Coming To Harbours This Fall

There comes a time in every man’s life when he just needs a new damn boat, a point which Curtis Halliday of Shag Harbour has finally reached.

For thirteen years he’s captained the Whispering Hope, a sturdy craft from which he’s trapped lobster, harpooned swordfish and hooked tuna. He’s even retrofitted her, making her longer, wider, and installing live wells to house his caught crustaceans. And by the end of the spring season, she’ll be for sale, her replacement still awaiting assembly.

As Curtis thus far envisions her, his new ship will be 40 feet long in the water with an eight foot overhang, and be 24 feet wide with state-of-the-art live wells, equipped with outstanding filtration and circulation systems, ammonia alarms and other features ensuring the longevity of lobster stored therein. This here will not be a small ship.

“We’ll have a bit more boat under us,” said Curtis, a luxury he can more than justify.

A larger boat can stand up to harsh weather more easily than his relatively modest Whispering Hope, allowing him to stay at sea for perhaps two nights as a time rather than one. It’ll allow him to carry all of his traps at once come setting day, rather than making a second trip to grab the last 75. By the same token he’ll be able to haul up more traps at a time and streamline his work day, saving fuel. This ship comes with piece of mind for him and his crew.=

“In fishing, the vessel is the backbone of your whole enterprise,” said Curtis.

The hull of this new ship, which he’s playfully named the Haul A Day (Halliday), was manufactured by Douglas Mood of MDM Boatbuilders, Wood Harbour. Chris described their product as “one of the more seagoing hulls” of which many people speak highly. When the spring lobster season is through, Curtis and his crew will make a ship out of this hull, and launch the Haul A Day in pursuit of fall lobster.

The financing of his new craft was Curtis’ first experience with the Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture Loan Board, whose rates even his bank admitted could not be beaten.

“It takes a bit of the pressure off,” he said of the Loan Board’s flexibility. “If you’ve had a bad year, they don’t want to see you fail.”