July 21, 2014 — Andy Gove has figured out a surefire solution to staying warm while lobstering in the icy waters of Penobscot Bay.
“I take my long johns off on the Fourth of July,” Gove says, “and put ‘em back on on the fifth.”
That’s advice from a man who knows what he’s talking about. Gove got his first lobster license in 1937.
“I haven’t missed a year since,” he says.
When he was young boy, his grandfather wouldn’t let him out on the water until he was strong enough to row a boat by himself. So, at age 6 …
“My grandfather tied me to a piece of pipe,” he says, “I remember it being 6, 8 feet long, … and when I got good enough so I could drag it down the beach a little, he let me go.”
On a calm, sunny morning in June, Gove, 84, stands on the spotless deck of Uncle’s UFO – his 36-foot lobster boat.
Gove was nicknamed “uncle” years ago by some of the younger fishermen. UFO stands for unidentified floating object.
He counts the other boats bobbing in the water nearby.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,” he says. “Seven boats ahead of us.”
Read the full story and watch the video from The Portland Press Herald