71-year-old Corea Woman Hauls Lobsters

Maine Nurse, Aug-Oct 2004 by Moshier, Megan

GOULDSBORO - Jean Symonds has hauled lobster traps from Corea Harbor for more than 30 years. But Symonds is not your typical fisherman. The 71-year-old captain of The Finest Kind spent much of her career as a noted scholar, fishing for answers at Georgetown University, the University of Maine and other institutions of higher education.

Symonds holds a bachelor's and a master's degree from Boston University, as well as a doctorate in education from Vanderbilt University. Formerly a professor at Georgetown, Symonds later taught nursing and women's studies at Orono. For nine years, she lobster fished during her summer recess from Georgetown.

Symonds and her partner, Dorothy Kemske, found their fondness for the coast growing with each passing summer, and the two women finally decided to relocate to Corea from their home in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1970s.

Symonds and Kemske ran Corea's Harbor Grocery, serving live and boiled lobsters, as well as providing other supplies and groceries to tourists for about eight years.

In 1999, The Finest Kind was launched; it was at that time Symonds began her fulltime lobster fishing career.

"It's a good place for women if they want to be on the ocean," Symonds said recently. "I absolutely do love it."

Initially, Symonds hauled her traps with a skiff and outboard. Nowadays, with 600 traps and a 33-foot Young Brother's boat, Symonds works full-time from April to November.

"I loved teaching, but I don't miss it," Symonds said. "I love the rhythm of hauling traps."

Only in recent years has Symonds taken on a sternman.

Last year, Bill Stone of Prospect Harbor assisted Symonds aboard The Finest Kind. Stone said he accepted Symonds' invitation because he wanted greater insight into the industry. "I hadn't counted on how hard it was," he said.

Stone conceded he has a new respect for fishermen. "Jean is very dedicated," Stone said.

Both retired educators and liberal Democrats, Stone joked that people around town refer to them as the "Democrat boat."

Symonds' current sternman is Jodi Miller, an artist from Prospect Harbor. Miller said of Symonds, "She is a pretty spectacular woman ... she is a thoughtful, skilled fisherman."

While the work is admittedly "grueling," Symonds loves being on the water.

"I appreciate that there is something different each day," she said.

Symonds said she's unsure how many more years she'll lobster fish, however, she admits when that day comes, it'll be hard to lie in bed in that morning, listening to the boats leave the harbor.

Source: Ellsworth American, www.ellsworthamerican.com