SOLVED. YA Adventure. Boy lobster fisherman and his well-off rival who uses motorboat. MC uses lobster pots in oldish boat (dory/ dorey), set in Maine. Treasure. Read around 1978. Spoiler ahead. [s]

[Greg]

Trying to recall the title of a YA adventure story I read and enjoyed in my early teens something like 40 years ago. I don't remember very many details. I believe it was set in Maine. It concerned a boy, who was somewhat impoverished, who caught lobsters with lobster pots in an oldish boat, which I believe was called a dory or dorey. This boy had a rival who was well off and had a newish, high-powered motorboat. Somehow, there is a treasure involved. In the climax of the book, the boy ends up saving his rival in a storm and then finds the treasure in an ocean cave. Sorry, that's about all I can remember. Please help me identify this book if possible. Thanks.

[Ayshe]

Island in the Bay maybe? From the Kirkus review:
A rather heavy going tale of making one's way in the world plows its furrows in the lobsterman's sea and on Lee's Island just off the Maine coast. At 16, Linn Robertson is the sole ward of a tyrannical Grandpa whose do's and don'ts go to the extent of forcing Linn to hand over every cent of his small earnings. Anxious to make a success of his trapping and fishing, Linn begins to stand up to Grandpa by buying a boat on the installment plan. The venture is promising but matters worsen when a rivalry develops and Linn is falsely accused of a misdemeanor.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

[Rainbowheart]

Star Island?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Greg, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Greg]

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find it, despite quite a bit of searching.

[Kris]

The Secret of Saturday Cove (1961) by Barbee Oliver Carleton? Descriptions vary a lot by website.

Google Books preview - https://books.google.com/books?id=WsN...

Worldcat.org - "When he faces competition from a newcomer to their Massachusetts town, twelve-year-old David Blake intensifies his own search for treasure long thought to have been hidden by his ancestors during the Revolutionary War."
https://www.worldcat.org/title/secret...
- Treasure troves -- Juvenile fiction. Massachusetts. Detective and mystery stories.

Amazon - "David Blake and his sister Sally have grown up with the legend of the Blake treasure, buried on one of the islands off Saturday Cove, a fishing village on the coast of Maine. One day, while lobstering in the bay, David and Sally seek shelter from a summer storm in an abandoned house on Blake's Island. There they find a musty chart that seems to be a definite clue. Curious and excited, they decide to solve the family mystery. But Sally loses the chart, and David reckons without the troublesome interference of Roddy McNeil, a newcomer to Saturday Cove. Roddy's father threatens to buy Blake's Island and the children fear the treasure will be lost to them forever. The mystery is heightened with the discovery of an unidentified eavesdroppers, the disappearance of a rare pewter button, and the fishermen's growing suspicion that it is David who is stealing lobsters from their traps."

Google search of Goodreads:
site:goodreads.com "young adult" boy "lobster" "maine"

[Greg]

Kris: That is it! Thank you! Wonderful detective work. Can you share how you managed to track it down?

[Kris]

Great! Glad you found your book, Greg. I used this Google search:

Google search of Goodreads:
site:goodreads.com "young adult" boy "lobster" "maine"

The summary on Goodreads wasn't helpful, but searching the reviews on this site often does the trick. Then I checked Worldcat.org and Amazon for a better description.

[Greg]

Good work! I’m grateful for your help.

[Rainbowheart]

Yay, glad it's solved!