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Buoys

My love affair with fishing buoys began in the early 1960s when, as a research student in biology, I worked on lobster boats in Port Clyde, Maine. Up to that time fishermen had made their own lath traps and carved their own marker buoys but already plastics and bleach bottles were creeping in, as were the plastic coated wire traps. Every trap had a marker buoy vividly painted in the identifying colors of the owner, sometimes, but not often, with the owners license number (now mandatory). Since those halcyon days wooden lobster buoys have all but disappeared, replaced by those soul-less and anonymous plastic offences! But they are light weight and low maintenance.

For years I have scoured the East coast villages for those old painted buoys. In Nova Scotia one can occasionally find those rare but wonderful fishtail buoys, used as net and long-line markers or as mooring buoys. There were elegantly shaped torpedo buoys, and shapely ball buoys. But best of all, seen only once, was a whale-tail buoy – Oh, what I’d give for one of those today! In beautiful Maine, where there are still a few colorful ball buoys to be found, many of the lobster buoys bear little upright wooden spars to make them more visible.

On a recent trip to Newfoundland my wife and I went up and down the great Northern Peninsula, going into every tiny cove and tickle hunting the elusive buoys. In only one small village in the south-west were wooden buoys still in use. Elsewhere, the ubiquitous bleach bottle ruled supreme. According to fishermen and wharf-side loafers, most of the old buoys were burned long ago as stove wood. Tragic. None the less, a few trap markers and leader buoys were uncovered including a pair of unique "plank and spar" buoys found nowhere else. We boxed them up and toted them home as checked baggage – all except the one which went into my wife’s suitcase. And my personal carry-on baggage was a model fishing boat!

Item #EA-04-NS18 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY
		Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling Quantity: 1 Dimensions: 11 ¾" x 3 ¼" x 3 " Description: An almost square in cross-section, well used painted wooden lobster buoy from Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, fished in the 1940s, in pale gray paint with a light green band.	.

Item #EA-04-NS20 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY
		Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling Quantity: 1 Dimensions: 12" x 4 ¼" x 3" Description: This wooden lobster buoy from Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, fished in the 1940s, is painted white above and a sort of green-gray below. It has stencilled identification lettering.	.

Item #EA-04-NS21 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY SOLD
		Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling Quantity: 1 Dimensions: 13" x 4" x 3 ¾" Description: Weathered white paint over a dark royal blue makes this wooden lobster buoy from Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, fished in the 1940s, truly attractive. This is a "keeper".	.

Item #EA-04-NS22 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY
		Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling Quantity: 1 Dimensions: 12 ¾" x 4 ¼" x 4" Description: A substantial wooden lobster buoy from Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, having weathered white paint and a bold band of red, fished in the 1940s.	.

Item #EA-04-NS24 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY
		Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling Quantity: 1 Dimensions: 11 ¾" x 5 ½" x 5" Description: A stubby looking wooden lobster buoy from Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, fished in the 1940s, with deeply chamfered edges painted red above weathered white.	.

Item #EA-04-NS27 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY
		Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling Quantity: 1 Dimensions: 12 ½" x 4" x 4" Description: Wine red over pale blue, with a black spot on the side, this another wooden lobster buoy, fished in the 1940s in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia. Just lovely!	.

Item #EA-04-NS28 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY

sold

Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling
Quantity: 1
Dimensions: 11 ¾" x 4" x 3 ½"
Description: Another wooden lobster buoy, fished in the 1940s in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia. This beauty is pale gray with a light green band.

Item #EA-04-NS29 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY SOLD
		Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling Quantity: 1 Dimensions: 16 ¾" x 3 ½" x 3 ½" Description: Painted red all over, this wooden lobster buoy, fished in the 1940s in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, has an unusually tapered end - this may be because of the lumber used, or because of the whim of the fisherman.	.

Item #EA-04-NS30 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY
		Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling Quantity: 1 Dimensions: 16" x 4" x 2" Description: Wooden lobster buoy, fished in the 1940s in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, made of 2 X 4 lumber when 2 x 4 meant 2" by 4"; painted red all over; an interesting piece!	.

Item #EA-04-NS31 1940s INSHORE WOODEN LOBSTER BUOY SOLD
		Price: $40.00 US ($50.00 CDN) plus shipping & handling Quantity: 1 Dimensions: 12 x 4" x 4" Description: Another wooden lobster buoy, fished in the 1940s in Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, this one made from a piece of 4 x 4 when that meant 4" by 4"! Dark red paint above a rich middle shade of blue.	.

Nautical catalogue pages