Repairs at Pirate's Cove--Ready to Go! Newport News Scallop Fleet Photos

By Jim Field

Today I drove down to Pirate's Cove with a single purpose in mind: to get the Sea Ya Bea's generator up and running again. Mission accomplished. Left the house at 5:00 am and met Danny the mechanic from Gregory Poole Power Systems (out of Wanchese) pier side. Danny is an ace with Westerbeke's, and had it running in 10 minutes. Problem turned out to be loose connections on the bus bars due to screws backing off over time with vibration. He then went on to check out fuel filter, impeller, heat exchanger, belt, and replaced single zinc. Spoke to me about care and maintenance tips. Fantastic guy! Will use him again--every time.

(Note: yesterday Danny worked on a new-construction Spencer 52, installing Cat engines rated at 1,900 horsepower each. He said the engine room was beautiful.)

The day was overcast, windy and chilly. Yesterday was 55 and warm. The marina was dead--no one around. I performed some other maintenance items (Clorox bleach in fresh water tank, fuel treatment additive in fuel tank, checked lines), and then headed back.

Working my way through Norfolk, and then upon exiting the tunnel into Newport News, I spotted a fishing fleet to my immediate right and exited the highway. I had noticed these boats before, just never had time to stop. Today I did. I walked up and down the peer and found some men working on one of the boats. I asked what the fleet fished for. One man, a friendly sort, said scallops. Here's a few other things he told me:

- there are about 450 permits for scallop fishing on the east coast
- about 20 part-time permits
- the fishery is highly regulated
- he has been Captain of his boat for 20 years, but did not own it
- he fished off Cape Cod mostly; they rotate the open fishing grounds
- can fish as north as Newfoundland
- his boat hadn't been out since September 10
- I asked him how they made a living at this
- he responded: you make a lot when you catch them
- he volunteered that he made $120,000 a year from this, working 6 months

Up close, many of the boats are battered and ill-kept. Remember: every year we hear about scallop boats sinking off Maryland and Virginia, attributed by survivors to poorly-maintained vessels.

Here are a few pictures from today:

Repaired, fueled, filled, charged, and ready to go


The fairway at Pirate's Cove--very, very quiet


One of the veteran scallop boats


Man who owns these, owns five more just like them

Heavy planers at top are lowered into water for stability


Controlling the moving rigging from a protected house


All in all, a good day today. Let's pray for time to fish and good weather.