Every Fisherman Has a Story to Tell
and Every Story is Different –
Part II, 1978-1985

by Sandra Dinsmore

Gotwals helped Howard Heasley finish off a Webber’s Cove 34 at Heasley’s boat shop in Deer Isle. “At that time” Gotwals explained, “a fiberglass boat fit my needs.” He later confessed, “I probably could have kept that boat until I was done fishing.”

 

Gotwals went back to lobstering in the spring of 1978 and that year he bought his second (and voting) share of co-op stock. The following winter, now that he had his first “powerboat” complete with pot hauler, he built traps until he had 250 for the next season. He then hauled those traps every day and somehow also found the time and energy to dig clams.

That year the Stonington Lobster Cooperative’s Board of Directors asked Gotwals, then 23, if he would serve and then elected him to the board. The young fisherman felt honored and supported, he said, “That I was asked personally if I would and that I did get elected was encouraging.”

Gotwals remained a board member for 32 years, though he took a leave of absence for the winter 1981 and the spring and summer of 1982 when he did not fish because he was performing full time in a rock and roll band. In 1989 Gotwals, then 34, became the co-op’s president and held the position of president until 2009, when his then 34-year-old stepson, Jason McDonald was elected president.

“I always felt that it would be better to have some kind of rotation for the presidency,” Gotwals said years later. “I was a little uncomfortable doing it for so long.” Although he thinks most people don’t want the responsibility because it can be time consuming and stressful, Gotwals said, “I feel that the co-op is an important part of the fishing equation in Stonington, and so I stuck with it.”

Bridges said, “Frank Gotwals is a good man, about as good as you’re ever going to meet. Not a soul has ever said a bad thing against him.” Bridges added, “That’s saying quite a lot because when you’re president of a co-op like [Stonington’s], you’ve got—well, we’ve got about a hundred active fishermen and about 300 all told,” [counting the sternmen]. Bridges spoke about the way Gotwals handled members when he was co-op president and concluded, “ I don’t think there’s a better man on this whole island than Frank Gotwals, and I don’t think anybody could tell you any different.”

Those fine compliments aside, Gotwals concedes he made a lot of fishing mistakes. He said, “There were quite a few times I thought if one more thing had gone wrong, I’d have had it.” Despite that, Gotwals said he just kept moving forward as best he could. He admitted to making very different kinds of mistakes as co-op president, but said, “That’s how I learned to do a job for which there was no job description, I guess.”

Nevertheless Gotwals fished that old 32-foot wooden lobsterboat from 1978 to 1981. And no longer having to haul trap after trap by hand gave him the impetus to get out of—to finish—all the carpentry, the winter caretaking, all the extra jobs, so he could concentrate on lobstering. That year, 1981, But that wasn’t all that went on in 1981. Kind of on a whim, according to Gotwals, he auditioned for and landed a job playing guitar and singing with a rock and roll band.

He didn’t go fishing the winter of ‘81 or the spring and summer of ‘82 because he was too busy performing. He also had to go off the co-op’s board of directors. Eventually, Gotwals said, “It became obvious that playing in a band was not going to be financially viable.” He also decided that he preferred fishing to playing rock and roll. “I liked playing the music,” he admitted, “but I really didn’t care for the lifestyle at all. Plus,” he explained, “I felt I had already made a commitment to Donna and the children.”

After mulling over all the pros and cons, Gotwals decided he needed to have a better boat than his old wooden 32, which by then needed extensive work. Instead, he helped Howard Heasley finish off a Webber’s Cove 34 at Heasley’s boat shop in Deer Isle, which is no longer there. “At that time” Gotwals explained, “a fiberglass boat fit my needs.” He later confessed, “I probably could have kept that boat until I was done fishing.”

Since the canny fisherman had been socking money away towards his next boat, that money and a small amount he was able to borrow gave him what he needed. “This was 1983,” he said.” I put that boat in the water, finished, for $25,000.” Admitting that he cut some corners, Gotwals called the Webber’s Cove 34, “a pretty basic job.” (Part of this “pretty basic job” was a gas engine.)

“After I stopped playing full time with the rock band,” Gotwals said, “ I was part of a local rock/pop group. We played at the Legion Hall in Stonington in the summer and also did quite a few weddings and private parties.”

Between 1983 and 1990 Gotwals combined lobstering and being the co-songwriter in a band playing original rock tunes. “We did some traveling,” he said, “and actually had some interest from a record label. My partner also wrote some advertising jingles, and we did live sound for several acts at The Grand, in Ellsworth. (We owned a studio where we recorded our music.)” Gotwals and his partner were forced to call it quits when his partner developed Melanoma and had to start treatment.

“All this time,” Gotwals said, “I was always lobstering. I also did a little diving for sea urchins and scallops, but really didn’t have the time to do that and go lobstering.”

For the next three winters, Gotwals scalloped from his fiberglass Webber’s Cove 34. When he first started winter fishing, he said wire traps were just beginning to replace wooden ones, there was no such thing as a chart plotter (GPS), and there were no where near as many lobsters as there are now. He called winter fishing cold, rough, and unpredictable, but added, “I actually enjoyed it.” Asked what was enjoyable about fishing in “cold, rough, and unpredictable weather,” Gotwals stated that he has always enjoyed physical work and commented that if he hadn’t liked to read, he probably would have stayed outdoors all the time as a child. He went on to say that although fishing for lobster takes, “Plenty of physical work, it also takes a good deal of thought and mental preparation.” He spoke of the challenge of learning to deal with the highs and lows of a seasonal fishery and said, “I’ve always tried to find the right balance between all my interests so that I made a decent living and was also able to be available as a parent and husband.” (He and Donna married in 1983.)

“Back when I started,” Gotwals said, “almost everyone did some kind of fishing all year.” Although most went scalloping, Gotwals noted that some dragged for mussels and some did ground fishing. He said he had a few pretty good winters when the price and weather cooperated, but he never counted on making much in winter. He always felt he gained a bit in fall and spring.

Although Gotwals liked winter fishing, he stopped scalloping in 1985 for two reasons: “By the mid-80s,” he said, “scalloping locally was much diminished, and I decided I wasn’t ever all that fond of scalloping. There were a lot of people doing it, but not many people lobstered all year round, so I just decided I wanted to try that.”

In 1985, Gotwals started lobstering all year. He didn’t catch much the first year. Gradually, though, he improved and lobstered year round for ten winters. “When I started winter fishing,” he said, “wire traps were just beginning to replace wooden ones; there was no such thing as a chart plotter (GPS), and there were nowhere near as many lobsters as there are now. We did have Loran C by then,” he continued, “but you still had to use paper charts for location.” Gotwals took a sternman with him most of the time.

He later said, “Every fisherman goes about things in [his] own way—not so much different than people in general. Different circumstances and different priorities lead to individual choices.” And recently watching all the other boats out lobstering, Gotwals said he was once again struck by the opportunity lobstering offers to be an individual in a way that few professions do today. “Every one of those men and women out there does it differently,” he said. “It’s pretty special to have that opportunity in today’s world.” But, he stated, “I don’t think my story is any more or less important or interesting than anyone else’s.”

Part III will be published in the November 2013 issue.