gone to haul

If you are a lobsterman and you go to work, you go to haul your traps or just "to haul".   So if you are not on land, but on your boat working, you have "gone to haul."

Last week, the girls went "to haul" for the first time this year.  

 I said, "Girls, if you want to haul lobsters and make money, you need bait.  Learn to love that smell."

I think this picture of Maya and Makenna is hilarious.  Maya has practically no bottom and Makenna's new pants were just too big, but either way the matching buttless girls were too much for me to resist. 

 This is Ella's second summer with an official student lobster fishing license.  It means that she can have 10 traps in the water, tagged along with her grandfather and fished out of his boat.  The other three, and I, just go along because it is so fun.

Beals Island from the sea.  I have such a deep affection for this place.  It really has become my second home. 

 This is Brevan's first year fishing his 10 traps and he is all about "going to haul".  He even loves the bait and offered to bait all of Ella's pockets for her (those are the mesh sacks that hold the bait and lure the lobsters in).  Ella was quick to accept the offer.

 The first trap!

 Putting bands on the lobsters is a tough job for small hands!

 These two remind me precisely of the two Muppets that sat up in the balcony making jokes.

 

Baby lobster.

 Not a bad first day!

Together with us, Ella has made up a system to divide her money from fishing.  She has allotted percentages to savings, to her sister and to spend.  I taught her about putting money aside to things she wants to save for.  I explained that this is what I do to save money for vacation, for bigger purchases, and what I did for our wedding.  So out of her "spending" money, she can either keep it on hand or put some of it in one of the labeled envelopes for what she is planning ahead for.  For now she has an envelope that says "shoes" and one that says "clothes."   Today we made a trip to the bank for her to deposit the percent that goes to her savings.

I cannot tell you how proud we are of our big girl who seems to me making all the connections: hard work means money earned, that bait is a good thing, that she is very fortunate to have a Grampie who can give her this opportunity, that her savings account is actually still hers and that designating money and saving up for something is the way to responsibly manage money.

Our little fisherman (fishergirl?  fisherwoman?) "out to haul".