Waterman Bobby Washington has been working the waters of Prospect Bay for more than 50 years
Written by Joe Willey | Photography by Jay Fleming
Some people bring an enthusiasm to conversations about their livelihood that is contagious. A description of their average day sounds like the definition of freedom. The simple phrase, “I work alone,” can be taken as an invitation to do the same. They wouldn’t have it any other way, and it seems anyone not following in their wake is not really living.
Like many watermen, Bobby Washington continues a family tradition. After graduating high school in 1971, he started working with his father, learning the nuances of the weather, tides, and temperature that any waterman needs to understand viscerally. His father was a gifted waterman and taught him all he knew.
Washington works in Prospect Bay, just south of Kent Narrows. He is a trotliner using four 1,200’ lines — each stretching between two buoys. Bait bags are tied at intervals along the line. Washington uses razor clams to attract the crabs. The crabs find the bait and cling to the bags. He lifts the line over a pulley on the side of his boat and moves along the line from buoy to buoy, scooping up the crabs that cling to the bait bag as they reach the surface. It is hard work, but the 70-year-old waterman is still excited about rising before the sun and spending days on the water in any weather.
Weathering a career like Washington’s, gifts a person with perspicaciousness. He knows how good he has it, using time on his boat wisely, taking his four children with him, and teaching them the value of hard work, respect for others and the beauty of nature.
Photos by Jill Jasuta
His children were good at culling crabs. One daughter still helps him bait his trotlines. “She knows what she’s doing. She loves it, too.”
Washington’s love for being a waterman f lows out of any conversation about crabs and life on the water. He explains the migratory patterns of the blue crab and the dangers they face as they travel up the Chesapeake Bay, growing larger each time they shed their shell. His experience has shown him the importance of water quality because crabs will not stay in life-threatening “bad water.” He is philosophical about the natural cycles of crabbing and sustaining his livelihood in an environment impacted by effects out of his control. He knows being a waterman — an independent business owner — is more expensive than most people imagine. There have been good years, and there have been bad ones.
The weather has sometimes been benevolent and sometimes beaten down on him ferociously. None of it deters him. He keeps smiling. “If I had it to do all over again, I would.”
The joy Bobby Washington finds in his work drowns the difficulties he faces. He accepts the challenges and finds freedom in the changing tides, continuing the work he has enjoyed for over 50 years. Like many watermen, he is not stopping. He quips, “watermen expire; they don’t retire.” But what drives him is something much deeper. He found what he loves and will not give it up. CS