Muscle Memory

Today I scored a lobster sampling trip with a fisherman who had straight-out refused me last year. This week my timing was impeccable and I ended up aboard. His sternman was unavailable so Riley had planned to haul solo. He jumped at the prospect of free help. I rescheduled my meetings to take the trip, since he goes fishing consistently in most weather and would be a dependable trip option in the future.

I wore 2 hats today: 1.) state observer and 2.) Lobstah Gal. I was a little squeaky at the sternlady gig at first, but my muscles quickly remembered the motions a few traps in. My arms remembered how to band lobsters quickly, how to bait a trap and pull it back as cap breaks the second trap of the pair on the rail, and how to stand traps on the stern with minimal lifting. My back also remembered the aches of a long day on the water, which seem to be more pronounced with each year.

Riley was glad to have the help and when we reached the original goal of hauling 180 traps he said how much time I'd saved him had he gone alone. In fact, things went so efficiently that we ended up hauling ~50 more traps than the minimum number that he had anticipated. He expressed his gratitude by offering me lobsters for dinner, but I was too tired to cook them and kindly declined.

When my food and water ran out, my energy started flagging and I think Riley noticed the number of prefilled bait bags was dwindling with my battery life. I was glad to see my hometown appear on the horizon as we pointed the bow home.

What I appreciated most about the day was the feeling of working side-by-side with someone, anticipating their actions and facilitating their next move, like a well-oiled machine. There's a comradery in relying on someone to bail you out if you get in a pinch on the boat and them relying in turn on you. A boat is an island that isn't easy to access if you need help. The feeling of mutual reliance on eachother is a unique one on the water that I haven't experienced equally on land. Luckily, helping eachother today just entailed little things; I helped Riley untangle a snarl and he helped me by setting all of the 'short' (undersized) lobsters aside in a basket for me to measure (normally they'd throw straight back in the water).

It was a productive day. Perhaps next time I ask Riley for a trip, he won't hesitate to say 'yes'.