Gloucester Dock Scene. Russ Webster (1904-1984)

Back about 1970 when I was just a boy working for my dad at Ocean Crest Seafood, there used to be a retired fisherman who worked for us by the name of Nino Trupiano.  A better man would be hard to find. Always with an interesting tale to tell, he once recounted a story I have not forgotten to this day. Back in the days when fishermen were allowed to ply their trade whenever and however they wished, the only thing that would prevent them from leaving the dock was weather,  and by weather, I don’t mean a little rain, I mean “WEATHER”!  Fishermen of the day would never let someone get the better of them,  so if one man left the dock, all would follow. One particularly foul and windy day the men and boats waffled by the shore, hesitant to brave the turning waters,  when Nino, never one to be indecisive,  cast off the lines and intrepidly braved the waters.

Leonard Parco has been working the Gloucester waterfront for over 40 years and is the president of Ocean Crest Seafoods Inc. He is passionate about “Cape Ann School” art, especially that focused on Gloucester’s maritime heritage.