Message from a Captain-Changing Times
Message from the Cap’n is a compilation of fishing advice, waterman and weather insights, Chesapeake lore, and ordinary malarkey from the folks who keep their feet wet in the Potomac and St. Mary’s rivers.
They looked like they had long rubber bands for tails as they were scurrying around the massive drum used as an anchor. For minutes on end, we watched what was going on in the river.
Very quiet most days. Not so much at the nighttime when the mosquito fleet came out from both sides of the Potomac River. Nighttime drudging was a “Divine Right” in those days for anything that might float. Easy money for about three hours worth of work and a fine Eastern Shore captain, Otis Evans, to buy them around midnight. Cap’n Otis in his little round stern buy boat would leave Smith Island at sunset and get to St. George Island bridge in time to buy a jag of oysters.
Life was good, plenty of oysters, drudging as a fleet, they took care of one another. Somebody was always “watching for the Man” (Department of Natural Resources cop).
The hand tonger and hand scraper had to adjust to the times with the eclectic winder to bring the tongs and dredges to the surface. Saved were the wrists, elbows, and rotator cuffs
And the DNR also had to change with the times. Tight budgets and lack of manpower demanded that high-tech gadgetry become involved to monitor the fisheries
Drones launched from a boat or vehicle give enforcement “eyes in the sky.” From aloft, a drone can tell the controller the exact time on a waterman’s watch some miles distant.
Cap’n Jack
Several watermen were arrested locally for oyster violations of “over the limit” and undersized oysters.
The Eyes in the Sky should serve notice that times have changed. And that we do not have that “Divine Right” anymore.
Till next time, remember “It’s Our Bay, Let’s Pass It On.”
To learn about tours and trips into the Chesapeake, keep in touch with Fins + Claws on Facebook. Catch up on Messages from the Cap’n Member Page. Please visit Cap’n Jack’s lore and share with your social media sites. Or reach him at [email protected] or 240-434-1385.
