Yesterday, you saw here images of two of the four working fishing vessels that moor regularly at Naskeag Harbor in the winter; today, you’ll be seeing the remaining two vessels, both of which are Down East-style designs. It was a special moment.
All four boats were photographed at the same time late Saturday afternoon, when they were caught in the spotlight of a very low setting sun. The sun’s searching rays skimmed virtually horizontally, not piercing the water, allowing its slight chop to remain the color of a sapphire in low light. But those last sunrays of the day strafed in over the water and found the boats, which flared brightly in places for just a few minutes as dusk settled in to calm things.
Above, you see Captain Morgan, mooring the farthest out near the end of Harbor Island. You get a good view of the mast and boom that control her scallop dredge (“her drag”) and of her “shelling hut” (or “shelling house”) behind the wheelhouse. This equipment will be gone by lobster season. Below, you’ll see Dear Abbie: (correctly spelled with her full colon [:]) in the initial Comment space. Her slightly different shelling hut is highlighted as is her signature orange “mooring ball” (or “mooring buoy”).
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 3, 2024.)