Turner Cove Isle Au Haut, Maine

USING YOUR ASSETS

The dock is a place for sea stories to be told; some old,
some new. This one is old.

Three men set out in a dory one day from Plum Island to
catch a mess of mackerel. You could do that in those days;
feed a family if you needed to from the pleasurable efforts
of a couple hours in a boat.

The fishing was good and they had a a few buckets full when
the wind picked up. They started back but soon the sea was
breaking as they rowed. Waves splashed over their stern
as they struggled to bail and the added water slowed their
progress.

Suddenly, one fellow had an inspiration. He was built very
broad abeam so that he had trouble sitting in small chairs.
But he turned his width into an asset when he sat himself
across the stern. Now the waves broke on his broad back-
side while one man rowed and the other finished bailing.
They made it back through the surf, cold and wet, but
thankful for their big-bottomed buddy.