Nov 9, 2012

Season of changes for a family of watermen

Amy Davis 1 Comment Maryland, The Baltimore Sun crabs, hurricane, Maryland, Sandy, waterman

Harry Foote Jr., 74, a retired waterman with craggy features, surveys the setting sun gleaming through trees over the fishing boats docked on Armstrong Creek, and remarks, “What killed crabbing this season was that the market dried up. It wouldn’t matter whether we had a hurricane or not. People are broke. Not enough customers. Earlier in the season the crabs were immature. By the middle of September, the crabs are prime, full of meat. September and October were probably our best two months.”

: Retired waterman Harry Foote, Jr., 74, near his home on Armstrong Creek. He has been on the water in eastern Baltimore County his entire life. “As a kid in a 16-foot rowboat on Frog Mortar Creek, you didn’t need a net. You just reached out by hand and picked up the crabs.” (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: On Armstrong Creek, waterman Harry Foote III, known as Captain Harry, stacks his crab pots on a dolly for storage after pulling them out of the water in advance of Hurricane Sandy. Foote was concerned that Hurricane Sally would shorten the crabbing season. “Weather like this drives the crabs away. It wasn’t a good season, and it will end early just like after Hurricanes Irene and Lee.” (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: On Armstrong Creek, Tony Rill of Essex, at center, helps his friends, watermen Harry Foote III, left, and Dave Chiveral, second from left, hose down the crab pots the two watermen had pulled out of the water. Foote decided to pull up his crab pots before Hurricane Sandy hit eastern Baltimore County. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: Kenny Foote, 49, moves a crab pot from his boat docked on Armstrong Creek. The season for catching mature female hard crabs was extended an extra week, through Nov. 17, due to days lost by watermen because of Hurricane Sandy. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: Dave Chiveral of Essex, a waterman, washes crab pots belonging to waterman Harry Foote III on a pier on Armstrong Creek after they pulled the pots up in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. The pots and floats get hosed down, and then repainted before the next season. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: Waterman Harry Foote III hauls away a tower of cleaned crab pots for storage over the winter. He decided to pull hundreds of his crab pots out of the water before Hurricane Sandy arrived so that they wouldn’t be damaged by debris churned up by the storm. This area was hard-hit during Hurricane Isabel. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: Waterman Harry Foote III, known as Captain Harry, stacks his cleaned crab pots at the end of the season. In season sells his crabs for take-out at Captain Harry’s Ridge Crab House in Nottingham. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: Old crab pots and floats belonging to retired waterman Harry Foote Jr., festooned with autumn leaves, are stored outside until the next crabbing season. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: Lines for crabbing are coiled and stored in baskets over the winter. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: Retired waterman Harry Foote, Jr., 74, left, with his son, Kenny Foote, 49, on the pier at Armstrong Creek at dusk. Two of Harry’s three sons, Kenny and Harry III, are also watermen. Harry Foote Jr. said, “You gotta be born into it almost.” (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: Retired Waterman Harry Foote, Jr., 74, with his dog Sandy on the pier on Armstrong Creek at dusk. He said, “Sometimes I go crabbing by myself, and sometimes with a helper.” (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

: Retired Waterman Harry Foote, Jr., 74, looking out at the sunset on Armstrong Creek from his home. He still loves being out on the water in the quiet of the morning. “You gotta be born into it, though,” he says. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources extended the commercial crab season for mature female crabs for six additional days, through November 17, to compensate for the days lost due to Hurricane Sandy. However, Foote’s son, Harry Foote III, pulled his crab pots, maybe 600 or more, from his spots around Hart Miller Island and Tolchester in advance of Hurricane Sandy to avoid the risk of damage from storm debris.

Harry Foote III, 53, who is better known as Captain Harry around Bowleys Quarters, said, “Weather like this drives crabs away. Crabs don’t like fresh water. Once the temperature drops, the crabs start burying back into the mud.” For the younger Foote, the hurricane signaled the end of the crab season.

Captain Harry’s younger brother Kenny Foote, who is also a waterman, is still crabbing after the storm. Their father, who, like them, has been on boats from the time he was old enough to walk, observed, “You gotta be born into it, almost.” The elder waterman added a note of optimism for next year. “If the winter doesn’t kill them, there should be plenty of good crabs in the spring. Nature does what she wants to do, and you ain’t got nothing to do about it.”