Hop on the Pontoon....Lets visit Historic Derby Wharf.. Salem Mass.

[Ron J]

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Beautiful boating day today!! Took the Pontoon over to Historic Derby Wharf, in Salem. Passed through the usual bridges,Salem Willows, past Winter Island,former Coast Guard Air/Sea rescue station,[attachment 64726 TheFriendship039.jpg] Winter Island Light, to Derby Light, which is located at the tip of Derby Wharf.[attachment 64727 TheFriendship002.jpg] Derby Wharf was home of many sailing vessels,in its day. Most belonged to the East India Trading Co. Wish i could go back in time for a day,just to see all the ships,unloading the cargo from all over the,then known World. Derby Wharf is part of the Salem Maritime National Park.[attachment 64728 TheFriendship005.jpg]You can see the Tallship Friendship,and another sailor.The building on the right is the Custom House.I think it may have been the first one in the U.S.,but don't hold be to that! Its fully restored,right down to the Gold Eagle on the roof. The sailing ship on the left is the "Lettie G. Howard".[attachment 64729 TheFriendship006.jpg][attachment 64730 TheFriendship008.jpg][attachment 64731 TheFriendship007.jpg] Don't know much about her,but i believe you can day cruise with her crew. Derby Wharf is one place i would love to detect,specially at low tide! Can you imagine how much was dropped overboard for a hundred or more years?? But its all National Park territory! I have seen guys digging sea worms there,with no hassle,hmmmm,how can i camo my Excalibur to look like a pitchfork?? In the 60's there used to be a WWII Submarine you could go on,but the idiots sold it for scrap in the Seventies. Guess i was lucky to visit the Sub when i was 16 or so. It was quite cramped,as i remember. Stay tuned,,next the Tallship.. RJ

 

[George-CT]

batteries I see on each light house?

 

[Sunny]

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[Royal]

on a pontoon, just a cruising and seeing the sights. We don't have those sites around here.

I toured a sub in Baltimore and also went on the Constellation, the sister ship to the Constitution. It was amazing to me how dang cramped they were!

Those old tall ships have to be expensive to maintain

 

[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

One of these days Piper and I are gonna look into a couple of colonial times shipping docks that were located on the shores of lake Erie, not far from here. Most of the water hunters around here snoop the modern beaches for jewellery. That won't be me. I'd much prefer the earlier artifacts. Gotta get me a water machine first though. So much to do.....so little time !

 

[Wayne in BC]

could you dig seaworms with a shovel/screen set up and maybe a bucket for water?

 

[Ron J]

Those suckers can pinch good,and move quickly. The Clam rake,is like a pitch fork with wide fingers,bent a little over a right angle. maybe a 18" wooden handle. Back breaking too! Bait shops will buy them,as long as they are FRESH! I haven't dug seaworms since i was maybe 10,but still got two rakes, kicking around in the shed.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

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[Ron J]

i would have thought there were two living in the shed also! All edited! By the way, you dig seaworms at low tides,in the mud. They are not earthworms,like in your yard, for fresh water fishing. And yes,they do have little pinchers,and are larger in size.

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

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[George-CT]

the boat yard, we also had a bait shop. They would ship our Sandworms down from Maine about every other day in these big tomato flats. each had 2 dozen sand worms in it. They had the pincher's and some were pretty big and could give you a hurting. I built up quite a business in the morning with fishermen going out for flat fish and other fish. There were a lot of black folks who came and they would go all day and fish for all kinds of fish with them. Anytime I had small ones I would cull thru the box and put them aside so everyone got the big ones and save the smaller ones as just extras for the just about every day black fishermen. Great bunch of guys and women for that matter and they kept me going every summer from early spring to fall. All I had to do was run across the river to New London, where the train would drop them off. Worked pretty good. Most of these came from up by the Bay of Fundy I was told where they have the big tides. I had been there many times but never to dig worms but to pickup finished boats from Eastport Maine. Thats the furthis point east in the USA.

I had forgotten about them sand worms till your post. The black fishermen would stop buy to fuel up on the way in and often they would be cleaning their fish. If we had a spare frierlator free we would cook then up for them with chips for nothing. They were great customers and friends. Then they got on a kick up deep frying eels. They liked them I didn't, then towards fall it was Tommy Cods and smelt. Later fall was big Black fish. they were really good. Fluke were my favorites. Most of them fished for them with Sea clams, or live mummy chugs on spinners. These guys made my day. Always laughing, never tired to stiff you for anything, unlike some. I had one guy there, pretty old, I'd say late 60's and had a row boat with a small outboard on it. Lived on a pension of not much up over us in the hotel. He would always come help me if he thought I needed it. In return I kept his boat for him at a low dock so he could board it for free, and I drained the outboard oil cans then. After 2 days or so I would have a full quart can of outboard oil from drippings and would give it to him with his fuel. He was there for maybe 10 years and then passed away. That one hurt as this was as gentle of man you would want to meet.

Jeeze, strange how one post can trigger all these memories...

Geo

 

[Ron J]

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[Wayne in BC]

there was no better bait for bottom fish when we were kids, but they took a few chunks out of us!
At low tide we would catch Octopus and sell them to the Chinese people, getting a nickel for small ones, maybe 16 inch's across and up to a quarter for those that were 30 inch or bigger, that size were uncommon in shallow water but a cause for celebration in the days when a weeks allowance was 20 cents for a fair bit of work!

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

It appears that you would need to wear gloves to handle them. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[VT Dave]

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