Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/514590
104 299 Cambridge Street Winchester, MA 01890 781-756-1026 www.TheGablesAtWinchester.com ©2015 Five Star Quality Care, Inc. C A L L 78 1 -75 6 -1 02 6 TO L E A R N M O R E ! INDEPENDENT LIVING • ASSISTED LIVING • RESPITE/ SHORT-TERM STAYS Pet Friendly Enjoy A Sweet Summer A T T H E G A B L E S A T W I N C H E S T E R YOU'LL LOVE OUR: • Five Star Dining Experience • Lifestyle 360 activities program • Attentive 24-hour care • Contemporary Café, Wellness Center & more for scallops one day, he noticed the sky darkening overhead. He looked up and found not clouds passing in front of the sun, but Poco, who remained a companion for three days, bumping him in the backside and toying with his tools, before heading north along the coast. Not every dive is so frolicsome, however—as with all fishing, it can quickly turn dangerous. Last summer, a scallop diver drowned after getting caught up in his line a few miles outside of Marblehead Harbor. Bates understands his limits and has layered on precautions over the years—not to mention a strong sense of what works and what doesn't. The fit 62-year-old used to dive from January to June but has since limited his season to the warmer months after a few treacherous winter encounters when his boat came loose from its anchor. Each time, he found himself in bone-chilling January water, a half-mile or more from his boat with limited air left in his tank. "There were no other boats around," Bates says, explaining that he considered swimming to a nearby island, but knew the waist-deep snow would offer little protection. "It was my youth that saved me then," he says, recalling that long frigid swim back to his boat (and the 100 pounds of scallops he had to drop to make it back alive). The chances of a sudden unpredictable change in wind and weather are much smaller in spring and sum- mer, Bates says—not to mention the bay is usually teem- ing with boats that may keep an eye out for a distressed diver. Bates is used to working solo—he hooks one end of the zipper on his dry suit over a cleat so he can zip up the back on his own. Gearing up also involves a mas- sive dive watch, mask, and flippers—rubber, not plastic, which is lighter, less durable, and less powerful. To sink down the ocean bed, about 60 feet or so where he is anchored this day, Bates straps on a 40-pound weight belt, then adds his tank—another 40 pounds—before slipping into the water. When he surfaces about 20 minutes later, he is laden with 100 pounds or so of scallops as well. The shells look battle- worn, the instantly recognizable shapes covered with barnacles and vegetation. Each likely took six or seven years to reach the 4.5-inch shell size that Bates collects. Some occasionally also harbor finger-sized mud hake that have a symbiotic relationship with the scallops. Shucking scallops comes with little of the pain of oysters—the crate full of bivalves makes a snapping noise as they clap their shells open and closed without any outside force. Unlike clams and oysters, scallops can't clamp their shells tightly closed, which is one of in-depth LIVE