Do you know how to tell lobster buoys from lobster girls? Well, if you're looking for DownEast lobster joke this morning you're going to be going away disappointed. I've never heard this joke, let alone the punchline. In all my years living in Maine, I've never stepped foot in a lobster boat. Seen 'em. Heard 'em. Smelled 'em, but never been in one. Here in Maine find a tucked away harbor or just a small inlet and you're bound to see the surface of water literally covered with hundreds of lobster buoys bobbing away. If you are making your way among them, you better have your wits about you. Tangling your motor in a bunch of lobster gear can ruin your whole day! Now, if you're looking at a small harbor loaded with buoys, are you thinking how do I find mine? Not the design. They are all basically the same shape. It's the coloring, Margaret! These look to be green, white with a single red stripe. The lobsterman also needs to have one of these buoys clearly visible near the wheelhouse. Tampering with another's lobster gear and traps can bring a large fine or worse. Like a lot worse... like the 'end of your life' worse.
Moral of this story:
Come to Maine this summer.
Get on the water and enjoy the sights of lobstermen hauling their traps.
Journey to the docks and watch the men and women unloading their catch.
Enjoy the iconic crustacean with lots of butter.
But don't even think of messin' with a trap that's not yours.
Know your colors!
Oh yes, & in Midcoast Maine, anyway, you can actually go for a ride on a lobsterboat. I must admit, I caught myself laughing at the buoy joke...I loved interviewing a lobsterman in a college oral history class (way back when). It has it's romantic side, but it is such hard work they will tell you...
ReplyDeletenow you've got me singin rock lobster!
ReplyDeleteNice shot and post today!
ReplyDeletegood to know!
ReplyDeleteI remember a trip I took to Boston with some friends back in the 70's and we took a drive up to Maine to have a lobster roll on the beach. I'm not sure where we went, it seems like it was just across the border, lunch and then back to Boston. These days, I prefer my lobster with lots of butter. I haven't had any for quite awhile. I may have to remedy that.
ReplyDelete"Please come to . . ." --no wait, not Boston!--Portland. :-)
ReplyDeleteI loved the lobster in PEI. I'm sure it's good in Maine too!
ReplyDeleteLove the buoys hanging on the sides of the sheds or boat houses. Very picturesque. Took one of my favorite pictures in a small inlet after visiting the Pemaquid Lighthouse some years ago. Couldn't see all the way out due to fog which made an interesting shot.
ReplyDeleteYes, please! I'd love some lobster!
ReplyDeleteWe have a crab fishery here (Heard of Dungeness crab? This is where they got their name.) Buoys bob around the bays here and there's lots of sport crabbing. Nothing better than fresh, local crab.
Lobster buoys, such an iconic Maine thing, once so foreign to me, now so familiar . . . as are the yum lobsters themselves. . . Another cool pic, Birdman. xx
ReplyDeleteSo there's a whole system to lobster catching.
ReplyDeleteI'll have the steak instead!
Though I am from Kentucky, I did know how Lobstermen identify their buoys. I also enjoy the lobster :)
ReplyDeleteLobster is wonderful and we do have some from time to time that is shipped (pre-sold). We have much seafood here on the Gulf Coast, but love the chance to have a taste-of-Maine, too!
ReplyDeleteI do believe that a trip to Maine in the summer would be a welcome temperature relief from our usual steamy July-August... Oh, and I have not even started about the humidity! We have natural outdoor steam treatments here.
Bises,
Genie
That is a pretty good lobstering summary. Don't even think of touching someone else's lobster pots.
ReplyDeleteHow are you producing that briny smell?
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= <3