Ok, my older brother calls me from Arizona to say; “I’m sending my Oyster tongs to you in New Hampshire.” Seeing there is no ocean there in Az., I said sure. The sent tongs had no wood handles. Below is a youtube oystering on the Chesapeake using similar tongs. so I get a sense of what size wood handles to use.

Decades ago I Oystered with my brother and forgot how to create the handles.  Some handles can be over 10 feet long. How do I build them? Oak? Pine? What?

I used to have a boat but I have a friend that does, and there are Oysters just 20 miles away in Durham, and Newmarket NH on Great Bay in New Hampshire.

I called NHFG in Region 3 at Durham and spoke with Renee Zobel, a Marine Biologist and part of the Marine Fisheries Division. She was very helpful and eager to share her knowledge on Oystering. I asked if she had any oyster tongs to see. Having some at her building, we went to see them and how they are assembled.

Instead of trying to Oyster we wanted to explore the bay first but having engine trouble cut our visit to zero. Looked like no water was coming out of the 15 hp 4 stroke. Perhaps an impeller? So this article is a part I.

Look for a Part II and maybe some Oysters on the Half Shell. The season closes for July and August so it may be a while if the impeller is delayed…

Aww Shucks…

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