After exploring Jewell, we headed off in Kris's skiff to meet up with the lobster boat. We met them in the middle of the bay and just hopped aboard, while Kris anchored the skiff.
That's me on the skiff, with the pirate flag in the background. Still all smiles at this point...
The instant I stepped onto the lobster boat, I felt seasick. I don't know if it was the way the boat was rocking while we were just stalled there or the smell of the bait or what, but I do know that I did NOT feel good. Then I tried to put on bibs (as seen above) and slide my feet into waterproof boots and fought the seasickness the whole time.
Here's a trap coming up onto the boat. If you look closely you can see a couple of lobsters in there. There were five traps per line, so the traps are opened, the lobsters and anything else (sea urchins, star fish, crabs, etc) removed, and the traps are quickly moved to the stern of the boat, where they will eventually fall back into the water.
It's kind of hard to see, but all of that dark stuff on this lobster's tail is roe. Because of this, the lobster's tail has to be notched (hence the knife) and the lobster has to be thrown back into the ocean. Once a lobster's tail has been notched, it can never be harvested, or kept.
Here I am trying to band the lobster claws. It's kind of tricky to do, as the lobsters will flail around and often pinch the rubber band. Also, I had a hard time keeping the rubber bands on that gadget that puts them on the claws. There were literally rubber bands flying all over the boat. Oh plus, I felt like I was going to throw up all over the place. But seasickness aside, the most stressful part of this job is that you're responsible for keeping track of how many lobsters we keep. I didn't even want to talk to anyone so I wouldn't forget how many lobsters I'd banded.
Here's Dan and me in our lobstering bibs. My smile is very forced, as I would rather be puking overboard at this point. Immediately after this picture was taken, I headed up to the bow to stare at the horizon. Unfortunately, I don't have a good action shot of Dan on the boat. But he quickly learned to swing traps, band claws, and bait. Fred said he did a great job!
From my perch on the bow, I took this picture of Admiral Peary's house on Eagle Island. Admiral Peary and a handful of other people were the first humans to set foot on the North Pole in 1909. The house is built to look like a ship--you can see a hull in the stonework around the foundation and porthole windows along the house--and is filled with artifacts from Peary's expeditions.
Since I was still feeling pretty woosy, Cait and I got off the boat before it headed into more open, aka rougher, waters. We spent the next few hours exploring Eagle Island and Admiral Peary's house.
Currently, the house and island are considered to be a Maine State Historical Site and you must pay a small fee to go ashore. However, 20 years or so ago, this wasn't the case and anyone could come onto the island and poke around the house. Apparently, you could open the cupboards and dressers and basically have free reign. It's a wonder it wasn't severely vandalized!
The one caveat to the house now being run more as a museum is that you have to put these silly little blue booties on over your shoes to enter. They're to protect the 100 year old wood floors.
That paper reads: "Admiral Peary's Sheepskin Coat. It was worn on his first expedition to Greenland in 1886. His great grandson, Peary Stafford made this display case." Looks pretty warm to me!
The fireplace has three sides and each one is covered with a different type of stone, all found on the island. On the mantle, you see examples of one of Admiral Peary's other passions: taxidermy.
After visiting the house, Cait and I explored the island and continued our hunt for sea glass. We each found a blue piece here!
This is where the island's caretaker lives. She is employed by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands and is a very nice lady. She offered Cait and me delicious cookies and water, since we'd been on the island for so long. We were very hungry and very appreciative.
When we got back to the mainland, we saw these rare lobsters in a tank at the pier. Pretty neat, huh? While I wish I could have proven myself on the lobster boat, I still had an amazing time exploring Eagle Island with Cait.
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