Maine Events: The Forbidden Fruit . . .

Maine lobster buoy on Gooseberry Island granite, Deer Isle Archipelago, Stonington, Maine, USA, August
Paddle partner: “Look at this one. So perfect! I’m taking it home with me!”

Me: “Are you nuts! You aren’t supposed to touch those things. Not even if they are abandoned on an island.”

Paddle partner: “I wonder if it will fit in one of my kayak hatches?”

Me: “No way. Not in a Maelstrom Vaag 174 sea kayak.”

Paddle partner: “I’ll strap it on the back deck.”
Maelstrom Vital 166, Maelstrom Vaag 174, Gooseberry Island, Deer Isle Archipelago, off Stoninton, Maine, USA
Me: “What! Not if you paddle with us. You’ll be target practice . . . what if they miss!”

Maine paddle buddies: Standing there in complete silence.

Everyone knows, you don’t mess with the lobstermen’s buoys or traps, on land or sea.

But we were in a minefield of “Forbidden Fruit”. It was everywhere. So tempting!

“Maybe just one, just once?”

Then it hit me too . . . I picked up a lost lobster buoy on Russ Island.
“Look at this one. It’s so nice. A real Maine lobster buoy. Maybe it will fit in the hatch of my Maelstrom Vital 166 sea kayak.”

Maine paddle buddies: Still standing there in complete silence, smiling quietly, wondering what disease had suddenly befallen their Canadian paddle mates and destroyed their common sense.

We were in the heart of Maine lobster territory in the Deer Isle Archipelago, just off Stonington on the Atlantic Ocean during the busy harvesting season in August.

We were not prepared for the temptation.

Paddle partner: “Wouldn’t this one look nice hanging up in our living room . . . ?”

Suddenly the fog in my head cleared.

What! Hanging up somewhere in our house . . . ! This big Styrofoam thing! It’s cute now, but . . .

Me: “How about we just take a picture of you with it instead and leave it here?"

"It doesn’t belong to us. Someone may come to fetch it. Like the lobster boat that owns it!”

Maine paddle buddies: “Now, that’s a fine idea.”

I’ve named this disease “The Maine lobster buoy forbidden fruit virus”.

It’s a deadly and highly contagious disease.

But, there is a cure! Here it comes!!!

What’s this all about?
See the first Maine Events

Happy Paddles
(c) The BaffinPaddler

Comments

  1. PenobscotPaddlesFebruary 22, 2012 at 8:53 AM

    There once were paddlers four,
    Who found lobster buoys by the score
    But to take them away
    Is a crime, so they say
    So they left them on Gooseberry’s shore.

    (Reluctantly.... But at least they have their photos!)

    http://www.maine.gov/dmr/rm/lobster/guide/index.htm#gearmolest

    ReplyDelete
  2. BaffinpaddlerFebruary 22, 2012 at 7:14 PM

    Nice poem! Thanks for the link to the law too. Not everyone is aware of the rules when visiting.

    ReplyDelete

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