Soon after he started building drags for neighboring fishermen which evolved into Herbert R. Grindle Welding. Being 10 years old at that time, underfoot and curios I found myself pulling the handle on the drill press and striking an arc or two with a muffled voice coming from the helmet behind me giving direction. In the early years he scalloped with the Susan Joy and eventually purchased a new 34
Duffy which he named the Nora Bea. I was fortunate to fish on both boats with him and learned the hard way never to bring a blue lunch box on a boat where the captain believed that blue was bad luck. The last I saw of that lunch box it was drifting down the reach with my dinner in it. Over the course of 20 years the fishery in the Eggemoggin reach dried up, the offshore fishery flourished and drag building became a year round full time occupation for dad. I recall times when he would get orders for 30 rock drags at a time and there was nothing but a cloud of welding smoke emitting from the shop with myself and Bonnie Billings welding up frames, wear pads and head bales so as to get the orders out the door and on time. Drag purchases spanned the coast from Eastport to New Jersey. Not being content building drags and feeling the need to be on the water I found myself seeing the world through the portholes of many a boat as most of us from the Island did in those days. I think Captain Gene Eaton on the Flying Yankee gave us all our first taste of the offshore fishery as he liked to hire the local talent and it took a big gang to handle 9 rock drags swinging from the mast. Being exposed to boats fishing sweeps and dumping on the floor led us to believe there was an easier way to handle gear, we found an old sweep and carted it to my dads shop and asked him to build one. He thought we were crazy but agreed to do so. As sweep production evolved head bales were shortened, baffle plates were steepened and the overall frame lightened to allow the inshore boats with lighter rigging to fish a chain sweep. I fished a 8' sweep on the Donna Marie for Bennie Beal and in later years purchased the Tidewalker which we originally rigged with 7 rock drags and also fished a 8', 7', and 5' sweep. Dad had no shortage of ideas and we found the Tidewalker to be a good testing platform for them. Bonnie Billings had become dads right hand man while i was seeing the world through a porthole and Bonnie eventually spun off on his own and started Billings Welding. There was always a fall rush for drags and I would spend a month or so building drags with dad and keeping up with his jig upgrades and inventions. The year the 5' law went into effect made for some exciting times as we built in the range of 40 5' sweeps that fall. Dads passing in the summer of 92 seemed to be in sync with the declining scallop population and demand for drags. I closed the doors to his shop and in keeping with his wishes kept the lid closed on his recipe box. My recently opened outboard motor business was keeping me more than busy and seeing piles of scallop gear on the Deer Isle dump led me believe there was no future in building drags. I soon after sold the Tidewalker and became a flatlander with the exception of a day trip now and then with my brother in law Mike Eaton on his scallop boat. Crossing the bridge every morning to my flatlander job has been a taunting task the past couple of winters with gull surrounded scallop boats working the Eggemoggin reach. A sight I thought I would never see again in my lifetime but one that makes me want to stop the truck, get out and kick myself in the ass for giving up my scallop license. With that door of my life closed and locked I am fortunate to have another to open. And that would be the door of a fully equipped drag building shop that was closed 24 years ago. Modest improvements have been made, equipment is being upgraded as needed but I still build them the way I was taught by Herbie Grindle. I am fortunate to have my son in law Mat Carter working with me and can only hope that my new grandson will be pulling on that drill press handle in a few years so that there will be no more 24 year lapses in production. Time will tell.
