Here you see a very low setting sun dramatically spotlighting the port side of Tarrfish in Naskeag Harbor Saturday. She’s one of the local vessels that was designed for hauling and tending lobster traps in the summer, but is modified in the winter with a mast and boom for scallop-dredging (“dragging”).
The spotlighting emphasizes the character of American-styled lobster boats, such as Tarrfish, that are built based on concepts originating in Down East Maine. Above the water line, the smooth-sheared hull sweeping from a higher bow and the slightly laid-back wheelhouse windows are Down East characteristics.
These American-style vessels are significantly different in design from the Canadian Nova Scotia -style vessels commonly known as “Novi” boats. One such vessel is the Christopher Devin III, which was photographed in the Harbor at the same time as Tarrfish was. Novi hulls are more rounded under water and acutely stepped up above at the bow, while their windows are forward-slanted.
In case you’re wondering, that’s a trap rack on Tarrfish’s deck; it will be used to stabilize stacks of lobster traps when they are transported next season, but is now a convenient place to hang gear. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 3, 2024.)