Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Monday, April 23, 2018, 8:40 AM EDT
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I had a lot of desk work to do today, mostly working through the mail that had piled up over the last month of not being in the office. However, the first thing I did was get things organized around the house. That took until after daylight. With the sun coming up and daylight well underway, I took our border collie, Gill, for a quick run on the beach before getting down to work. We hadn't gone a half a mile when we came upon a seal well up away from the tide line just before the beach turns into the dunes. This time of year the seals are the color of the sand anyway. So, if it hadn't moved I would have run right by it. But Gill didn't miss it. Nor would he have. In fact, Gill had come to a screeching halt on the leash, stopping me in my tracks. I stopped running and went to inspect the creature, taking Gill off the leash at the same time. But Gill didn't want any part of that seal, keeping his distance well away. No amount of coaxing would get that dog to come closer to investigate. So I clipped Gill up again and we kept on running. On the way back, the several beach walkers we went by never noticed the seal tucked in along the high tide line of the beach, looking like so many pieces of flotsam that reside there. Indeed, the only tracks leading to the seal were ours. I'm sure the next dog walker would probably get the same experience I had. Within two hours the tide was going to be right where the seal was so I assumed it must have swum off at that time. Below is a picture of the seal (first) and the seal/dog relationship afterward.
Today was Bunny Clark day. After organizing around the house for a few early morning hours, I drove to "The Barn" where the Bunny Clark was waiting to be hauled to Kittery Point Yacht Yard (KPYY). At 8:30 AM, Independant Boat Haulers showed up to haul the Bunny Clark out of the barn. I watched for about a half hour and then drove to Navtronics where I had some electronics questions and life raft parts to return. I don't ever like to be behind the boat when it's being hauled over the road to anywhere. After a stop at Dunkin Donuts, I drove to KPYY to watch the BC put up on stands, pay Independant and help load the life raft on the Bunny Clark with the Yard's crane. Once that was completed, the Bunny Clark was launched.
The procedure for launching is always the same; check the engine out and start her up. It started without a hitch. But I kept getting engine readout warnings. Realizing that it was just before the weekend and that my sleuthing around might take too much time to solve the problem, I bailed and called Power Products in Portland. I was lucky enough to be able to get Skip Dunning down to hook a computer up to the engine to find out what the problem was. Skip believes it was only some loose wiring, which I guess I could have fixed myself had I dove into it. But had I not found the problem, the window of time where I could have had Skip down here would have been gone. By 4:30 PM, the engine problem was solved. It's harder with these fully electronic engines. I kind of feel helpless with them.
In the meantime, Ian Keniston, Anthony Palumbo and Micah Tower were all working on the Bunny Clark getting things ready. After Independant dropped the Bunny Clark off, they picked up the Petrel which Micah had brought over from Ogunquit to be hauled out at KPYY. The Petrel was headed to the barn for a spring facelift. Micah is doing all the work. So he left when the Petrel left the Yard with IBH. Ian and Anthony spent the afternoon putting things together while I was with Skip. When I wasn't with Skip I was running around go-foring.
Dan Greer, from Liferaft Services, in York, Maine, showed up at the Bunny to put the final touches on the installation of the life raft. He was only there for a short while. After Dan left, I buttoned everything up and headed home. I almost fell asleep on the road, driving. I was home by 6:00 PM.
Below are some of the digital images that I took with my iPhone:
After getting up this morning, I worked getting my bags unpacked from our vacation. I hadn't had time until now. By 6:30 AM, Gill and I went for our last Ogunquit Beach run until the fall. I will miss running with that dog. He keeps my pace at reasonable levels. Without him, I end up doing damage to myself. At my age you can't be too careful. This winter I have pulled hamstrings, hurt my left adductor muscle, had calf issues and, lately, my Achillies has been acting up. I have been living on ice, mild stretching, KT tape and compression socks since last fall. That doesn't happen on the bike. Although, I have been known to crash every now and again. So I will miss running on the beach with Gill. There were no seals to distract us today. There was, however, a 5K race that started shortly after we started. So, on the way back from the end of the beach, we ran past runners going up the beach. Some had dogs which slowed us down here and there.
The rest of the day was spent at the computer in the office here at home. Again, catching up. This time with paper work. I worked straight through until 4:30 PM. Since it was still light out, I jumped on the bike for a slow twenty mile ride. I haven't been on the bike for seven weeks.
I received two donations sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising ride (bicycle) with the Pan-Mass Challenge. These donations were made on the web through the PMC site, both "egifts". One was a $25.00 gift from Leticia Namanda (MA) on March 5, 2018. The other was from Steven Dickmann (MA), also for $25.00, on March 19, 2018. Thank you both so very much for your support and help. I very much appreciate this!
Except from some desk work in the morning and organizing for Monday, I took the rest of the day off.
Ian Keniston and Anthony Palumbo went right to the Bunny Clark this morning to get her ready for inspection tomorrow. After the morning desk work, Deb and I had a meeting with our accountants in Wakefield, Massachusetts. What I thought was going to be an hour meeting turned into three so we didn't get back until after 1:00 PM. All the way down and back I was on the phone, mostly coordinating product for the restaurants and checking pricing. I was also back and forth with Ian and Anthony. Our loud hailer/fog horn/signal system finally died on us. So I decided to replace this with another VHF radio that would do all the same functions and also have two way capabilities. Anthony and Ian completed the new setup before the afternoon was out.
I still had a lot to do when I got home at 2:30 PM. In so doing, I missed getting to the Town office before 4:00 PM, where I wanted to sort out some Harbor Committee items. My working day was done by 6:00 PM.
After working at the house in the morning and figuring out some restaurant orders, I headed to Kittery Point Yacht Yard to get ready for U.S. Coast Guard inspection. At 9:00 AM, inspector Daniel Kinville showed up from the Portsmouth office to do the inspection. It was thorough and fair. We had a few minor things we were missing but nothing that would keep us from sailing. These items were first aid products that were out of date, current Light List, etc. I always learn a few things with every inspection.
We were done by noon. Anthony, Ian and I went to lunch afterward. That completed, I took the Bunny Clark back to Perkins Cove while Ian and Anthony drove their vehicles back. I believe I arrived in Perkins Cove at 2:30 PM. I met Ian and Anthony there. We took a few items aboard to start getting the Bunny Clark ready for fishing. But mostly, we buttoned her up so we could get to all that later. It was raining by then and I needed a ride back to Kittery to get my truck.
I spent about an hour working at the restaurant before Deb took me to Kittery to get the truck. When I got back I was done work for the day.
After some desk work here at home, I spent most of the rest of the day at Barnacle Billy's. I had some new time repair decisions to make, employee decisions to make, a lot of work on menu pricing and menu decisions. Sprinkled in with that were all the other things that go on getting a restaurant going; too many to mention but all meaningful in content. At 3:00 PM, I struck off in the truck to pick up items that were missing for the U.S.C.G. inspection. These included updated first aid supplies, the current Light list, Coast Pilot, etc. I have a couple more things to pick up (ordered for pick-up tomorrow) and the Bunny Clark will be complete for sailing in the eyes of the Coast Guard. My working day was over at 6:00 PM.
Ian Keniston and Anothony Palumbo will be working on the Bunny Clark tomorrow, getting the boat ready for fishing. They took the day off today with all the rain expected.
Assuming the weather is good enough to sail, the Bunny Clark will have her first trip on Thursday, April 12. We won't be able to keep haddock at that time so we will be looking around for pollock, redfish and cusk. Hopefully, we will see some larger cod as well - although we won't be able to keep them. Right now we have less than half the complement of anglers.
My day was spent at Barnacle Billy's restaurant after getting the desk work done at the office here at home. There was a lot to do. By 3:00 PM, I had enough done to be able to leave and pick up the last few things I needed to fill the requirements for the USCG inspection. I was back at "Billy's" by 4:30 PM. And I ended up going back and forth between the house and the restaurant until 8:30 PM.
Back on the job, Ian Keniston and Anthony Palumbo worked on getting the Bunny Clark ready to go fishing. The life preservers were packed to travel, all the fishing equipment was brought aboard and all the extra things we need were brought aboard as well. They were gone when I went back to the Cove at 4:30 PM.
I received another generous donation today sponsoring me in my quest to raise money to fight cancer with the Pan-Mass Challenge, an 192 cycling event that will take place the first Saturday in August. The donation was a generous $100.00 from Rich & Donna McGuinness (GA(. They have helped me with my cancer project for many years now. And they are not typical but they are like the many individuals who care deeply about stopping this disease. Thank you so much for your generosity, the kind words, the nice card and your timely support. I am very appreciative of your help!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 23°F, the sky was clear, there was a half a moon hanging high in the sky, the wind was blowing out of the west southwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The sky remained clear for the early part of the morning. The sky was overcast by 11:00 AM. By noon, the air temperature had reached 40°F. That was the highest we would see it this day. By 4:00 PM, the air temperature had dropped to 36°F. It was snowing by 2:15 PM. It remained snowing on into the night. There were places on the grass across the Cove that there was enough snow to make the ground look white. But the snow melted as soon as it hit the roads. We might have seen and inch or two had the air temperature remained in the 20s. The visibility was good to very good all day until the snow. The high air temperature in Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) was 43°F (with a low of 29°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 40°F (with a low of 18°F). At the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine the high air temperature was 40°F (with a low of 23°F).
I spent the day in Barnacle Billy's. I was down there around 6:00 AM where I worked getting things ready until 9:30 AM. After that I ran home, ran three miles on Ogunquit Beach without Gill (no dogs allowed on Ogunquit Beach after April 1), came back and got ready and was back at the restaurant at 11:15 AM. I worked there until 4:00 PM, went home for a nap and got back at 5:30 PM, staying until 9:30 PM.
It was a busy day at the Barnacle Billy's, made more so by not having a deck (too cold to sit out there). So it seemed busier than it was. But the business was very controlled. And our employees did a great job. A wonderful day. Really.
My day was wrapped around Barnacle Billy's. I took a break for dinner at home and then spent the rest of the day there, leaving a 9:45 PM.
Today was a long working day at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. It was pretty busy but not nearly as busy as last year's second day. But the weather was reversed from last year. On Sunday last year it was, by far, the better of the two days. This year, Saturday was the better day. And the good business matched the better weather days. And this is typical. I was very pleased with the weekend overall.
I had a lot to do around Barnacle Billy's today. And I had a lot of desk work. There was really not much to write about. The most of what I did for the Bunny Clark was organizing for tomorrow which will be all Bunny Clark stuff.
I spent the morning and part of the afternoon with Ian Keniston. From 6:30 AM until 8:00 AM, I spent my time getting supplies together to work on the Bunny Clark. I started the engine early because I wanted to change the oil first. So by the time Ian got there at 8:00 AM, we didn't have to wait around. We went around the whole engine changing engine oil and filters, reverse gear oil and filter, primary fuel filter, secondary fuel filters and a general engine check. We had other things that we had to do around the boat as well. We were finished with the Bunny Clark by noon.
Ian didn't take lunch today. Didn't feel like it. I was starved as I had an early breakfast and ran five miles before dawn. So I was ready to have something to eat. While I ate lunch, Ian changed out the battery in the scooter I use as a transport vehicle to the Cove and back, all summer. And summer is coming! By the time he was finished, I was done with lunch. For the next hour or so, we worked on setting up the electronic vessel trip reporting system we are required to use on the Bunny Clark this summer. After some trial and error and a few phone calls, we got it all figured out - I think.
After Ian left, I spent the rest of the afternoon working on restaurant stuff, the emails I had neglected the last two days (yikes!) and went to the mail. I was able to get twenty miles in on the bike before dinner.
I received a donation of $100.00 sponsoring me in my cycling event to raise money to fight cancer, the event called the Pan-Mass Challenge. The donation was from one of my best regular anglers, Tim Rozan (ME). He made the donation "In Memory of Danny Hazelwood, son of Lewis Hazelwood (one of the Bunny Clark's finest)". I very much appreciate the donation but not under the circumstances that Lew went through. Thank you, Tim!
I spent the whole day getting the Bunny Clark and myself ready to run the trip tomorrow.
Captain Ian Keniston and I ran the first trip of the season today, a marathon trip, with Anthony Palumbo in attendance. At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 32°F, the sky was clear with a crescent moon hanging above the horizon, the wind was light out of the north and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
We had a fairly easy ride to the fishing grounds. The southerly wind was lighter than it had been during the night and was dropping even more as we headed to the grounds. There was a left over two or three foot chop. But because the wind had dropped, the distance between them was greater even though our course took us right into them. The air temperature was cool (I haven't replaced the thermometer that broke at the end of last year). The visibility was very good. We were able to travel at full cruise.
On the grounds, the wind was still blowing out of the south at ten knots. Seas were mostly left over chops of two feet. In two hours the wind wind had vanished and the ocean was fairly calm with a little hubble left over. The wind started out of the southwest for a time at ten knots or so. That died out to fairly calm. Early in the afternoon, the wind hauled back out of the south. On the ride home we had a southerly wind of ten to fifteen knots with a two foot chop. The air temperature was cool all day. The sky was clear all morning but clouding in after noon. The sky was almost overcast by the time we were half way home, overcast when we got to the dock. It started raining in Ogunquit at 6:30 PM. It rained all night. The visibility ranged from twenty miles in the morning to ten miles in haze during the afternoon.. The tide (current) was light. The surface water temperature reached a high of 40.3°F. This the coldest surface water temperature I can ever remember seeing this late in the season. The high air temperature in Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) was 55°F (with a low of 36°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 58°F (with a low of 27°F). At the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine the high air temperature was 50°F (with a low of 28°F).
The fishing conditions were very good, the fishing was very good, the catching was very good overall (we had a lull for an hour in the afternoon) and landings were fair to good - due to the fact that we are not allowed to keep cod or haddock yet. Most fish caught were haddock and cod, in that order. I think that this is the first time in my life that I have fished this early in the season, after such a cold winter, and caught so many haddock everywhere we went. There was no size to the haddock, the largest probably 3.5 pounds. But there were plenty. And there weren't too many under seventeen inches either. The cod were small, the largest weighing in at 6 pounds. Most legal fish landed were redfish, by far. Legal landings also included a cunner, six pollock to 5.5 pounds and twelve cusk. We released three wolffish back to the ocean alive. We alternated between drifting and anchoring. No one used bait today, all jigs and cod flies.
Adam Towle (NH) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with the most legal fish and he won both boat pools for the largest and second largest fish. He won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10 pound wolffish. He won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish of the trip, a 7.5 pound cusk. Adam also caught a 7 pound cusk and quite a few redfish. Bunny Clark deck hand, Anthony Palumbo, caught the second largest fish, a 9.25 pound cusk. Anthony did not enter the boat pool. Anthony caught the largest pollock at 5.5 pounds and caught another cusk that weighed 6.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Jason O'Connor (ME) caught the most haddock of his life with a count over forty, all released, of course. He tied for the largest redfish at 1.75 pounds, just shy of a Maine state trophy. His largest fish was a 7 pound cusk. And he caught the largest cod of the day at 6 pounds. Frank Noble (ME) caught two wolffish. One weighed 7 pounds and the other was slightly smaller. Dana Decormier (NH) landed the hard luck award for being the least successful angler. He actually did very well, catching a lot of haddock, a few redfish, cod and a nice cusk (6 pounds?). But everyone else did just a little better. I had to give the shirt to someone! His best fish was a redfish, tied in weight with Jason's, at 1.75 pounds. He did have a double catch of haddock in the morning. I took a picture of Dana holding them before releasing them. This digital image appears on the left.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind and the visibility over the ocean was just good in some haze. The salient weather feature of the day was the warmer (than it has been) air temperatures. After sunrise, there was a noticeable rise in the air temperature. By 10:00 AM, it was 58°F. I did see 60°F but I never really kept track of the high air temperature in Ogunquit. The wind was light all day, variable in direction by mid morning through the afternoon. The sky was clear in the morning, mostly overcast in the afternoon and then partly sunny in the late afternoon. By 8:00 PM, we had a light easterly wind with fog. The visibility was all over the place today. The high air temperature in Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) was 69°F (with a low of 44°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 36°F). At the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 42°F).
I worked at the restaurant in the morning along with working on the Bunny Clark. Ian Keniston met me down there when I was on the boat. He was splicing dock lines. We both moved the boat so the Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce could use it for the re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party that was scheduled for 7:00 PM.
The rest of the day I spent at Barnacle Billy's restaurant.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 44°F, the sky was had a thin layer of overcast, enough to know but not enough to occlude all the stars, the wind was light out of the northeast and the visibility over the ocean was very good. We had a very hazy sun for a couple of hours after sunrise but that was all the sun we would see for the rest of the day as the sky remained overcast. We had no precipitation this day, although it looked like we would get some at times. The wind was light out of the northeast most of the morning. After noon, the northeast wind increased to about fifteen knots, more or less, and remained that way on into the night. The air temperature reached a high of at least 48°F by 11:00 AM before dropping, and remaining, at 43°F after noon. The visibility remained very good all day. The high air temperature in Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) was 52°F (with a low of 38°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 51°F (with a low of 32°F). At the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine the high air temperature was 48°F (with a low of 32°F).
It was all Barnacle Billy's restaurant today. It was busier than I thought it would be today with the less than favorable weather conditions. No one wanted to sit outside. Nor would I have expected them to.
After work, with the Bruins in a comfortable lead over Toronto, I ran storm lines off the Bunny Clark. I left the bow line to run tomorrow morning.
We canceled today's trip a couple of days ago after viewing the weather forecast and related weather products. The wooden anchors are out for day three!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 31°F, the sky was overcast, there was a light coating of snow on the grass, the wind was wind was blowing out of the northeast at twenty plus knots and the visibility over the ocean was good, at least. By sunrise, it was snowing, we had a blanket of snow outside on every surface and the air temperature had dropped to 28°F. It snowed periodically all day. There was, maybe, an inch of accumulation but it was a dense inch that turned into ice in the afternoon. The air temperature rose to 34°F and then started dropping. By mid afternoon, the air temperature was 28°F. The wind blew out of the northeast all day at a steady rate of twenty knots, more or less. I was surprised that it didn't increase or decrease. After sunset, the wind veered more easterly which is where is it was when I went to bed. The visibility over the ocean was fair. The high air temperature in Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) was 39°F (with a low of 33°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 32°F (with a low of 27°F). At the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine the high air temperature was 33°F (with a low of 27°F).
The digital image below was taken at 7:30 AM. It shows the snow covering the tables on the deck at Barnacle Billy's restaurant, the snow on the Bunny Clark and the white of the snow on everything in the background.
My day revolved around Barnacle Billy's, the business tempered by the weather. I leave early on Sunday, most times. So I was done by 6:30 PM, dinner at home and then early to bed.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 33°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly, the wind was blowing out of the east at twenty-five knots with gusts over thirty knots and the visibility over the ocean was fair. The wind stepped up to thirty knots and remained sustained at thirty knots (more or less) for the rest of the day. By nightfall, the wind was hauling out of the east southeast, still hard. Southeast wind struck at 8:30 PM with gusts to almost forty knots. The wind was gone by midnight. It rained all day. The morning saw a steady rain but there were times in the afternoon that I don't think you could get any wetter if you jumped in a lake. In fact, at one point you couldn't see the other side of the Cove, it was raining so hard. One of our customers told me that he had never seen it rain so hard at any time in his life. Maybe he doesn't have a very good memory! The air temperature rose to at least 42°F but it seemed colder than that with the wind and rain. The air temperature increased over night with the wind drop. The visibility was fair at best. The high air temperature in Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) was 53°F (with a low of 36°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 44°F (with a low of 28°F). At the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine the high air temperature was 47°F (with a low of 33°F).
I spent the morning working on Bunny Clark stuff and orders at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. At 10:00 AM, I attended an Ogunquit Community Support Forum for the J1 Summer Work & Travel Program. That lasted until about 12:20 PM. We employ a number of J1 students from eastern Europe who's sponsors were at this meeting. So there was a lot of back and forth on issues important to all of us. At one point we enjoyed a live discussion from Washington, D.C. with a representative from the U. S. State Department via Skype.
The rest of the day was spent at Barnacle Billy's. It was pretty slow today!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 42°F, the sky was overcast, there was no rain, there was no wind and the visibility over the ocean was poor in black thick fog. The sky remained overcast all morning, the air temperature was still hovering around 43°F and the wind was strong from the west. The fog cleared away by 9:00 AM. The sky remained cloudy most of the day with only brief sightings of the sun in the afternoon. Between those sunny spots were clouds with periodic rain showers. Those light rain showers disappeared by 6:30 PM. They were very intermittent anyway. The air temperature hovered around the 43°F mark all day, the highest air temperature that I saw was 45°F. The wind blew out of the southwest in the morning by hauled out of the west before noon, blowing up to twenty-five knots but sustained at twenty knots. The wind dropped to a sustained fifteen knots later in the afternoon. The visibility was excellent after 10:00 AM. The high air temperature in Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) was 50°F (with a low of 40°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 46°F (with a low of 36°F). At the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine the high air temperature was 47°F (with a low of 37°F).
I had a full morning of running around straightening things out after yesterday's storm. The higher than normal tide took out the dock leaves last night while I was asleep. These are loose pieces in the dock leading to the float where the Bunny Clark resides. They are not fastened so they can be removed to relieve the pressure on the dock from higher than normal tides. Removing the leaves could mean the difference between the dock surviving a strong storm surge or losing it altogether. Well, I dropped the ball on this one, figuring that the wind would haul out of the southeast soon enough to prevent a higher than normal tide. I was wrong. So part of the morning was spent getting our best carpenter down to the restaurant to fix it.
We had other small problems like getting clean salt water into the lobster tanks. The wind broke the screen door leading into the restaurant. That had to be fixed. And there were various other things the kept me busy until 11:00, when I had to head home to take a shower and get suited up to go to work at Barnacle Billy's restaurant.
Chris Costa called me from WCSH, Channel 6, in Portland, Maine yesterday to do an interview; "Remembering Barbara Bush". That interview took place after noon. It was meant to highlight all the good times during which the Bush Family ate at our restaurant, highlighting Barbara. In the morning, Chris told me the time. In the meantime, I called my brother (who had other plans) and my two sisters, Meg and Cathy. The interview went well except for my being aware of me stumbling over words in the conversation. But I never did like hearing myself speak anyway.
Later in the day we found out Barbara Bush had passed. The interview was timely and immediately put on the evening news. I didn't see it but I got calls from friends who said they did. At 8:30 PM, I got a call from reporter Eric Kane from WHDH, Channel 7 News, out of Boston to do a quick interview on Barbara Bush at the restaurant at 10:00 PM. I didn't really want to do it. But I saw it as an opportunity to tell the Bush Family how important and honored it was to know them. Eric had been referred to me by Boston TV reporter and substitute anchor, Dan Hausle, who eats at our restaurant frequently. He and his wife, Laura, have become friends of mine over the years. And it was the only link to Maine and Barbara that the station could come up with in such short notice. So I felt obligated to help. I was done by 10:30 PM, the piece airing later that night.
It looks like I'm am taking license to call the matriarch by her first name. But she did tell me, twice, that I should call her Barbara, please.
Other than that I visited our harbor master, Fred Mayo, in York Hospital, who seriously hurt his foot when a cradle came down on it. He has serious nerve and ligament damage. Mishap didn't break any bones but I think he would have been better off had that happened. He was in good spirits but his foot and leg looked bad.
I was at the restaurant all day other than the times mentioned above.
It was a melancholy day for me.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 33°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. It was a milder day today. The air temperature got up into the mid 50°s today. I never did get an exact reading. Ashore, the wind blew out of the northwest at about twenty knots all day. The wind blew out of the west off shore. The sky was mostly clear all day with some clouds. The visibility was excellent. The high air temperature in Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) was 53°F (with a low of 36°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 52°F (with a low of 32°F). At the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine the high air temperature was 53°F (with a low of 34°F).
I spent the whole day at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. My sister, Cathy, texted me to say that WGME, Channel 13, wanted an interview at around noon about moments with Barbara Bush. This was my third interview for TV. It was the second for Cathy, Meg and I. Dan McCarthy was the reporter this time, from Portland, Maine. That lasted about a half hour or more. It aired in the evening but I didn't see it. I did see the piece I did on for Channel 7 out of Boston this morning.
Wednesdays are busy days for me at the restaurant mostly because there are quite a few orders. But also, today, because we were fixing things that got broken in the storm. I was done at 4:30 PM, so I could get the Bunny Clark ready for the marathon trip tomorrow.
Captain Ian Keniston and I are running the marathon trip today, the first trip in a week.At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 38°F, the sky was mostly clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at twelve knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
We could still see the stars in the sky when we went through the gate headed to the fishing grounds. The visibility was excellent, the ocean had a one to two foot chop created by a ten knot westerly wind and the air temperature was cool.
On the grounds, the sky was overcast and had become so about five miles before we arrived. The wind was out of the west at ten knots. There was a chop of about a foot or slightly more. It started to rain a hour in. It rained for the rest of the morning. By noon, we had no wind at all. The ocean became flat, glassy calm. There was no wind and no sea for about two hours. On the ride home, the wind blew lightly out of the west. There was a light chop of less than a foot. The visibility was excellent all day. The air temperature was raw, raw enough for long underwear and several layers. I was chilled for a good part of the morning. I wouldn't have mentioned this but Ian felt the same way! The tide (current) was light. The surface water temperature reached a high of 39.7°F. A half an hour away from the dock headed in, it started to rain again. It rained in Ogunquit for another hour before stopping. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 44°F with a low of 36°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 49°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 48°F (with a low of 38°F).
The fishing was excellent, the catching was excellent and landings were good.The fishing conditions couldn't have been better. We caught a pile of haddock from beginning to end. Most legal fish landed were haddock. We had the bag limit before the end of the trip and were released legal haddock before I called the day. We caught 2.2 sub-legal haddock for every legal haddock. So there were many more sub-legal haddock. And I probably missed a few at that. It was hard to keep track. We also caught a few cod, nineteen of which were between 5 and 11 pounds. Most cod were fairly small. Legal landings also included two redfish. Since we were targeting haddock, I didn't try any areas that might have held other species of fish, like redfish or pollock. We drift fished and anchored. It didn't seem to make a difference. All the best haddock and cod were caught on jigs. But all terminal gear worked well for haddock.
Jason "Jay" O'Connor (ME) was the fisherman of the day. He was high hook with the most legal fish and he won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 11 pound cod. Jay's largest haddock weighed 5.5 pounds, the second largest haddock of the trip. He fished with a single jig (and no fly) all day long. Neil Hickey (VT) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 9 pound cod. Neil's largest pollock weighed 4 pounds. Dennis Reissig (NY) caught the third largest fish, an 8.75 pound cod. Dennis' largest haddock was a skinny, long 4 pounder.
Other Angler Highlights: Jim Clouse (CT) caught a 7 pound cod, the first fish that I weighed today and his largest fish of the trip. Cody Lank (NH) landed the largest haddock of the trip weighing in at exactly 6 pounds. I took a picture of Cody holding his haddock. This digital image appears on the left. Cody caught the best double of the day. One was an 8 pound cod, the other weighing in at 7 pounds, also a cod, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Bob Mayer (ME) caught a 7.5 pound cod. His largest haddock weighed 5 pounds, the third largest haddock of the trip. I do believe that Tom Murphy (VT) lost a bigger one at the surface. Ty Kashmiry (ME) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for getting tangled three times. He really had great luck and caught a lot of haddock. But I had to give the shirt to someone!
I received a generous $50.00 donation sponsoring me in my cycling event called the Pan-Mass Challenge. This event to try and find the key to a cancer cure. Dennis Reissig was the wonderful individual responsible for the donation.Thank you very much, Dennis. Much appreciated!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 36°F, the sky was mostly clear, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the wind blew out of the northwest to twenty-five knots in gusts most of the day, dying out very late in the afternoon. The sky was clear, the visibility was excellent and I observed a high air temperature of 53°F in Ogunquit. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 53°F with a low of 36°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 50°F (with a low of 35°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 52°F (with a low of 35°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at ten to fifteen knots with gusts to twenty knots. Seas were two to four feet in chops, maybe less for the ride back to Perkins Cove. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds, the visibility ranged over twenty miles and the surface water temperature reached a high of 40°F. The tide was moderate. The air temperature felt cold to most.
The fishing was very good, the frequency of catch was excellent but the conditions weren't calm enough to give the day a value of excellent. Landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, albeit, a bit smaller then they were yesterday. Legal landings also included two redfish, just like yesterday! The haddock cull was three sub-legal fish to one legal. Released fish, besides small cod and haddock included a wolffish and four cod from 5 to 10 pounds. They drift fished and anchored. Bait worked a little better than jigs did today. It was the reverse yesterday.
Ian couldn't tell me whom was high hook. Bill Socha (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish, a 10 pound cod which was weighed and released immediately. The second largest fish was an 8 pound cod caught by Neil Hickey (VT). Dave Symes (ME) caught the third largest fish, a 5 pound cod. Dave also caught the largest haddock at 4 pounds. Andrew Gannon (ME) landed the hard luck award for getting a touch of the mal de mer.
And we had a development where Neil dropped his fishing rod, our fishing rod, overboard. As luck would have it, Jim Vacchiano (ME) caught the rod and got it back to the boat. When it dropped overboard, Ian grabbed a rod with a jig, dropped it over the side in hopes of snagging the lost rod and caught a haddock instead! Anyway, all's well that ends well!
I received three donations, sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, an 192 mile cycling event in a quest for a cancer free world. One was an $100.00 "egift" made by Rodger Aldridge (NY) on April 18, 2018, "A Memorial Tribute to the "Enforcer", Barbara Bush". Barbara Bush generated millions to cancer research. Another was from Dave & Rebecca Symes (ME), today, also for $100.00. And Tom Murphy (VT) also donated $40.00 cash, today. Thank you all so very much for your kindness and generosity. It means a lot to me but more to those who are fighting for their lives.
Captain Ian Keniston and Anthony Palumbo ran the full day today.At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 34°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the wind blew out of the west northwest all day. Twenty knots to start, the wind dropped to just about nothing at sunset. The sky was clear all day. The air temperature rose to 56°F in Ogunquit. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 59°F with a low of 39°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 58°F (with a low of 29°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 31°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west northwest at ten knots, hauled out of the west and dropped to five knots or less. Seas were one to two foot chops in the morning and calm in the afternoon. The air temperature was warm. The sky was sunny. The tide (currrent) was light. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 42°F.
The fishing was excellent, catching was excellent and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock. The cull was one to one, a legal fish for every two haddock caught. Legal landings also included nine redfish and a cusk. Released fish included three cod over 5 pounds and one wolffish. Drifting was the only boating method employed. All terminal gear worked well.
Cole Melendy (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. David Anderson (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 13.5 pound cod, our largest cod of the fishing season so far. Ian took a picture of David with his nice cod before releasing it. This digital image appears on the right. The second largest fish was a 9 pound wolffish caught by David Robitaille (NH). David also caught one of the largest cod today at 5 pounds. Peter Grant (ME) caught the third largest fish, a 6 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: Buzzy Patten (NH) caught the second largest haddock of the trip with one that weighed 4.5 pounds. The largest haddock was a 5 pounder caught by Ken Patryn (NH). Nick Oltsch (NH) landed the hard luck award for getting a little green around the gills.
Sixteen year old Eric Donovan (NH) was auditioning for the swing deck hand position today. He didn't have oil gear or gloves so I lent him mine. My crew and I were impressed with him. We shall see.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 37°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the wind was light from the north northwest in the morning, just shy of ten knots. This wind flunked out by noon. After noon, the wind blew lightly out of the south and, then south southwest. The sky was clear all day, cloudless all morning and part of the afternoon. The air temperature got up to 58°F in Perkins Cove but only momentarily before the wind struck out of the south. The cool wind off the water kept the air temperature down, particularly in the afternoon. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 62°F with a low of 42°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 25°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 32°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five knots in the morning and the went variable in direction for the rest of the trip. The ocean was calm all day. The sky was clear, the visibility was thirty miles plus and the air temperature went from mild to warm. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 41°F.
The fishing was excellent all the way around, landings, catching and conditions. It was just a great day. Most fish caught and landed were haddock, the best haddock day, by far, of the season to date. And it would have been labeled an incredible day for haddock fishing in any year previous. The haddock cull was 50/50 again. For every two haddock caught, one was over eighteen inches fork length. Legal landings also included two redfish. Released fish besides the small haddock included ten short pollock, four cod of 5 pounds or just slightly more (probably sixty very small cod) and our first porbeagle shark loss. They made one anchor stop. The rest of the time they caught fish while drifting. All terminal gear worked well but only one angler was using a jig.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook. Too much going on. Joe Saracina, Jr. (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 6 pound cod. The second and third largest fish were both 5.5 pounds, cod both. Steve Keegan (ME) caught one. Ed Olson (ME) caught the other.
Other Angler Highlights: Earl Lagerholm (ME) caught a 5 pound cod, the fourth largest fish of the trip. Mark Saucier (ME) landed the hard luck award for breaking off a six or seven foot porbeagle shark after almost getting it close enough to the boat to gaff. So close but so far away!
I received an $100.00 sponsorship donation for my upcoming cancer bike ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. The donation was a "egift" through the PMC site from Jean-Denis Jacob & Louise Bilodeau (QC) "In Memory of the Former First Lady, Barbara Bush", who did so much for cancer research in the past. If luck has it, I will see them at Barnacle Billy's restaurant this summer!. Thank you so much, Jean-Denis & Louise. So very kind of you to reach out from Canada to help me here. All the best to you both!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 34°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. By 8:30 AM, the air temperature had already risen to 48°F. More later.
We have several openings for fishing trips in the near future. Those trips and vacancies are as follows: We have seventeen spots available on the Tim Tuesday, April 24 marathon trip, fourteen spots available on the Wednesday, April 25 extreme day trip, nine spots available on the Thursday, April 26 marathon trip, fourteen spots available on the Friday, April 27 extreme day trip and sixteen spots available on the Sunday, April 29 extreme day trip. I'm expecting haddock landings to be high this spring and the weather is certainly getting better. It can't get too much worse! For reservations you can call 207-646-2214.
At this time, I am still looking for a deck hand on the Bunny Clark for next season. It's what I call my "Swing Hand" position, a job requirement as a deck hand for four days a week, or six trips. Requirements for the position included a pre-employment drug test, enrollment in a random drug testing pool, a current CPR/AED/First Aid certificate, the capability of handling a rolling vessel on the ocean and a love of catering to people of all types and abilities. We have other requirements but those will be taught or self-taught before you take the position. If you are interested, you can call 207-646-2214.
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