I got up and loaded my truck for my next destination, goodbye Wompatuck I’m heading North!
It was a nice trip, had to deal with Boston traffic for a short while, not too crazy but still a bit of white knuckling, but I made it through. It was mostly I 95 and 295, until I could make it to US 1 , the same US 1 we drive on down the East coast and it ends in Key West. Got a little bit of the northern part under my belt now. US 1 was a pleasure after a few hours on 95. I had to get to Rockport Maine in about 4 hours so I could catch the Ferry to Vinalhaven.
Kyle and Karen were waiting on me when I pulled in to Rockland and arrived at the Ferry port. It’s quite a operation just getting on the ferry and I was glad they were there to help. It seems quite a few islanders keep a car or truck on the mainland instead of bringing their “island car” over, a bit cheaper that way. So Kyle and Karen came over in his fishing boat, he had a few things he needed serviced so when the arrived they put a friends “mainland car” inline for the ferry I would be taking, so when I arrived, we switched vehicles and I was ready to go. We had some time so we went across the street for lunch.
Kyle and Karen headed to the island to meet me there and showed me where they lived, there they go on the Ramble on!
It’s about an hour and 15 minutes on the ferry, it was a really awesome ride and so beautiful. I ran around the boat taking pictures! When we arrived Kyle and Karen were waiting for me and I followed them through their really cool town. It’s exactly what one would think a Lobster fishing island in Maine would appear. With a harbor full of fishing boats and traps piled high on the docks, it reminded me of Cortez. I was told the island is about the same square miles as the island of Manhattan and about 1200 full time residents. Vinalhaven was also home to two Granite quarries which were very busy places from 1840’s until 1970. The company that own the quarries, Bodwell Granite Company, had contracts with the US government and built many Post Offices, civil war monument’s, and the big Granite eagles you see at older post offices. I was talking to a local one day and he told me that Fort Jefferson, in the Dry Tortugas has a base of granite from Vinalhaven too. On a visit to the museum the next day, I learned that the made 50 feet long and 6 feet in diameter columns for the church of St John the Devine in New York city. Unheard of at that time. Pretty cool place.
Kyle invited me to go out on his boat the next day and see how they pulled his traps. Of course I said yes and looked forward to going “Lobster Fishing”.
Got up and we headed to he boat, the weather couldn’t be any better. It was cool as we drove to the harbor. Kyle’s steersman met us there, Anthony is his real name but likes to go by “Twon” I guess it’s a island nickname. Really nice guy and works like a machine. We arrived at the the harbor and Twon came to another dock to pick us up in the punt, yes I had never heard what we call a skiff or a dingy called a punt but it’s their island LOL. The reason we were at a different dock was because of the tides they have there. The tides are crazy they can have 5+ foot tide change +or minus. So the ladder down to the punt was pretty crazy that morning and Kyle was easy on me the first day.
We headed out about 9 miles or so, it was calm and the traps are in 30-40 fathoms or over two hundred feet down. It’s quite a sight to see as the bring up the traps. Kyle has a wench next to the wheelhouse, he pulls up to the buoy and hooks the line and winds it on the wench and here they come, he throws the buoy’s into the wheelhouse and out of the way, as the traps come up he places them on the gunwale ( pronounced gunnel) which is the top part of the side of the boat, and slides the down to the steersman(Tawon) and he reaches into the open trap and starts throwing out the trash fish and crabs which find their way in for a free meal, he grabs the lobsters and recognizes the too small lobsters and throws them back, he throws the keepers go on top of the live well where he will attach rubber bands on the claws and into the live well. The fishermen also notch the tails of the females with eggs, so that the next guy will through it back too. During this procedure Twon also replaces the bait and then stacks the traps on the stern until they are all pulled and filled with fresh bait, then they turn and start dropping the traps back, and there is a way to drop them so the land correctly on the bottom some 200+ feet below.
While I was impressed seeing over a hundred pounds of live lobster, I was told it wasn’t a very good day. Kyle stops at the lobster broker who has a small floating dock with scales and an office near the entrance to the harbor. They floating boxes with 90 pounds of lobster each, they are then tied up to the dock where the lobsters are kept alive until later when they are transported to Rockland to be shipped.
It was quite a day and learn so much. The waters around Vinalhaven is for Local residents only for lobster fishing, and believe me they know if someone doesn’t belong. There is actually a movie which was made by a local resident about the subject, We watched it one night while I was there. Kyle had a small part in the movie and even had a line! The movie is called “Islander” it’s on you tube. The boat used for many scenes was Kyles dad’s boat. The leading actress played the pink power ranger in the power ranger movie, haahaaa. In the movie Kyle is a kid standing on a little bridge and says something to a kid. Pretty cool, for such a small place. Another “rule” is there is no lobster fishing on Sunday.
So on Sunday after my first lobster fishing trip we decided to take a nice sight seeing trip and circumnavigate the island of Vinalhaven. Kyle had kept several lobsters from yesterdays bounty along with some crabs they call Rock crabs, they look a lot like our Stone crabs, but a lighter color. Kyle and Karen invited Kyles parents and his sister to come along with us. We brought with us a propane burner and a big pot. We explored the beautiful landscape of this awesome island. The water was beautiful crystal clear bluish green and cold! I went crazy taking pictures, the rocks were amazing, the homes incredible, just so cool. We tied up to a mooring ball and prepared for lunch. Kyles dad reached over the gunnel and scooped up some of that clear cold North Atlantic water in the pot, Kyle had the burner ready and the results of our day before were about to be lunch!
Had to be one of the best lunches I ever had, what a great time. After lunch we continued our trip around the island. Off of the north end of Vinalhaven there you will find another island, named North Haven. The ferry will take you there too. It’s a different vibe there and the locals say that’s where the rich folks live. The Vinalhaven locals also mention that it’s nice place, but they don’t have Granite. LOL local humor.
The night before I was leaving the family took me to North Haven. You see the thing the locals on Vinalhaven really like about North Haven is the fact that there is a really cool local brewery and pizza joint, which is cranking on a Saturday night! It’s a small world there as the bar tender is the principal or vice principal of the local elementary school. Now what is really cool is, when you want to go over there to eat some really good pizza, you call the restaurant and tell them what time you want to come over, then you head to a boat ramp across from North Haven and wait for the guy to come get you. He has a 17 foot Boston Whaler with several bench seats, settle in and he takes you across the channel to North Haven, After you eat you call and tell him when you are ready to go and head to the dock for the ride back. Interesting fact, the guy who shuttles people across and back was in the movie “Islander” he was the lead child actor in the movie. There is a picture below of the Whaler coming to pick us up for the ride to North Haven.
My time on Vinahaven was incredible, they islanders were so nice, everyone waves at each other and it’s a close net group. It was certainly one of the best parts of my trip. I can’t thank my friends Kyle and Karen for having me and showing me your wonderful island and meeting the family. They are planning on seeing me in March of 2025 and looking so forward to it.
But all good things must end, and I felt it was time to head on, so I packed up, and the next morning Karen and Kyle followed me to the ferry to see me off, back to the mainland. What to do now???
Until next time!
