Yes, I've officially become a member of the hallowed fraternity of Scallopers.Today, an Island friend took me on his small boat and we hunted bay scallops.
Yes, I wore special underwear as well as a fleece vest and my Black Dog cap. The temperature of outside air was moderate, but on the sea as we boated to Vineyard Haven Lagoon, it sank. Chilly.
After arriving, my friend (Bob Huss) showed me what to do. He had two very heavy Draggers--heavy metal chains forming a basket, hooked to a heavy metal hook. Connected to the boat by long strong ropes.
We threw the Draggers o'erboard and Bob advanced the boat a hundred yards or so, with the Draggers dragging on the bottom. Then he paused the boat and we hand-over-handed the ropes (like ringing a church bell) until the Draggers--even heavier now with content--were aboard. Then we dumped the contents and searched for Scallops.
We found many crabs, which eat the Scallops, and lots of other thingies from the bottom as well as seaweed aplenty. The catches were scarce on scallops so we had to do it about a dozen times. By that time, my arms were so weak I couldn't lift the Dragger to the boat without Bob's help. Finally we had about a bushel and headed for port.
Then Bob showed me how to shell the scallops. A bit like cutting oysters, using a similar knife. I wonder what the early Americans used since they lacked metal knives. Special stone tools?
The photo shows me with my portion of the catch, which was liberal since Bob easily shucked 4 times what I did. I plan to cook them with butter...
and they are delicious!
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