, the air went in from the bottom, like blowing up the skirts on Marilyn Monroe.  Thanks to the men in the yard for anchoring the white dome -They must have had to use machines to place the heavy blocks that now hold down the structure. Parts of the wood supports were broken up but within a couple of days it was braced with 1 x 3's.  Thank goodness there is a god for fishermen. No damage done.  If the warmth keeps up the glass will go on quicker, the mat-cloth will unroll by the yards. March sometimes surprises us and we have a calm and quiet one. In like a lamb-out like a lion. or is it the other way - was March 1 a windy, cold one? Dave has been living for weeks at a time in a motel room like a homeless man, he hates it. There was the stomach flu this winter that seemed to keep people at home and we did have a few freezing days were work was impossible, but I'd have to say that all in all it's been very mild. There was a touch of snow a few days ago, it snowed for three hours and was gone in the next three. Mild yes, but also long and lonely.

Another kind of love

It's Valentine's Day. I've lived with my husband half my life and I love him more. It is not a holiday for either of us, for he left the house this morning and I probably won't see him for a week or more. Our Richard & Arnold will be getting his attention this week. With weather above 40 degrees, the work of rolling resin can be done with less effort. Try lifting your arms up and down for hours at a time, running up and down ladders, working with a resin that will harden like a rock when it dries. The cloth will come soon.  The hull is well worth saving. Wooden boats can only last so long. There are borer worms that can eat through the hull, especially in warmer waters. Ducks can pull the caulking out of the seams when they are trying to get to the growth on the bottom, the barnacles and snails. Sometimes electrolysis can eat out the metal in  nails or screws causing a plank to come loose. We are saving our little ship, giving her our best efforts, a twenty first century make over. Dave and I share a special bond this Valentines Day, we love each other and our 80 year old boat. We'd like to see her with sails, we're thinking motor-sail. We hope she will be able to continue to fish until she's over 100.  Dave and I are hoping to live aboard this summer, planning a longer passage for next year, now that the Richard & Arnold is not a leaky old boat, just an old boat. We love her and you all, Happy Valentine's Day.

What's under the tent?

It was hard enough to build the frame, but then the shrink wrap, now it's respirators and hard work. Lucky for us we've had this experience before. It's a blessing that we found someone who know's his stuff this time, last time Dave did the work alone. For the first time in years Dave is not the captain. It must be his age mellowing him for I don't see any of the bristling to get the job done. He's fond of saying, "Pick up the pace or pick up your tools." The last time he worked with fiberglass was in his parent's yard on Beach Point in 1975. He decided the only way to save the 'Egg Harbor' was to cover the entire boat with a thick layer of glass. The hull was as strong as any little boat could get, but that was the problem, the boat was too little. Another that Dave covered in fiberglass clothe was the 'Wildflower'. We put it into a building that his uncle Frank Diogo had built in a field. While the building was being built we were building the boat. Uncle Frank let us keep it in his unfinished warehouse in the back, while he and a crew worked in the front to make shops. The 'Wildflower' a forty-two foot inshore fishing boat, sat on stanchions just like the 'Richard & Arnold' is now, only the R&A is twenty feet longer. Under the tent they are preparing to put layers of liquid of glass followed by sheets of clothe. Mother Nature is helping us with warmer than expected temperatures, I understand it is caused by solar flares, but for whatever reason we are grateful. The men in the tent look eerily-odd, otherworldly and alien dressed in white plastic suits, to keep their lungs protected they wear masks. The cocoon of white plastic surrounds their world and the work moves slowly forward. We are  looking forward to spring and a butterfly.  

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