Lobster-GIRL

I have always been terrified of the ocean, because all the things I grew up learning or hearing about. Shark bites and the hidden creatures that no one has even seen, it is all a lot to think about, and has always been something that freaked me out. Last year, when I met a boy on my wrestling team he told me he was a lobsterman. That was cool, I had never met a lobsterman before. Once we began dating, the whole lobsterman thing became more and more interesting because he worked long hours, and me being very curious I wanted to know more about what he was spending his day doing. When I mean long days I mean, he wakes up at three in the morning and does not get back until around seven or eight at night. From working with his buddy for most of the day to his own traps after, it made for a long and tiring day, one that seems fast paced and busy, something I found more interest in.

After months of asking, I finally got to go out on the boat with him. It was winter time, which means it is a lot colder out on the water. I did not dress the part. I thought I did, but after the first three hours, those layers mean nothing anymore. When we first got there, it smelled like rotting fish, it was disgusting to say the least. Little did I know, that rotten fish smell was coming from the bait about to go on our boat to use for the day. The bait they were using that day was called skate, it looked similar to a stingray. Once we got into the skiff, he began heading over to the boat, my boyfriend had to hold onto me because there was no seat and I could not keep my balance. This was when the day began to get very interesting because I was about to spend the whole day on my feet, and if I could not stay on my feet for the small trip to the boat, how was I supposed to manage all day long?

There are so many different things going on while you are on a lobster boat, you hardly ever catch a brake. My boyfriends father was the person driving the boat because they were fishing his traps for the first part of the day. The person who is fishing their traps, drives the boat and the crew does the rest of the work. His father hauls the traps out of the water, measures each lobster and throws the good lobsters into a container. Then, my boyfriend gets the bait ready, baits the traps, throws each trap back into the ocean, and before they get to the next trap he manages to band each lobster and puts them into the bucket. It was tiring just watching them work all day, I did not do much because it was my first time being out on the boat so I pretty much watched the whole time.

Since then, I have worked for my boyfriend during the summer and have gained better knowledge about what he does each day. Lobstering is hard work, I do not really think they get as much credit as they should. I mean I got tried just watching, I can not imagine doing that every day with not much more than a five minute lunch break. Besides the hard work that lobstering is, it is very intriguing, self disciplining, and always beautiful out on the ocean. I can’t wait for this years season, so I can get back out there.

Photo by: Magnolia St.Germain