October 12, 2014 — The 2014 Working Waterfront Festival held Sept. 27 and 28 featured a variety of competitions throughout the weekend. Participants tested their mettle in whaleboat and survival suit races; a tugboat muster; fishing skills such as net mending, splicing, link squeezing, and scallop shucking; and a seafood throwdown. Each event showcased a variety of industry skills, engaging the public in learning about different aspects of the fishing industry.
The Buzzards Bay Rowing Club hosted whaleboat races on Saturday morning. Tropicans won "Best Dressed" and "Most Theatrical," while Shiverin' Timbers were deemed "Most Enthusiastic." Race results can be found on the club website, www.buzzardsbayrowing.org, under Events.
Area tugs converged on the harbor Saturday afternoon for the annual tugboat muster organized by Charlie Mitchell, captain of the Tug Jaguar, and emceed by his brother Bob, of R.A. Mitchell Company. While not a formal contest, tug crews showed their skill and the strength of their boats of all sizes with demonstrations of hawser tossing, turning, and pushing.
Rodney Avila and Ted Williams of Hercules SLR US presented safety demos including a life raft deployment and man overboard drill, as well as a survival suit race to give visitors a sense of the dangers of commercial fishing and the safety protocol that fishermen practice to remain safe at sea.
On Saturday ,groundfishing skills were highlighted with a net-mending competition emceed by net designer Tor Bendiksen of Reidar's Manufacturing, and a rope splicing contest emceed by Barbara Merry of Marlinspike Artist. Winners of the net mending competition were Meghan Lapp, Geoffrey Hatfield and Sarah Fortin, while Kevin Curole of Grand Isle, Louisiana, won the splicing contest.
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