Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
March 4, 2010, 4:30 AM EST
 |
|
At 1:00 AM EST, the air temperature was 22°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was light out of the northeast and the visibility was excellent. I left the house a little after 1:00 AM to head down to Lynn, Massachusetts to jump on Kil Song's annual deep sea fishing charter with Captain Jimmy Walsh on the American Classic. I had been invited to attend this trip again. Last year, you might remember, I was on this trip and caught the largest cod I had personally caught, a cod well over 70 pounds. The weather was just about perfect all day. The air temperature hovered around the freezing mark and was probably above on the fishing grounds. The ocean was calm for the ride out and for the first couple of hours of daylight. It snowed for the first half of the morning. The snow was so light that you would have hardly known it. By mid morning it had stopped snowing but the sky remained overcast for the rest of the trip. The wind picked up around noon but didn't blow much over ten knots at any time during the day. Seas were probably two feet at the most in chops. The wind was some variation from the north. Not having a compass, I couldn't be sure. The visibility was good. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 31°F (with a low of 20°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 33°F (with a low of 25°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 32°F (with a low of 14°F) today.
The trip was an excellent one overall. There were more pollock landed than is usual for this time of year or from what I would expect to catch around there this time of year. And seeing the back side of Cape Cod from a distance was interesting as well. We did catch some cod. But we could have caught more fish overall had we not been fishing so deep for the pollock. It did take a while to get your fish up from the bottom.
Jim Feeney (MA), Bob Nixon (NH), John Baron (MA) and I fished together near the port corner of the stern all day. We all fished with jigs and jig sticks. Captain Jim drift fished every stop. Only near the end of the day did the drift pick up so that it was more difficult to fish. Most of the day it was a perfect drift. Jim and I went "buck-a-fish" from the start. I had a bit of bad luck. First, back lashing my reel on a cast took some time as I had to cut and tie (Rookie!). Then I got handle fly back on my favorite reel that I was using. I had to take the reel into the cabin, take it apart and fix the problem there. During this time, my fishing brothers were catching fish after fish. I could hear them outside which didn't make it any faster getting my reel fixed. The problem was a disintegrated seating bridge sleeve washer. A piece of this washer was preventing the dog from engaging the gear teeth on the bridge sleeve. A simple fix but one that cost me five fish - had I been fishing and keeping up with Jim. Jim finally beat me by six fish at the end of the day, one fish over the five where he took total advantage of me. Yes, I know, everyone had the advantage of getting their equipment up to snuff before competition began! And, actually, I rebuilt the two reels I brought with me the night before! I never did check that fiber washer. I don't think I've ever had one disintegrate in any reel I have ever used. Who knew?
All four of us caught plenty of fish (as did everyone else on the boat). Bob, Jim and I only used a single jig with no top hook. John used a double hook rig. And, he probably caught more than the three of us with his many double keeper catches. My largest fish was a 14.5 pound cod, the largest of the three fish I kept. Jim caught an 18 pound wolffish, the biggest fish of the four of us. Jim also caught a pollock that was probably 12 pounds. And he released a bigger cod than mine as well. But we didn't have time to weigh the one he let go.
The boat pool (and the largest fish of the day) was caught by Rob Foley (NY) on the very first stop of the day. I brought a registered scale with me even though I knew it would jinx my chances of getting a big fish this time! I had also planned to weigh any of the significant fish that were boated. Rob's fish weighed 29.25 pounds exactly. But I weighed this fish at the very end of the day. So this fish weighed a bit over 30 pounds when it was caught. I took a digital image of this fish shortly after I weighed it. This shot appears at the top left. Keep in mind that Rob is a big guy. A 70 pounder would have looked better with Rob holding it!
The second largest fish was a 26.5 pound cod caught by Mike Abovsky (MA). I weighed his fish a half hour or more after he caught it. Mike's was caught within an hour of heading back to Lynn harbor. Mike's picture appears on the right.
The trip overall was the best winter trip I've had on this boat in the four years I have fished on this February Kil Song special charter. No, I didn't get my biggest fish like last time. And that was a very special trip. But this one was one of the most relaxing fun trips I have been on. And there were plenty of fish to catch. There might have been seven casts all day where I didn't hook a fish as soon as the jig hit bottom. So there was plenty of action. The weather was great. The individuals who are chosen by Kil couldn't have been more friendlier or nice. And we only had twenty-two anglers in all. Plenty of room, good people, great captain, nice weather and lots of fish. How could it get any better? Thanks Kil. I appreciate your letting me go on yet another Super-Kil fishing trip.
Except for leaving the house to pick up the finished new windows for the Bunny Clark, I stayed at the desk all day. Most of what I did today centered around my web site (cleaning it up - deleting old files) and ordering. That took me all day. And I just made it to the glass place before it closed.
I was asked to do a four mile run with some friends down at Ogunquit Beach after 5:00 PM. Thankfully, they ran a slow pace. But afterward I thought; "Man, Greg is going to have his way with me in the spring." I did not feel good.
I spent the day driving around, picking up orders, dropping off materials at the Bunny Clark and working towards getting things done. The end of the day, before getting home, was spent at the Dover Ice Arena watching my daughter's ice hockey game. They lost badly but it wasn't because they didn't get their chances. Defensively, the team is really strong but not strong enough for the offense they faced today. Unfortunately, they are very weak on the front end. But they are doing a lot better.
I spent half the morning on the computer and the other half at the restaurant laminating liquor menu covers for next summer. After lunch I took the rest of the afternoon off, went for a bike ride and then did some strength training.
As I was getting dressed to ride, I had the Bruins game one. They were ahead 2-0 when I left, before the end of the first period. When I came back it was 2-2 in overtime. What do I have to do, watch them every minute? Can't they get it done on their own?
I rode my bike with the Maine Coast Cycling Club in the morning. This where I got my tail summarily kicked by everyone on road bikes. I brought a beat up mountain bike and almost got dropped twice. Part of the afternoon I spent watching the Capitals/Penguins hockey game. The rest of the afternoon until almost 6:00 PM, I spent working in the office at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. I tried to watch the Super Bowl after dinner but I just didn't have it in me. Plus, it's going to be a long day tomorrow. I watched until the Who showed up for half time. After being reminded of how old I was (after watching Peter Townsend), I went to bed.
And I heard (via email from Bob Nixon) that the Saints won. I was hoping they would. I love the commercials with Payton Manning but one Super Bowl for them is enough for me. Bring on the Pats!
A lot of running around today. But most of my "down time" was spent at the restaurant in a manager's meeting related to future employment (two hours), composing a letter to be included with the employee return letters, continuing with liquor menus and working on the Mojo order. I also spent some time on the phone and organizing the rest of my week. There is not much time left before the season starts. And, it seems, too much to do before that time.
I received a nice note and a donation of $250.00 from Paul Kostopoulos (CT) supporting my fund raising efforts for a cancer cure with the Pan-Mass Challenge. This is the four year that he has made a $250.00 donation, sponsoring me in this 192 mile cycling event with the Jimmy Fund. Thanks so much, Paul. I so very much appreciate the support.
I worked at the computer until a little before 9:00 AM. For the rest of the morning, I played health advocate and accompanied my father to his medical specialist. I was hoping I could help out in some way with a new perspective. I wasn't really much help but I got to meet his doctor and go through the routine.
I grabbed a quick lunch and headed to Portland, Maine for the rest of the day. I had several things I needed to get done including picking up the new scale for the 2010 Bunny Clark season and renewed life raft, also for the Bunny Clark. I was back by late afternoon.
It would have been a great day for a long bike ride but, alas, by the time I got everything accomplished, the sun was setting and the air temperature had dropped to 36°F.
Today was a very busy day for me. It started with me getting materials to bring to the Bunny Clark, going to venders to get small jobs completed, setting up future appointments (via cell), back and forth with restaurant stuff (via cell), picking up two slave units (steering quadrant) and sending them out to be re-sealed via UPS, H1N1 flu shot for me, finalizing the Mojo order, settling up with the Town (mooring fees, excise boat tax, business tax, yearly registration, etc.) and phone orders/okaying bills at the office. I had to make one order out of North Carolina because the company I usually use on Long Island was closed for two days because of the snow!
Also, there was a great show I watched on Chronicle (on TV) at 7:30 PM on the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). It was a great show telling of the wonderful cases of lives being saved on experimental drugs developed at DFCI. It told how the Jimmy Fund was started and how the two got melded together bringing in the Boston Red Sox organization. And it showed how this new one billion dollar addition to their research facility is going to speed things up. The fantastic attitude of the researchers permeated through this show. And I couldn't help but be proud, knowing I was helping fund this research with help from all of my sponsors (see my site at Pan-Mass Challenge) . Most of whom read this page. I wish everyone could have seen this show, one of the most positive shows I've seen this year. I can't say enough good about this facility. Truly one of best places to put your money.
The DFCI or the Jimmy Fund was started to help kids with cancer. It later spread to include adults. As such, most of the advances have been made is children's cancers. But they interviewed this older doctor who worked at the DFCI in the early days. He told of all the children he treated for childhood leukemia. He gave some figure of the number kids he treated all of whom died. He told of how depressed he got and how he didn't think he could take it. Now, years later, still at DFCI in some administrative role he deals with other doctors who rarely lose a child to this disease because of all the advances that have been made. But, when they do, how devastated the doctors become. I don't know how long this doctor has been there but it has been many years. And I'm sure he's just another reason why this place is so successful. Just very interesting and very heart warming, this show. I thought you might be interested. But I'm also hoping that you will join me in working towards funding this great institution in the future.
I wrestled with a number of things today. The highlight of the Barnacle Billy's experience was shoring up the dress code. Always a challenge between years. Still working on that one.
The highlight of the Bunny Clark stuff today pertained to my 406 EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). This is the device that stays on the canopy top but will deploy and send out a radio positioning signal if the boat sinks or someone throws the device overboard. It activates in water. On my list of things to do was the registration on my existing device. Normally, the Federal government sends you a reminder to register with them every two years. At the time you can update your phone numbers if changed and other important emergency information in case of a search and rescue (God forbid). In the back of my mind I kept expecting the reminder that never came. So I grabbed the EPIRB, noted that it was past the due date on registration and tried to register on line (like normal). No go. I worked at calling Washington. No go - the message box was full and wouldn't accept any more (of course, business in Washington has ground to a stop while the after effects of that blizzard are still being taken care of). Finally, after much sleuthing, I found that the government won't re-register a unit that is over fifteen years old. So the long and the short of it was that I had to go down to my friendly electronics people and talk to them about it. I ended up getting a new one. This meant bringing it home, making a plan for a different mounting system, registering the new unit and waiting for the official sticker to come in the mail. Five hours of the day that I had planned to do something else. But, better to get it done now and be in compliance for USCG inspection. You can't take passengers fishing if the boat doesn't pass inspection!
I spent the day, again, running around, trying to solve Bunny Clark problems, dropping materials off to the boat, conferring with Ian Keniston and Jared Keniston, setting up inspection dates, working on Barnacle Billy's management items, working with my sister, Cathy, on employee letters, trying to solve a secondary Bunny Clark radar problem over the phone and working at the computer. The last couple hours of the working day was spent working on the "Tackle Breakers" shirts for this season at Ocean Graphics in Wells. The color of this year's shirts will be a light (gender neutral) blue but the design will be similar to the last two previous seasons. While there I also worked on a new Pan-Mass Challenge shirt. This will also be light blue but a different color light blue than the give away Bunny Clark shirts. Last year was the only year out of the four that I have participated in the PMC where I didn't have a shirt made. I have the shirts made, write them off to advertising and give them away to individuals who donate $15.00 or more, all the proceeds going to the Jimmy Fund for the cancer cause.
And the Vancouver Olympic Games started tonight with the most famous hockey player (and best hockey player) of all time, Bobby Orr, helping to carry out the Olympic flag. Wayne Gretsky, the best sniper and positioning forward (in ice hockey) lit the Olympic torch. I love the Olympics and hope I can watch a significant part of them.
Jared Keniston, myself and Ian Keniston sat for our CPR, AED & First Aid training today. We started at 8:30 AM and ended in the early afternoon. By the time I had lunch it was 3:00 PM and was not feeling great physically. So I took off the rest of the day.
I got a great surprise from Ryan Holloway (MA) when I found that he donated $40.00 to support my fund raising efforts in the Pan-Mass Challenge. He did this via "egift" through the Pan-Mass Challenge website at www.pmc.org. Ryan has supported me every year that I have been involved in this event. Thanks, Ryan, I do so appreciate the support!
Did not feel that great this morning and didn't take the trip down to Worcester to the Eastern Fishing & Outdoor Exposition, as planned.
The water temperature at the Cashes Ledge weather buoy is of the lowest reading I have been aware of at this time of year. And I've watched this temperature reading ever since the buoy was placed out there. I once saw 40°F at mid February but have never heard of it being as low as it is now, 38°F. Now whether this means the thermistor is set differently or whether this is indeed a true reading, I don't know. Most years, the lowest reading it ever gets to is 41°F.
Aside from half the morning off, I worked on restaurant stuff all day. I did catch my son's hockey game at 5:45 PM. They lost.
I received a generous donation of $100.00 from Steve LaPlante (CT) supporting my cancer fund raising bicycle ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Steve, too, has always supported me since I started with this event in 2007. Not only has he supported me with contributions, he has been at the start of every event (at 4:30 AM!) to see me and all the cyclists off in Sturbridge, Massachusetts! Thanks so much, Steve. I really appreciate all your help over the years and believing, as I do, in the cause..
The wind was light in the morning. By 8:00 AM, the wind had established itself out of the northeast. Wind velocity picked up to fifteen knots by 10:00 AM along the southern coast of Maine and New Hampshire. At 2:00 PM in Ogunquit, the wind was out of the northeast and blowing at twenty to twenty-five knots. It really never blew any harder than that. Seas looked to be about three feet in chops, maybe more. Not long after sunset, the wind hauled out of the north and diminished somewhat. It was blowing out of the north at about twenty knots when I went to bed. The air temperature stayed above freezing until mid afternoon when it dropped below. The visibility was fair all afternoon and into the evening. The snow flakes were large from mid afternoon on into the night. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 35°F (with a low of 19°F) today. In Boston, Massachusetts the high was 34°F (with a low of 30°F) today. Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 35°F (with a low of 21°F) today.
As I alluded, most of my day was spent running around. I worked on our small radar (we have two on the Bunny Clark) at the boat for a while with Ian Keniston and Jared Keniston. We also discussed a couple of projects and potential solutions to completing them. I realized the radar was going to need more of a professional hand. So, I drove to Voyager Marine in Essex, Massachusetts and left the whole system with them. Back in York, Maine, I stopped in to Navtronics (both places are just excellent with electronics) where we discussed improvements to satellite phone services on the Bunny Clark and setting up another VHF radio. From there I went home to answer emails.
The rest of the day was spent on restaurant detail. My main focus was straightening out Employment Offer Agreements with some of our favorite employees from Belarus and Poland, scanning them into a file and emailing them to the respective individuals. I also spent some time working on menus in the office at the Cove.
After a bit of shoveling and a trip to Portsmouth, I was back at the Bunny Clark talking with David Pease and Ian Keniston about upcoming projects, work orders and electronics. From there it was back to Navtronics. I worked at the desk for a while completeing the sending of Employee Offer Agreements to Poland. Then to the Cove where I met my sister, Cathy. She works in the office at Barnacle Billy's behind the scenes. We had to talk about the EOAs and employee stuff. I shoveled snow for two hours after that. When I got home, I had a bit of desk work to complete including my Federal fishing permit renewal applications for the Bunny Clark and the Petrel.
I was able to just get to the mail and then drive to Dover to see my daughter, Halley's, ice hockey game. She did a good job (she thought otherwise, "I could have done so much better, Dad.") digging in the corners, getting open in the slot (she's a center) and breaking up plays. She had a couple of plays that could have turned into scoring opportunities but just didn't work out. Unfortunately, Halley's goalie missed the first three shots before settling in and the other team went more into a defensive mode after that. The score ended up at 4 to 1 when it really could have been totally reversed. It was a lot of fun anyway and both teams played an honest fair game.
Today was a Barnacle Billy's day for me. A lot of talking on the phone, setting future dates up, discussions through all phases and then working at the Office at the Cove. Most of the time at the Cove I spent working on the new employee rules, not the least of which is a total ban of smoking in and around a public place as per a Maine legislative action in the fall of 2009. I finished by working on the dreaded menus again. A lot of this stuff I used to work on in the spring. But, this year, I'm not sure but we might have new challenges facing us so I'd like to get this out of the way now - one less thing to do at crunch time.
And I received a wonderful $100.00 donation from Dave & Joanne Miller (MA) supporting my upcoming cancer ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge. And, again, like so many others, Dave & Joanne have helped me with this event ever since I started helping the Jimmy Fund in 2007. I appreciate it so much. Thank you!
And thanks to a new email friend, I was able to watch both the USA and Canada's Olympic hockey games. Russia's was too late for me. I was so surprised to see that Slovakia beat the Russians. I was also surprised that Canada's game with the Swiss was so close. Got to love Sidney Crosby. Do you suppose, being from Nova Scotia, he likes lobster or cod fishing?
I was running around most of the morning, finally stopping at the Bunny Clark around 9:30 AM. I picked up the fire extinguishers and brought them to Perkins Cove where the fire inspection was to take place. They called an hour before it was to happen to cancel. Apparently, they were called in for an emergency inspection in Portland with a foreign flagged cargo ship which took all their guys to complete the job. So, instead, I went home for lunch and then spent the rest of the day working at Barnacle Billy's.
I was done there by 3:00 PM. This gave me some daylight left for a bike ride. So I took the opportunity and rode until sunset.
Sometime last week I sent two steering quadrant slave cylinders to Rose Marine in Gloucester, Massachusetts to be re-sealed. Turns out, the rods were so pitted, new seals wouldn't have fixed the problem. We found the problem when Dave Pease found all the steering fluid in the bilge of the lazarette. In order to fix the slave units, new rods had to be made first. We received the cylinders today so I drove them and some replacement fire extinguishers back to the Bunny Clark.
Late morning found me at the town hall in Ogunquit. The town fathers were interviewing candidates for the new Perkins Cove Committee. There were quite a few boating people there. I got my chance to sit before the board at noon. The interview lasted about ten minutes, maybe a bit more and then I was done. It was actually quite a pleasant experience. Just before my interview, a gentleman walked in with a parcel of box lunches. The selectmen (and selectwoman) were eating when I walked in. As I was to leave, the chairman noted that they had ordered one too many lunches and asked it I might want to take one with me. I know I look thin, but I must have looked pitiful in their eyes. And this didn't endear me to the crowd of fishermen, my friends (most of whom I had grown up with), as I walked through them with my lunch headed out the door! It was actually quite a bit of good fortune as I had to beat it to Proctor Academy to see my son's ice hockey game against Holderness at 2:30 PM. I had just enough time to make it. And I wouldn't have had anything to eat otherwise!
My son had his best hockey game (that I have observed) today. His passing was great, he broke up a lot of plays, he had at least four good shots on goal, he was focused and unintimidated and his positioning was perfect. And, to top it all off, they won the game by a point with a very exciting last three minutes (I almost left the building). This is the first game this year (where my kids were players) that I have attended where the hockey team I was cheering for actually won the game!
I hope anyone who likes hockey saw the Olympic men's ice hockey game between Slovakia and Latvia tonight. The first two periods were just dominated by Slovakia. And, of course, Zedeno Chara and Miroslav Satan (who play for our Boston Bruins) were on the ice. I guess I'm a little biased towards the Slovaks. But what a great game they played. And I never realized how many great NHL players were on the team until last night. Also, in my view, they looked more like a team than either the US, Canada or Russia (I haven't seen Sweden yet). I know they just beat Russia in a shoot out but they certainly looked like the real deal. And if their goal tending keeps up, they will be a force to recon with. The US is going to have to get it's passing down, I can tell you.
What a hell of an Olympic hockey game. I hope the US can keep it up.
I spent the morning with paper towels. I picked up a truck load of them. I spent the rest of the morning on the phone and putting them away for the summer. I was also trying to coordinate the fire inspection that was supposed to have taken place on Friday. They were supposed to be here by 11:30 AM today but ended up showing up at 2:30 PM. Of course, some of my extinguishers didn't pass (too rusted on the bottoms). And they didn't have replacements on the truck - although I had tried to avoid that by preparing them over the phone a couple of days ago. I could have helped myself further had looked to see what fire extinguishers they were probably not going to accept. But I didn't.
While I waited for the inspection team to get here, I started making lobster bags for the restaurant. The regular netted bags that we use to boil the orders are enough to get through the season. However, the "house bags" that we use to boil the cull lobsters to pick to make lobster stew are lacking. I made one a couple years ago out of heading twine that was the perfect size. So I decided, this winter, to make five more just like it. But I hadn't started it as I had other things that seemed more important. Anyway, building a bag from scratch takes a few hours. I was half way done with the first one before the call came at 2:15 PM.
After the inspection, I spent the rest of the time distributing the extinguishers. When I got off my lobster boat, the Petrel, I rowed over and bought some lobsters from one of my fellow lobstermen for dinner. Knowing with the weather that I wouldn't probably get the chance for about a week, I decided to seize the opportunity. My wife loves them (as do I) and it helps her with dinner.
I have to say that the Olympics took some of my time (as it has been doing lately). I managed to watch most of both of the women's hockey games, knowing full well what the outcome would be. But I was most interested to see how Canada played and the Americans played. This so I would kind of know what to expect when the US faces off with Canada for the gold. My conclusion, although Dave MacDonald might say otherwise, is that the US is going to have a hard time beating Canada. We'll see.
And, again, one of my supporters for the last four seasons helping me to get funding for cancer research with the Pan-Mass Challenge came through again. Gloria Gennari (MA) donated $50.00 to the cause. As I said, she has helped since I started getting involved. Thanks so much, Gloria. I appreciate it greatly.
I spend the day running around in the truck, burning gasoline and listening to the radio. I had several stops in Portsmouth and then headed to Essex to pick up the now fixed radar I had left at Voyager Marine. Just on Route 95, I got a call from the trucking company delivering 350 pounds of Mojos that they were going to be in Ogunquit in a half an hour. So I flipped it and headed back home. At the same time I was trying to coordinate lunch with Don Spencer (You remember from the guestletter: he was the angler who has been with me since the Bunny Clark was launched and got skunked for the first time last year!) who only lives in Durham, New Hampshire. He has become a good friend over the years. After I got the Mojos back home, I was able to meet Don in Cape Neddick for lunch.
Then it was back to Essex, Massachusetts. From there I went back to Portsmouth for more construction supplies (Dave Pease is making new rod holders for the 2010 season - the old ones are starting to break one after the other due to age and excessive sun), heading twine and PVC. I was also able to get the new fire extinguishers I was supposed to have yesterday. By the time I was done I had a truck load of supplies and parts for the boat. The Bunny Clark was the last stop.
This has been an expensive winter on the boat. Not as expensive as last year but close. We had to change out the teak grate at the pulpit (too thin in places to trust any more), since we had to change out the windows, Ian & Jared are involved in a complete cosmetic "replacement" of the interior electronics/console/forward bulkhead/windows area and we have been able to get to things that have been on the work order for over five years now. It's a great opportunity for me as I have been able to have the number one, David Pease, at the shop for quite a few days now. I'm certainly doing my part to help the economy.
I spent the morning running around in the truck, picking up supplies, visiting the boat and planning the rest of the week. After lunch at home, I spent the rest of the day storing and sorting fishing products and building lobster bags with heading twine. During the later part of the afternoon, I popped in and out of the TV room watching the US/Swiss Olympic ice hockey game. I became planted in front of the TV for the last period. After the game, I continued on with the knitting (netting?) until about 7:00 PM.
7:00 AM EST:
I'm concerned about this next storm due to arrive here later today. It will be our biggest storm for a couple of years. The seas are already fifteen feet or better but I expect them to get over twenty feet before this is over. My biggest concern is the air temperature. Right now there are signs that the wind has a bit of a lilt to the (out of the) southeast. If southeast becomes the direction, we will get all rain. If it's east favoring northeast we will see falling temperatures, rain to snow with potential ice build up on tree limbs and wires. With winds up to sixty knots (and there will definitely be wind - even I believe the National Weather Service on this one), power outages could be the rule. Regardless of the type of precipitation, Perkins Cove will see plenty of surge with docks, moorings and painters on skiffs tested to the max. Also, tides will be quite a bit higher with all that water being pushed to the coast. There will be flooding in the lower areas of the coast (around high tide) and, at the very least, splash over in the higher areas. We're hoping for the best, obviously. Stay tuned.
After 8:00 AM EST:
After working at the computer for most of the morning, including getting this Internet report ready and putting it on line, I jumped in the truck and headed to the Cove. The wind was rising and it was pretty rough. It was also dead high tide, the tide made higher by the strong on shore breeze. After talking to Jack Gordon, a mooring holder in the Cove who runs a sailing charter business there in the summer and a good friend of mine, I decided to haul my skiff out of the water. I lost a skiff not too many years ago by leaving it tied to the dock in a heavy blow similar to the one we were expecting to get here. After checking the Petrel one last time, I skulled the skiff to the bait dock where Jack was waiting for me with the hoist. Normally used for moving bait barrels in and out of boats, the hoist works great for hauling skiffs out as well. We loaded the skiff into the back of my truck. Jack followed me to my house where we unloaded it and flipped it over so the rain wouldn't fill it full.
The next couple hours were spent working on Employment Offer Agreements for five students from Belarus. They needed these forms filled out, scanned and sent as high quality JPEG files before tomorrow. My hand writing is terrible so it meant driving down to the restaurant, getting the old electric typewriter out and doing each form one by one. I completed the final stuff, including emailing the new files, at home. And I completed these just in time as I was to meet Chuck MacDonald, our General Manager at Barnacle Billy's, Etc., in Wells at 10:00 AM.
Chuck and I had a date in Portland to go over a point of sale (POS) computer system in a well established (locally famous) restaurant with the head techs from Digital Sky. They make the best POS system in the business. And we are were there to see how their system worked in a complicated restaurant environment, much more involved and complicated as compared to ours in Perkins Cove. We are going to have phase out our present system at BBs, Etc within the next year or two so we wanted a good look at the system we are interested in before committing to a long term deal. And the system was excellent - as expected. It was easy to use, very few steps between functions and with a lot of exception things built into it that we haven't been able to find in the other POS systems available. As Chuck and I drove back south on Route 95 in a heavier than normal rain storm (well under the speed limit) we were both very excited about the possibilities of that system working in our restaurant.
I had no sooner gotten settled in at home where I was getting something for lunch when Saco Bay Tackle Company called and said my (line & hook) order had arrived at their shop in Saco. Had I known earlier, I would have stopped on my way back from Portland and saved a step. But no, things don't usually work that easily. So back into the heavy rain and wind on Route 95 I went. I was able to get there just before they closed at 5:00 PM.
I was going to label and put all this material in accessible storage when I got home but it was too close to dinner. After dinner, about 7:30 PM, the wind was blowing about thirty-five to forty knots and the tide had almost an hour before full high. When I got to the Cove and realized that the seas were already breaking over the sea wall in Oarweed Cove across the parking lot from the Cove, I gave my brother, Court, a call to "get down here". The ocean water was coming over the seaward side of the parking lot and running down to the restaurants collecting over plugged street drains and threatening to enter the lower restaurant at the bordering side walk. I had come prepared with a white plastic fish shovel and was keeping the drains open when my brother showed up. Together, we fought the drains and the water as the seas and winds rose and more water came pouring across the parking lot. Of course, as you might expect, all this sea water contained seaweed that threatened to plug the drains even more as we kept working. At times it became too much so we used some lumber to divert the water through the patio, by-passing the leading edge of the restaurant and into the Cove. And the wind, it was incredible. I don't remember such wind except in the 1978 February blizzard. It was so strong (over fifty knots) that if you didn't hold your shovel correctly, it would take it right out of your hands. Near 10:00 PM we were still down there working, almost two hours past the tide. You never would have known this as the water in the Cove was just as high as it was at high tide. But now the spray from the seas breaking over the parking lot was being taken over the top of the restaurant with the exceptionally strong wind. I can tell you that you needed to have your legs spread apart much more than normal or expect to be taken down - by the wind.
I left Court shortly after that time, leaving him down there to maintain a watch and call me if I was needed. At around 11:00 PM, the wind had increased yet again. Court was being blown to the ground by the gusts. It was time to leave that place. The tide was finally showing signs of diminishing anyway. We lost all power in Ogunquit at 10:30 PM. Many trees had dropped, finally compromising enough power lines to put us in the dark. At 11:30 PM, the wind increased yet again with a gust to 82 mph. I was lying in bed but the wind was seriously rattling the windows and tree branches were breaking all around the house. It was not something you could sleep through easily. And none of us got much of that. A huge crack and a thundering boom left us wondering what the hell was going on. We waited.
I was told later, by one who had power until early morning, that the Jungle Buoy (6.5 miles off shore from Ogunquit) had registered 29.5 foot seas every 16 seconds. There was also a report that the Isles of Shoals, about the same distance off the border of Maine and New Hampshire had recorded a wind gust of 92 mph.
It wasn't long before friends and neighbors came over to help. Of course, once I realized what was going on, I got on the phone to as many services as the situation demanded to get things on the road to recovery. Before the day was out, my insurance agent, the insurance adjuster, our favorite tree service reps, the town foreman, our builder and lots of family and friends had showed up. I got my marching orders to move forward.
Together, we set up the generator after my good friend and PMC riding mate, Paul Haseltine, broke down the (already broken) garage door panel by panel. I helped but didn't do nearly the work that Hez did. Together we lifted panels out and opened up the garage. Setting the generator up wasn't a big deal but I did give FY-'08, Dan Kelley (my favorite electrician), a call to make sure I didn't electrocute myself in the process. Dan's driveway was under five feet of water at the time I called.
The day was nice, weather wise. It was very different from the day before. The sun was out by 9:00 AM. And except for the occasional cloud cover, it stayed sunny, quiet and warm (in the lower 40s) all day.
The afternoon was spent finding a storage facility for the two vehicles that had been in the garage, transporting them and then starting to clean the mess in the garage. I had twenty-eight years worth of sinkers piled along the inside of the garage that got hit, for starters. Those all had to be sorted and relocated. Plus, lots of stuff got damaged and had to be taken away.
I spent the day dealing with the garage, taking a couple of dump runs, dealing with the generator and dealing with a 275 gallon fuel tank I lost during the storm. As luck would have it, the tank was almost empty so the slight spill that insued was contained under it and did not spread further.
I spent the day working on the garage. And I still have about two days of work left before the builders get at repairing it. The tree is still there and won't be taken care of until at least tomorrow morning. It was such a big tree that it could not be taken out by conventional means. A special crane truck has to be brought in and couldn't be secured until Monday.
The power came on around noon. It took me over an hour to take down the generator at the house and my parent's house. Once settled, I found that my hard drive had gotten friend on my best and most useful computer. I have two laptops where I can get email and edit this site. But the my computer capabilities are much diminished. And, I had quite a few files I had been meaning to save that I didn't.
At 3:00 PM, I went to a friend's house to watch the gold medal round of the Olympic men's hockey game. It was a great game. I would have loved to have seen the US win. But it is Canada's game and the appropriate individual got the winning goal.
After I got home, I answered emails for the first time in a couple of days. I worked on the game plan for the upcoming week.
The tree people showed up at 7:30 AM with a larger than normal crane to start cutting and lifting the tree pieces off the garage. It took all day. And when they left, they said they would be back tomorrow to pick up the rest of the mess. Quite a job. Below are a couple of pictures the morning after.
The tide was an 11.3 foot high tide at 11:15 AM. That's not quite two feet above normal, the highest tide of the month and just about the highest tide of the year. With a northeast wind, this tide would be compromising the deck on Barnacle Billy's restaurant. However, the wind was out of the north. I had a doctor's appointment at 11:00 AM. So I kept in touch with my brother, Court, while on the road. Everything was fine. Another emergency averted.
And, no, the doctor thing wasn't important. In my meeting with him in November my cholesterol was above a reading of 250 so he wanted to put me on that drug they advertise on TV (Lipator? I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong.). I told him no way; "I eat all the bad stuff, I'll just change my diet". So he challenged me to change my diet but I had to see him today. Well, today my cholesterol reading was 123 and my good cholesterol was 76. So that's it until next doctor's appointment next November.
Tomorrow's another day.
Today was one of the first days that I felt like things were going in the right direction. Traveling south has not been fun. And it seems that road has had high walls with no place to turn around. But the walls came down so we could see the landscape and it seemed I could turn around today. My son and I worked on the garage almost all day. We got many years worth of sinkers sorted and consolidated, made many dump runs and finally got the place cleaned up so they can come in and start rebuilding. What a mess. Funny, this was on my list of things to do but I never would have been this involved.
My computer got taken by Digital Sky, the same people who do a lot of our computer work at the restaurant and who's POS system we have been looking at to put in Barnacle Billy's, Etc. They think they can salvage the files I believe I lost when the hard drive crashed. I have my doubts but they made me feel good about it anyway. Plus, they are usually correct in what they tell me.
The old 275 gallon fuel tank was removed and a new one put in it's place (and filled). The old one ruptured during the storm but had less than a gallon of fuel in it - which was all contained in a bunch of pine needles that were piled on the cement slab that the tank was setting on. How lucky is that? I was going to call for fuel two days before the storm. I made the call but got the machine instead. Since it's only a secondary heating system (we have a pellet stove), it wasn't high on my list so I forgot about it. Good thing!
And, I have to say, Ian Keniston and Jared Keniston are doing a better job than ever on the Bunny Clark (if indeed that is possible). Renovating the console area and around the windows, the boat will look like a new one when they are through.
I also got a visit from Steve LaPlante (CT) and his good friend, Donny. He was as excited about the Ultra as I was having him on it! He also had some reels to repair that he was going to drop off with Jared and Ian at the boat.
I heard from my good friend and angler, Dana Decormier (NH), that Don Kent passed. He was New England's best weather forecaster. That man caught me more tuna fish and fish in general than any man outside my small circle of friends. He knew when it was going to be a tuna day and was the first person, to my knowledge, who coined the phrase "Bermuda High". I grew up to love those two words. He used to be on WBZ radio out of Boston when it pushed 100,000 watts of power and you could hear this station clear across the country. I remember hearing it in Idaho at night in the mid 70s from my car radio! At any rate, Don Kent was the voice of reason about the weather and the most accurate of any who ever took the air in defense of the weather. Ever since he retired, we have had a bunch of imposters but radar and satellites have improved so that we see exactly what is happening. Somehow, though, I believe this has put too much information in front of our weathermen. For none can do it like Don Kent, even now. I'm so sorry he's gone. I wanted to thank him for a job well done before he went. He was 92 years old.
And our Harbormaster, Harry Horning, quit today. He had been threatening to do so for a few years now. But today was the day. I called the Town Manager just to make sure. He confirmed it for me. End of an era. I'm hoping that Fred Mayo gets the job. He's been helping Harry for years now. And he's certainly the most capable to take over the position. It would be a seamless transition if Fred were to step in there. Fred has fished out of Perkins Cove for ever, is well respected in the community and is an intelligent clear thinking individual with a big dose of common sense who knows the job inside and out. Here's to hoping he gets the position.
I spent the day running around with a list of Bunny Clark things to get done. I was in and out of my truck all day. Also, I was back and forth with estimates on the garage work (to rebuild it) and with the tree service bill. I ended the day cleaning out two of the four bait freezers that should have been shut down and cleaned two months ago.
The roofers showed up to take off the rest of the roof (on the garage) so the builders could start. The builder showed up to go over the details of reconstruction. And I signed off with the tree people, Abbott Bros., at the end of the day. A wonderful group.
And what's happened to my Bruins? They looked like they would rather have been playing ping pong with buddies and a few beers than take to the ice. Last night's game was horrible. I had to turn it off. And, indeed, got the best night's sleep I've had in weeks.
