21 July - Sunset sail around Mark Island, Penobscot Bay 44:08.24N 68:55.21W

Opus
Bridget & Nick Gray
Mon 21 Jul 2014 16:01
In the afternoon Claude and Benj brought the Laser dinghy from Bici's house to play around with in the harbour then the rest of the family arrived and we went for a sunset sail across Penobscott Bay, around Mark Island. The most remarkable thing to us - the thousands of lobster pots in these waters. It is a wonder there are any lobster left and makes sailing more like a slalom course. In fact this is one of the most sustainable lobster fishing areas in the world and as a result supplies 25% of the worlds lobster. There are strict rules about the size that can be sold and they throw back small ones, pregnant ones (having harmlessly notched the tail to keep track of how often they breed here), unusually large ones ( to return to the gene pool) and 'shedders' (in the process off or recently have shed their shell - presumably achieve a lower price and often too small).
The evening was spent at Sabine Farm again, with delicious pizza thanks to Clarinda, Rick and Isabel.

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