A visit with Osmond Beal: Corned Hake & ginger cake

by Brian Robbins 

BEALS ISLAND, ME – The thermometer was struggling to get above zero – and who knew what it was with the wind chill.

It was a Saturday, the end of a week that reminded you of what winters in Maine used to be: cold with plenty of snow.

You ought to ask boat builder/designer Osmond Beal about the way winters used to be.  He knows all about it.

After all, he and his father Vinal built 14 boats together outside years ago … that’s what they did winters when they weren’t fishing.

And if the day was so bad that they couldn’t work on the boat they were building, well, they’d go clamming.

A man still had to make a living, after all.

On this day, however, we’re sitting in the living room of Osmond and his wife Barbara’s home on Beals Island, ME: Osmond and I are in comfy chairs facing each other; Barbara is on the couch beside my wife Tigger, asking her about the knitting project she’s working on.

There’s no boat to build this winter – inside or outside.  Osmond, who will be turning 87 a few days after our visit, suffered a stroke a couple of years ago and it has slowed him up about getting around.

I know that not being able to work aggravates him, as a man who has kept busy all his life.  But his spirits are good – and that smile of his is just as quick as I’ve always known it to be.

And when we get talking about boats … well, he’s right there.

We’re talking about Osmond and his father having to shovel out whatever wooden boat they were building after a snowstorm before they could begin their day’s work…

To get access to the rest of this story you’ll need to purchase the FEBRUARY 2018 issue of Commercial Fisheries News.

Please choose from the following options:  

• BUY a Single PRINT edition of CFN that is delivered by MAIL. PRINT EDITION

• Quickly enjoy ONLINE access with our Hi-DEF flip-book. PURCHASE THIS ONLINE EDITION

•  Shop the Online ARCHIVE

(Read online flip-book immediately with purchased access key and download a copy for yourself to keep.
Not sure if it works for you? Try a FREE SAMPLE HERE.)

• SAVE BIG when you SUBSCRIBE!