The Oystermen Maineâs Damariscotta River is famous for its oysters, but to get them out of the water you need the right boat Author: Pim Van Hemmen Maineâs Damariscotta River is famous for its oysters, but to get them out of the water you need the right boat As we cast off from the dock in downtown Damariscotta, water pours out of Great Salt Bay, through the nearby reversing falls, and toward the Gulf of Maine, 12 miles away. Smokey McKeen is at the helm of a 24-foot Carolina Skiff to take videographer Bob Krist and I down the Damariscotta River to see the Pemaquid Oyster Company’s harvesting operation in action. The boat is covered in a thin sheet of invisible ice, and to keep our rear ends from freezing on the fiberglass, we sit on our lifejackets. The air is 24 degrees Fahrenheit, but it’s the wind that’s daunting. It’s blowing hard out of the north and the windchill on the open boat is biting.