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Showing posts with label lobster boats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lobster boats. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 June 2022

The north shore

It couldn’t have been more perfect. We’d had rain which was needed for potatoes and other crops. Now the sun was out and the island breeze, which one can usually rely on, made the heat bearable. Don’t forget the sunscreen!


We packed a picnic and headed to the central north shore to meet Helen and Frank, our Australian friends who are visiting family on the island. Helen is a fellow blogger. They know Prince Edward Island pretty well, so we wanted to show them an area they hadn’t visited before. We met at the wharf at French River.


As we talked and watched boats return to port from their morning at the lobster traps, 





a local mussel fisherman came by and we talked briefly. He doesn’t have a long commute since the buoys are his workplace. 





His family can watch from the living room window.


We proceeded to the New London Lighthouse at Yankee Hill where the view over the dunes is familiar. 





However, the lobster boats returning to port add the human element to this gorgeous setting. 


Gulls and cormorants are usually busy in the area and many photos capture them flying by while the boats speed past. 





The Livin Large was one of a dozen or more boats making their way back to port while we walked the beach. Sometimes, like the Knot Inarush, they looked close enough to touch.





The pylons off-shore still stand against the onslaught of nature. They were certainly meant to last and the metal spikes which hold them together are visible today. 




The birds use the area as a perch.





On the way back to the car, we met two artists sketching the old lighthouse.





The view of the old sentinel was enhanced by the blooms which are bursting forth everywhere these days.





The north shore was in her glory!













Thursday, 5 May 2022

Back to the sea

Fishers are back at sea again since the lobster season opened earlier this week on Prince Edward Island.





Prior to the start of the season, boats are returned to the water, traps and other gear readied. In addition, dredging of the waterways occurs since the sand around the island shifts over the winter and can pose a hazard to the boats.





At Seacow Pond on the northwest corner of the island, this was the scene last week as boats and gear were prepared for the season. 





Boats lined the pond and along the wharf, by each boat, its gear was piled, ready for loading on the big day.





It was interesting to be close enough to see the weight in each trap, which causes it to sink in the water. 





The buoy which is the marker for each trap has a weight as well which keeps the buoy upright in the water. The weights on PEI are concrete, made by the fishers.





On Setting Day, the opening of the season, fishers load the gear and head out to the fishing ground as their families gather along the shoreline to wish them a safe and successful season.





Last week in a nearby inlet, we saw a dredger which was pulled ashore,





allowing us to see the cutter head which bores into the seabed. 





The sand is sucked through the dredger and ejected away from the shipping channel. With the weather co-operating, the dredging done and gear and boats ready, Setting Day was Tuesday.


That day on the northwest coast, we had our picnic lunch in the yard of Christ Church at Kildare Capes, a peaceful setting along the coastline. There is a stained glass window at the back of the church with the words, “Peace be still,” whilst Jesus stands in a boat amid stormy seas. It is a reminder of the danger of working at sea and the faith of many people on the island. 





Meanwhile, as is the tradition with many island families, we are having our first lobster of the season for Mother’s Day this Sunday. Even the children enjoy a meal of lobster. It is a part of island culture which our family enjoys.