Here, we see the Fishing Vessel Dear Abbie: yesterday in Naskeag Harbor during a slack tide. She’s a lobster boat wearing her winter gear for sea scallop fishing.
That gear, behind the pilot house, consists mainly of a mast and boom for a bottom dredge (or “drag”) and a temporary “shedding hut” to protect the crew when shucking shells on cold, windy days at sea.
There’s a charm to the lines of a real working boat such as this. (Lobster boats have been called the pickup trucks of the seas.) The classic Down East Maine lobster boats have high, flared bows (to part big waves) with graceful side sheer lines that sweep aft down to low sterns. They have low freeboards (distance between water line and deck) to allow working over the sides. Their pilot house often is open in back to allow a single person to work the traps. (Brooklin, Maine)