HENRY O UNDERWOOD Sardine Carrier 2

Fishermen stand in a peapod boat within a seine net working to gather and haul herring into the HENRY O UNDERWOOD, a sardine carrier working off Vinalhaven Island in 1957. The HENRY O UNDERWOOD was built in Rockland in 1949, "She was rigged to pump herring directly into her hold with flush decks and no conventional hatches and house forward."
"Remembering the Sardine Carriers of Moosabec," Maine Coastal News, April 16, 2025, https://www.mainescoast.com/2025/04/remembering-the-sardine-carriers-of-moosabec/ (accessed May 24, 2025)

Herring fishermen use seine nets for fishing, including stop seines, purse seines, and seines with a weir. A purse seine is a net that is spread flat in a circle and then cinched up, like a draw-string purse, thus catching fish within.

When Photographer Eliot Elisofon was not traveling the world taking photos for LIFE Magazine, he came to Vinalhaven, Maine to rest and recoup. Eliot bought a farmhouse near Crockett Cove on Vinalhaven in 1941, built by Joel and Mary Jane Philbrook in 1843.
Daughter Elin writes, “My father always said his favorite place on earth was Vinalhaven and he meant it. Wherever he was, he was counting the days until he could return to the island. Here he would 'recharge his batteries' from grueling trips to Africa, Asia, the Pacific, or from battles with the publishers and editors he had to constantly prod into sharing his passion and understanding his vision. In Vinalhaven he could relax, soak up the beauty of the place, plant trees, flowers, and vegetables, paint in his studio, cook, and develop the lifelong friendships he treasured."
Elisofon, Elin. FEAST. (Vinalhaven, Maine: April, 1992)
These images are personal photographs taken by Eliot Elisofon on Vinalhaven and were not published during his lifetime.