Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Thursday, April 22, 2021, 7:00 AM EDT/AST
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The New England Fishery Management Council received input from both its Recreational Advisory Panel and Groundfish Committee before voting. GARFO [the regional office of the National Marine Fisheries Service under NOAA, in Gloucester, Massachusetts] will consider the Council's recommendation, but NOAA Fisheries will make the final decision. The new fishing year begins on May 1, 2021. Here is the Council's status quo request:
Gulf of Maine Cod:
Gulf of Maine Haddock:
Recreational fishing measures - bag limits, minimum sizes, and seasons - are determined annually by NOAA Fisheries in consultation with the Council in order for catch to achieve but not exceed each stock's sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL). The proposed 2021 recreational sub-ACL for Gulf of Maine cod is 193 metric tons (mt). For Gulf of Maine haddock, it's 5,295 mt.
The regulations above are the same regulations we had in fiscal fishing year 2020. The 2020 fiscal year will end on April 30, 2021.
After desk work, I started the day in Perkins Cove at Barnacle Billy's, watching the plumber do his work and the electricians involved in something I had asked them to do today while I was there yesterday. From there I drove to the barn where the Bunny Clark was being tended. Independant Boat Haulers were there at 8:00 AM to take the Bunny Clark over the road to Kittery Point Yacht Yard (KPYY) in Eliot, Maine to be launched later that afternoon. Below is a shot of the Bunny Clark on the first few feet of the journey headed to the coast.
I received two donations sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. One donation of $20.00, from Dennis Hartigan (ME) down in Perkins Cove, happened on March 29, 2021. The other came as an "eGift" through the PMC site from Steve Guilmet (MA) who has been helping my cause since I first got involved in 2007. Thank you both very much for thinking of me in the fight against cancer - on the second day after one of my very good friends passed from a long battle with the disease. It is so thoughtful and I certainly appreciate the support. All the best to you both.
I spent the day working on the Bunny Clark, getting all my documentation in order and getting ready for the USCG & FCC inspection on Monday. I also spent two hours in the office at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. It was a rewarding day in that it was Saturday, a day that most sales people have off.
I received yet another donation today sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money to fight cancer. This donation was for $100.00 in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site from Michael & Sally Sanders (CT). This donation came out of the blue with no expectations whatsoever, the best kind! Thank you so very much, Michael & Sally. I really do appreciate your support!
After getting all my desk work done, I jumped on the bike at 7:00 AM and rode to the Maine Coast Cycling Club's Sunday ride in Kennebunkport. It's the one part of the week I try to ride with the group of friends I have made there. The ride starts at Mainely Bicycle with proprietor Chris Durand who does an excellent job (a magician with magical powers) on bike repairs. In fact, I came with a backpack with my cross bike shoes as my cross bike was with Chris. I had planned to leave my road bike to have some spokes replaced and ride my cross bike back to Ogunquit, which I did.
The rest of the day was spent getting the Bunny Clark ready for this coming week. I drove to KPYY where the Bunny Clark resides to meet up with a prospective deck hand who didn't show. But I also wanted to start the engine, look over the engine and get the fire extinguishers from both the Bunny Clark and the Petrel together in one place for fire inspection early Tuesday morning. I was also making a list of things to do and going over systems on the boat that hadn't been looked at yet. Once I realized that the guy I was waiting for wasn't going to show up, I headed back home. For the rest of the day I worked on getting the Bunny Clark truck ready and getting things organized, loading my other truck, for the early day tomorrow.
Tomorrow I have to drop the Bunny Clark truck off at the dealership in Portsmouth and then drive the other truck from home to meet the FCC inspector at the Bunny Clark. Logistics will be key during the morning.
Today was a very busy day getting the Bunny Clark ready for U. S. Coast Guard inspection tomorrow. On top of all that, I had to bring the Bunny Clark truck to Portsmouth to fix a vibration I was feeling on the open road. And I had FCC (radio) inspection at 9:30 AM.
Rather than go into the details of the day, we passed the FCC inspection and were issued a certificate, good for another five years. Tyler Carpenter was helping Ian Keniston on the Bunny Clark. Ian spent the day working on the boat and bringing Tyler up to speed on the Coast Guard inspection. Tyler will be there tomorrow. I spent most of the day gathering materials, updating safety equipment on the boat and making sure everything was completed in a timely manner. There was a lot of running around. And I had a lot of help from Navtronics/Liferaft Services. They made it really easy to do some of the things it has typically taken much longer to do.
By 5:30 PM, I was finished with the boat stuff. I was going to continue until 7:00 PM but the internet went out all over town and the last two hours of work were going to be done online.
I did also manage to have a meeting of the managers at Barnacle Billy's restaurants. It was a very productive day overall.
I received a $25.00 donation from Angela & Jim Feeney (MA) sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a cancer fund raising cycling event that goes right by their house. They have been very generous to me over the years but they also sponsor other riders in the event. I am honored that they still include me. I do so appreciate it.
Today was a busy day. I got up early so I could finish this report and gather things to take to Kittery Point Yacht Yard and the Bunny Clark. I met Tyler Carpenter and Ian Keniston there. Once with them, we went over systems, management and life saving operations needed for the U. S. Coast Guard inspection later in the morning.
At 9:30 AM, Jay from Interstate Fire showed up. I love this guy. Of course, everyone at that company is so helpful and reliable but Jay is a cyclist. And, like me, loves to talk about it. So we traded stories and notes as he inspected all the fire equipment aboard. The main reason he was there on this day was to go over the fire suppression system in the engine room with our USCG inspector at 10:30 AM.
CWO Matthew White, USCG, showed up exactly on time. Fire equipment inspection was the first thing that was on the list, so Jay could get back to his real job after showing our inspector the engine room system. For the next three hours, Matthew White went over everything that needed to be inspected. Near the end we did a man overboard drill in the Piscataqua River and went over the situation in case of a fire at sea, one of my biggest nightmares. It was great for Tyler as he was grilled by our inspector and did very well.
We passed inspection except for having a complete first aid kit. Things had expired and some items were missing. I had forgotten about that. So part of what I did afterward was to gather enough first aid equipment to bring the kit back up to standard. I emailed pictures to our inspector.
At 2:00 PM, I took the Bunny Clark, alone, to Perkins Cove, checking engine systems and electronics on the way. Meanwhile, Tyler took my truck and Ian took his, both back to Ogunquit to meet me in Perkins Cove. For the rest of the day we worked on getting the Bunny Clark in fishing shape. I don't know if I have ever been as excited about going fishing on the Bunny Clark. I'm sure I feel this way every year but I'm old and I forget - apparently. Apparently, I forget; it's a given that I'm old.
I ended up finishing up around 6:30 PM after starting at 2:00 AM this morning.
Dawn Beckwith (ME) donated a generous $100.00 to sponsor me in the upcoming Pan-Mass Challenge, a ride to solve the cancer riddle. Dawn & Sally have supported me for the full fifteen seasons that I have been involved. The nice touch is that I see them periodically throughout the summer at the restaurant. Dawn is just a peach. Dawn sent the donation with the message that her mother passed from bone cancer in January of this year. Sad. Her message also included; "RIP, Mom!". Thank you so much, Dawn I really appreciate your picking me as your conduit to the Jimmy Fund. And I will very much be looking forward to seeing you and Sally this summer!
After the morning desk work, I had to run around getting fishing materials together, talk with the managers at Barnacle Billy's and call some of our vendors about product.
At 9:00 AM, I met Skip Dunning, (the road tech from Power Products in Portland, Maine) at the Bunny Clark. I kept getting a read-out on the engine panel telling me that the computers on the engine were having a hard time communicating with each other. It would start out as a series of beeps and then the legend would show up. Try as I might, I couldn't figure it would. It wouldn't prevent me from bringing the engine up to cruising speed. But I couldn't get rid of this happening every time I started the engine. Skip ended up plugging in his computer to the engine and, after a fashion, fixed the problem.
The rest of the day was spent getting the Bunny Clark ready to sail tomorrow, working with the restaurant crew and gathering all my stuff together in order to run the trip. I finished at 6:30 PM.
At the same time, Captain Ian Keniston and Tyler Carpenter were also getting materials for the Bunny Clark and putting things together. They did plenty of work on the Bunny Clark, as I did. But I spent more time off the boat running around.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the north at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
We had an easy ride to the fishing grounds. For most of the ride the air temperature was 50°F. There was no wind to speak of. What wind we did have was out of the north. Maybe five knots. Barely a chop. Zero white caps. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear.
On the fishing grounds, we had five knots of wind to start out of the northeast. Later, the wind was out of the east. By noon or a little after, the wind was out of the southeast. Then it died out altogether. For the last two hours of the trip and all the way home the ocean was flat calm, devoid of even a ripple. The sky was clear all day, cloudless from late morning through the afternoon. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 52°F under the shade top. The tide (current) was moderate to light. The surface water temperature reached a high of 44°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 56°F with a low of 45°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 42°F).
The fishing was very good overall. The morning was a steady pick for most of it. Later morning through most of the afternoon was excellent, a fish a drop. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. Approximately a third of the haddock that were caught were sub-legal. Legal landings also included three cod, seven redfish, a pollock and a cunner. Released fish included the haddock, thirty-three short cod, fifteen sub-legal pollock, two wolffish and about thirty sculpins. Drifting was the fishing method. We never did anchor. We never needed to. Bait worked the best.
David Dorr (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. Julie Mahony (MA) won the boat pool for the largest with the largest fish, a 7 pound wolffish, and she also won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 6 pound cod. Her largest haddock weighed 3.5 pounds. Dennis Reissig (NY) caught the third largest fish of the trip, a 4.75 pound cod. In fact, Dennis caught half of all the cod caught on the Bunny Clark today.
Other Angler Highlights: Jay O'Connor (ME) caught a 4 pound cod and a 4.5 pound cod. I think he would have been high hook had he not stayed with the jig for the trip. Mark Belanger (ME) caught a 4 pound cod. Jack Cadigan (MA) caught the second largest haddock at 4 pounds. The largest haddock of the trip was caught by Ron Neil (MA), a 4.5 pounder. He also landed the hard luck award for the trip by being tricked into thinking he was getting bites while fishing when he really wasn't. Had he not been talking so much he might have figured out that it was me!
I received a few donations sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those donors and their donations included Norm & Linda Viens (MA) for a generous $100.00 via "eGift" through the PMC site, Dave Dorr for $20.00, Julie Mahony for a generous $100.00 and Mark Belanger for a generous $100.00. Thank you all so very much for your support and thoughtfulness. I do so appreciate this!
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was overcast, there was no wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. By dawn, the sky was clear, there was no wind and the ocean looked like a glassy mill pond. It was a beautiful day.
We had an easy ride to the fishing grounds, again. We had a flat calm ocean that changed to a light northerly/northeast wind before we got to the grounds. The sky was clear, the visibility was excellent and it was a very comfortable ride.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northeast, rolled out of the southeast and left us with a following wind/sea out of the south. The most wind that we saw was about ten knots out of the south with a one foot chop, or a bit more, for the ride home. There was also a rolling sea swell that ranged from five to eight feet, the smaller seas in the afternoon. The visibility remained excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 52°F under the shade top. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 45°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 59°F with a low of 44°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 37°F).
The fishing was excellent from the start but the catching was horrible to start. It took us a while just to get a couple legal fish in the boat. I alternated between drifting and anchoring but nothing seemed to work very well. On the last drift of the day we finally got a steady pick which gave us a good day for landings overall. At noon, I was kicking myself for not weighing the 3 pound haddock we caught to cement a pool position. Most legal fish landed were haddock. The haddock cull was just about 50/50, favoring the legal fish by just a hair. Legal landings also included four cod, forty-two redfish and twelve cusk. Released fish included the sub-legal haddock, thirty-two sub-legal cod, three pollock, five redfish, a sea raven and twenty sculpins. The last drift was, by far, the best fishing of the day. Bait seemed to work the best overall but Steve Selmer fished with a jig and a fly..
I took a picture of Ian, who filleted all the fish today. This digital image appears on the left.
Steve Selmer (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. He caught thirty-five haddock. Most were too small to keep. He also landed the hard luck award for losing two jigs.
Mark Thyng (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8.25 pound cod. Dave "Tags" Taglilatela (NH) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 6 pound cusk. There was a tie for the third largest fish, both cusk of 5.5 pounds each. Jim Biron (NH) caught one and Mike McNealy (NH) caught the other.
Other Angler Highlights: Dick Silkes (MA) caught a 4 pound cusk. The biggest haddock might have been 3 pounds.
When we got back to the dock, I said my goodbyes and headed home to get changed to go into the restaurant, Barnacle Billy's, original. It was very busy. The new operation is half way between how we approached last year and the normal way we have been doing business for this our 60th year. It was a great deal of fun seeing those who were still there after the fishing trip. Of course, I missed quite a few people. Manager's Matt Pedersen and Stuart Dunn did a masterful job in getting all our employees together, getting the restaurant ready to go and making this whole first day a seamless operation. We had no complaints and, of course, the weather was fantastic. I ended up getting to bed at 9:30 PM.
So not knowing the problem, not being able to make enough speed to get to the fishing grounds and not wanting to make matters worse than they already are, I canceled the trip. One good thing, many of the anglers aboard had been with me these last couple of days. But everyone was going to miss an awesome day on the ocean unless they could get to another boat soon enough.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 42°F, the sky was mostly clear, the wind was very light from the south and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind blew out of the south all day. I never did see the wind blow more than ten knots. Most of the time it was less than that. The sky was clear all day. The visibility was very good in some haze. The highest air temperature that I saw was 75°F, the warmest day in Ogunquit for 2021 so far. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 78°F with a low of 48°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 38°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 38°F).
I did end up getting a road tech to the Bunny Clark; Skip Dunning (with Power Products, Portland, Maine). He landed in Perkins Cove around 11:30 AM. He worked on the Bunny Clark through lunch and on to two hours. It was a faulty sender. There was nothing wrong with the engine. He ended up diverting communication from that sender which took it out of the system. So until we get a new sender (sensor), we will get a legend on the panel that can be taken out leaving us with a message to take care of this problem in the future. I won't forget anyway. We did a sea trial. Everything worked out fine. Too bad to lose a trip on a perfect day when we really could have sailed without a problem. Electronic engines and the internet, two big problems we have to deal with in life now!
The rest of the day I worked at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. The business was excellent. It continued to be old home week where I knew just about everyone. I ended up leaving for the night at 9:00 PM. It was a great day ashore. The weather was perfect. Everyone was in t-shirts. It was really better than a summer day in Ogunquit.
I received a generous $100.00 donation from Rick & Pat sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. They are regular patrons of Barnacle Billy's. It was great to see them today. Thank you so much, both of you, for your support and thoughtfulness. I do really appreciate it!
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 45°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at fifteen to twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind kept up all morning but started to blow harder by mid morning. Wind speeds were about twenty knots out of the northeast with gusts to twenty-five knots. By 2:00 PM, the wind had hauled out of the east northeast and was blowing a little more than fifteen knots. By sunset, there was no wind at all. The air temperature dropped a bit during the morning. I saw a reading of 43°F at noon. By 2:00 PM, the sky had cleared and the sun was shinning. With the much lighter wind, the air temperature was decidedly higher but I never looked at a thermometer. The visibility was excellent all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 60°F with a low of 45°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 50°F (with a low of 37°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at ten knots. That was when they first got there. Actually, they had a nice ride out to the grounds with the same wind speed. Seas were three to five feet in swells with a two foot chop - probably spawned from a bigger wind offshore. The wind continued out of the east, increasing to fifteen and twenty knots with seas of four to six feet under a three foot wind chop. Confused to say the least. Winds backed off on the ride home. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The sky was overcast all day. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 43°F while the surface water temperature reached a high of 44°F.
The fishing was tough with the sea conditions. The catch and landings were very good to excellent. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far, almost (but not quite) reaching the bag limit. The haddock cull was six to one, favoring the legal sized fish. The haddock were the largest we have seen so far this season. Legal landings also included ten cod (for other legal cod were released alive), two pollock and four redfish. Released fish included the short haddock, twenty-six sub-legal cod, a couple small pollock and a few sculpins. They tried drifting but anchoring did the best. All terminal gear worked well.
Silas Amlaw (NY) was high hook with the most legal fish. His best fish was a 4 pound haddock. Cole Melendy (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 5.75 pound cod. There was a tie for the second largest fish at 5 pounds. Dom Bruno (NY) caught one, a cod, and Sean Devich (NY) caught the other, a pollock, our largest pollock of the fishing season so far. Dom caught the largest haddock of the trip at 4.25 pounds. It's also the largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season.
Other Angler Highlights: Peter Melendy (NH) caught two haddock of 4 pounds each. Mike O'Connell (NH) landed the hard luck award for being the highest of hurlers. We also had a deck hand trainee, Kai Rosenberg, who also did pretty well in that department! Ouch!
I was in Barnacle Billy's restaurant all day. It was not nearly as busy as it was yesterday and Friday. But the weather was not conducive to sitting on the deck, which is our biggest draw. The fire places were going all day. And tables near them filled first. Later, we had many sitting on the deck in the sun and the warmer air temperatures. It was a good weekend overall.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was overcast with clear skies to the east, the wind was blowing out of the north at ten to fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. For most of the morning, the wind was out of the northeast at fifteen knots, more or less. By 11:00 AM, the wind increased as it hauled out of the east northeast. By noon, wind gusts were up to twenty knots. We had a sustained easterly wind of twenty knots through the afternoon with some higher gusts. Wind speeds backed off to nothing near sunset. The wind was out of the northwest by 8:00 PM with hardly enough wind to blow out a candle. The sky cleared and was sunny for most of the day. The visibility was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 50°F. With the wind off the water, the day seemed cool, even in the sun. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 51°F with a low of 43°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 30°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 52°F (with a low of 36°F).
On the ride to the fishing grounds, the wind was fairly light with a light chop over a bigger short sea. Wind speeds were not much more than ten knots. On the grounds, the wind increased like it did yesterday. Seas were three to five feet by mid morning and four to six and eight in the afternoon. Wind speeds after noon were about twenty knots with some higher gusts. The tide was moderate in the morning but stronger and into the wind by the afternoon. They had some patchy fog in the morning until the wind came up. The sky was clear for most of the trip. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 45°F under the canopy top. The surface water temperature reached a high of 43°F.
The fishing was tough with the wind and seas. As a result, there were only eight anglers healthy enough to be involved in the fishing. So the catching was very good to excellent but landings were down because of the lack of participation. Most legal fish landed were haddock, again, by far. The haddock cull was, again, six to one, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included four of six cod big enough to keep and eight redfish. Released fish included the haddock, the two legal cod, twelve short cod and a wolffish. They drift fished and anchored. Everyone used bait and cod flies.
Ian couldn't tell me who was high hook with the most legal fish. Doug Andrews (VT) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 5 pound wolffish. The second largest fish was a 4.5 pound cod caught by Don Nuttall (ME). Matt Luce (ME) caught the third largest fish, a 4.25 pound haddock, a tie for the largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. Richie Antanavich (ME) landed the hard luck award for being the most vocal hurler.
I spent the whole day in the office at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. I also did some running around town, to the Town Office and working on Cove Committee items. But most of my concentration was on the restaurant. I met the Bunny Clark when it came in at 5:00 PM. And I gave Tyler Carpenter some boat handling lessons. I was done with work at 6:00 PM.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the north at twelve knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The sky was mostly clear all day with some clouds. The wind stayed out of the north at about twelve knots until late morning. The wind was light after that and stayed light all afternoon. The wind was variable but out of some variation of the southerly direction from before sunset on into the night. The highest air temperature that I saw was 60°F. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 58°F with a low of 44°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 66°F (with a low of 31°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 42°F).
Today was a very busy day in the office at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. I had two managers meeting, many phone calls, emails and much catching up to do after spending a lot of time devoted to the boat last week.
Skip Dunning from Power Products came down to change out the coolant sensor that went bad the other day and caused me to lose a trip. I had opened up the boat and made the engine accessible for Skip upon his arrival. But I was too busy with restaurant stuff to be there with him when he was working. I did manage to break away to sign papers after he had completed the job. But that was about it.
I had a bait delivery at 3:30 PM. Two thousand pounds was dropped off in flats to be stored frozen. I helped Janet unload the truck. Afterward, the management crew from Barnacle Billy's helped me put it all away.
The last thing I did was a meeting that ended at 5:00 PM. I gave up working after that.
I also managed to interview some perspective deck hands on the phone. I have one potential deck hand from the ten I talked to. For some it was too much work, some smoked marijuana (which is an immediate disqualification) and some wanted to think about it.
I also managed to coordinate a pick-up of fillet matt material with Ian Keniston and Howe's Highway Floor Store. Tommy Dickerson, who owns Howe's, has been a good friend of mine for years and a better friend to my brother, Court.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 44°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was very light out of the east and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. We had very little wind in the morning. What wind we did have was east, northeast or east southeast, with no rhyme or reason. After noon, the wind hauled out of the south and blew up to fifteen knots at times. By 8:00 PM, the wind had backed out of the southwest and was less than ten knots. The sky was overcast for a while in the morning but became mostly sunny by noon and cloudless in the afternoon. The highest air temperature that I saw in Ogunquit was 50°F. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 51°F with a low of 46°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 39°F).
I spent the day at the restaurant, cleaning up things and preparing for the Barnacle Billy's year ahead.
At the same time, I was going back and forth between the Bunny Clark and Barnacle Billy's. Navtronics from York, Maine was installing the satellite phone station there. The old phone died, the victim of old technology, and could not be repaired. Even though the new phone was from the same company, the docking station was different, although I could still use the same power and antenna leads. Stu, with Navtronics, started in the morning, left to work on the box we had built to house the old phone and finished around 2:00 PM. The new phone is so much easier to use and aquires a signal so much faster.
I also worked on prospective new deck hands. Nothing conclusive yet.
I received two donations sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge today. One was a generous $100.00 from David Hutchins (ME), a close family friend and great guy. The other was a $50.00 donation from Steve Saunders (MA), an excellent angler who I have been lucky enough to have aboard the Bunny Clark with the Dave Miller crew. Thank you both so much for your thoughtfulness (Dave drove down to the Cove to give me the donation in person) and generosity. I do so appreciate this!
We had a lack of interest for the marathon trip that was supposed to sail today.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind, the ocean along the shore was mirror calm and the visibility over it was excellent. We started to see high thin clouds in the sky as an approaching cloud mass could be seen well to the southwest. As the day progressed the sky became overcast. This started around noon. The sky was overcast for the rest of the day. It looked like rain at sunset. But it never rained while I was awake. The wind showed up at mid morning out of the southeast or some variation of that direction. Wind speeds all day were no more than ten knots. I noticed the wind change at sunset to a direction directly out of the east. The velocity of the wind increased ever so slightly. By 8:00 PM, we had wind speeds approaching fifteen knots. The visibility was excellent all day. The highest air temperature that I saw in Ogunquit was 48°F. I'm don't believe that was the highest air temperature in Ogunquit but it might have been in Perkins Cove with the wind off the water. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 54°F with a low of 42°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 52°F (with a low of 39°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 38°F).
The morning was another office day. But the office did was the office at home. I did a few restaurant related things but most of it was Bunny Clark stuff.
Part of the day was spent on trying to solve issues with my mother. She had a stroke three weeks ago. Her recovery and adapting to a different life for her because of this has made for a few changes so that she can enjoy the things she liked to do before this happened. So she is constrained because of her new physical capabilities.
At 2:00 PM, I chaired a Harbor Committee meeting. Directly after the meeting began, we went into executive session. We have been given the opportunity by the Town of Ogunquit to advise on who we feel would be the best candidate for the Perkins Cove Harbor Master. We narrowed it down to two choices out of nine. We will interview these applicants next week.
The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the weather system due to strike some time tonight. This involved getting things under cover and tying storm lines on the boats in preparation for the wind.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining, the wind was out of the east at twenty knots with higher gusts and the visibility over the ocean was good in rain. It rained all day. But the salient weather feature was certainly the wind. Wind speeds were thirty-five to forty-five knots out of the northeast for six hours straight. Seas increased to over twenty-one feet every eleven seconds at the closest weather buoy, nine miles from Perkins Cove. The wind started to back off at sunset. By 9:00 PM, wind speeds had decreased to thirty to thirty-five knots. At high tide between 2:00 & 3:00 PM, we had splash over in the parking lot in Perkins Cove. This was an eight foot tide. Thankfully, the storm wasn't centered around a full or new moon as we would have had to evacuate Perkins Cove. The surge in the Cove was surprisingly minor, much less than expected. The high air temperature remained at 40°F. The air temperature started to drop around noon. It was 39°F then. When I left Perkins Cove at 8:30 PM, the air temperature was 37°F. The visibility through all of this was, of course, crap. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 45°F with a low of 35°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 39°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 43°F - at 2:05 AM - (with a low of 38°F).
In Worcester and Franklin Counties, Massachusetts, there was eight inches of snow today. We didn't even have a hint of snow here in Ogunquit.
It was a miserable day here in Ogunquit. I spent the morning working at home, first, on Bunny Clark stuff. Afterward, I worked on writing up the minutes for the Harbor Commitee meeting and making a list of Harbor Master requirements that I shared with the Town and the Committee members. Some of these will be used in the interviews for the new Harbor Master on Thursday, April 22nd. I went to the Cove to check on things a couple of times. But I didn't go to work at Barnacle Billy's until noon.
The rest of the day I spent at the restaurants, talking to customers, working on orders and watching the tide. The dock never was under water, which didn't surprise me but made me feel that we had dodged another bullet. When the wind is strong out of the northeast, like it was today, a wind vortex can be found at the entrance door of Barnacle Billy's (original). Today this vortex was over fifty knots. My hat never flies off my head, particularly when I shave my head, as I did last night. The very short hair growing back act like little teeth digging into the chapeau material. It took two hands to keep my hat on walking past that spot today. Likewise, we didn't have the screen door mounted there as it would have been ripped off it's hinges. And we had to monitor patrons when they walked out alone, opening the door by themselves.
I received a very generous $500.00 donation from Susan Paurowski, sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge today. Her contribution was made through the PMC site as an "eGift". This was totally unexpected and very thoughtful. Thank you so much, Susan. I really appreciate your support as do so many others.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 37°F, the sky was overcast, it was wet & misting enough to get your glasses wet, the wind was out of the north northeast at twenty-five knots (more or less) and the visibility over the ocean was fair to good in misty rain. By 7:00 AM, it was snowing. Big flakes. The snow melted as soon as the flakes hit the ground. Precipitation had ended by 9:00 AM. From then on we had intermittent rain throughout the day. The sky was mostly overcast with a few breaks. Rain showers were all short lived. The wind blew out of the north at twenty knots or more in the morning. This wind diminished as the afternoon progressed. Light westerly winds brought us into and through the night. The visibility was very good when the rain was not present. The highest air temperature that I saw in Ogunquit was 46°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 51°F with a low of 39°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 48°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 48°F (with a low of 34°F).
I worked in Barnacle Billy's restaurant today. This was also my son, Micah's, first day working as a manager at Barnacle Billy's. Business was certainly better than it was yesterday. But the weather did take it's toll.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 39°F, the sky was overcast, the roads were dry, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The sky cleared around 9:00 AM and stayed clear until noon. After noon, the sky became overcast and remained so until about 4:30 PM, when we saw the sun again. The visibility was excellent all day. The wind blew out of the northwest, died out and then hauled out of the southwest at about eight knots. The southwest wind carried on into the night. The wind was very light. The highest air temperature that I saw in Perkins Cove was 52°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 63°F with a low of 44°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 31°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 36°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five knots, went calm, and then hauled out of the southwest at five knots. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds. The visibility was very good at least with a report of twenty miles, in range. The tide was moderate. The ocean was calm over a three to four foot sea swell to start and a two foot swell to end the day. The air temperature reached a high of 47°F under the canopy top. The surface water temperature reached a high of 43°F.
The fishing, the catching and landings were very good overall. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. In fact, there were only three other legal fish boated today, all redfish. The haddock cull was ten to one, favoring the legal fish. This made it seem like everything was legal. The boat bag limit of haddock was caught by the end of the trip. Released fish included three cod that would have been legal during the time we could have kept them but not big enough to win the boat pool. They had several porbeagle (mackerel) shark attacks. Not one was brought to gaff. Drifting was the method. Bait worked best.
Derrick LaFlamme (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. Troy Boyd (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 4.5 pound haddock, the largest haddock of the Bunny Clark fishing season so far. He also caught a 4 pound haddock, a tie with a few anglers for the third largest fish. The second largest fish was a 4.25 pound haddock caught by Ray Westermann (MA). Troy shared the third place title with Jackie Rivers (ME), Anthony Feldpausch (ME) and Lewis Hazelwood (MA), all with haddock of 4 pounds each.
Other Angler Highlights: Cotey O'Neill (ME) landed the hard luck award for being moderately sea sick.
We had a moderately successful day at the restaurant. The early afternoon saw patrons on the deck over the water. The later part of the afternoon and night saw most patrons eating inside.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 35°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was very light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The ocean was flat calm with wind patches along side the glass calm water for most of the morning. During the afternoon, the wind came up out of the southeast. It never blew more than ten knots and then died out near sunset. The visibility was excellent. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds. The highest air temperature that I saw in Perkins Cove was 57°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 63°F with a low of 44°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 30°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 34°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at five knots or less, went calm and then hauled out of the southwest at five knots or less. The ocean was calm all day. The sky was sunny and clear all day. The air temperature was mild in the morning and warm in the afternoon. The highest air temperature that Ian recorded under the canopy top was 57°F. The visibility was excellent. The surface water temperature reached a high of 47°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was very good and landings were good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. The haddock cull was three to one, favoring the legal sized fish. Legal landings also included one pollock, forty-five redfish, twelve cusk and one butter mullet. Released fish included four cod that would have been legal in the first week of April and the sub-legal haddock. They drift fished all day. Bait worked best for the haddock.
Tim Rozan (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. Ray Westermann (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 6 pound cusk. He also caught the third largest fish, a 4.5 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 5 pound cod caught by Jim Koplar (CT). Fran Amlaw (NY) landed the hard luck award for losing a jig and 400' of line!
At 3:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 39°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
It was a calm ride to the fishing grounds with clear skies, temperatures in the low 40s and excellent visibility.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew lightly out of the south to start, fifteen knots out of the south southwest with a two foot chop, this wind dying out on the ride home.The visibility was about thirty miles. The sky was mostly clear with partly cloudy skies in the afternoon and mostly sunny skies headed home. The air temperature reached a high of 52°F under the shade top. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 44°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 76°F with a low of 51°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 30°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 36°F).
The fishing was excellent. It was easy to hold the bottom and there were few tangles. The catching and landings were good overall, very much like yesterday's trip. We had two stops, both anchor stops, where the bite was excellent. The rest of the day it was a pick. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. We were shy of the bag limit by nine fish. The haddock cull was six to one. In other words, for every seven haddock caught, six were legal. Legal landings also included nine pollock, forty-two redfish and five cusk. Released fish included the sub-legal haddock, seventeen short pollock, five redfish, a porbeagle shark, seven sculpins and one small wolffish. We drift fished and anchored, alternating between the two. White cod flies worked the best. Bait was a close second.
Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was a cod that he released before I could weigh it that looked to be about 6 pounds. He did catch the largest pollock of the day at 4 pounds.
Mark LaRocca (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10 pound cusk. This is the largest cusk of the Bunny Clark fishing season, to date. I took a picture of him with his nice cusk. this digital image appears on the left. Mark also caught a 3.5 pound haddock that I took a picture of. Ted Harris (PA) should have won the boat pool for the largest fish with a porbeagle shark. It was pretty green when he got it within gaffing range, took off and broke Theo's line in the process. The fish looked to be about 200 pounds. Instead, Ted landed the hard luck award t-shirt!
Gus Carter (PA) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 9 pound cod. Gus had already caught a cod weighing 4 pounds and, later, 6.5 pounds. The third largest fish was a 7 pound cod caught by Ken Fowler (PA). Ken also caught a 4 pound haddock.
Other Angler Highlights: Don Stancil (PA) caught a 5.5 pound cusk in the morning, his biggest fish. Chuck Lennon (MA) tied the largest haddock of the day with a 4 pounder. Wobbie Barnes (MA) caught a 5 pound cod, his biggest fish.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 41°F, the sky was clear, there was no wind to write about, the ocean along the shore was, again, flat calm and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The ocean on the ride to the fishing grounds was flat calm for the first quarter of the ride out. The wind came up out of the south southwest, starting at five knots or so, increasing to just shy of fifteen knots upon arrival. Seas were chops of two feet, then. The sky was clear the whole way, the air temperature was in the mid 40s and the visibility was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the wind increased and then backed out of the south. The southerly wind blew up to twenty-five knots before backing off two about twenty knots for the rest of the trip. Seas were five feet in chops, more or less. The sky was clear for the day until we started to head for home. [We had cloudy skies and rain for the trip back in.] The air temperature reached a high of 52°F under the shade top. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 44°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 72°F with a low of 38°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 60°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 35°F).
The fishing was good; it was too choppy to be better than that. The catching and landings were very good to excellent all day. Most legal fish landed were haddock. In fact, there might have been seven or eight fish that were sub-legal all day. And it was certainly the largest average size for haddock so far, by far. Had we kept every legal haddock, we would have had the boat's bag limit by 10:00 AM. Thankfully, Ian and I realized early enough to not keep any haddock unless they were nineteen inches caliper fork length. Legal landings also included one pollock, six cusk and one cunner. Released fish included five tiny cod, sixteen small pollock, a sea raven and two sculpins. We started by drifting but it was just too uncomfortable. We anchored for the rest of the day. Bait and cod flies caught the most fish.
Gus Carter (PA), Don "Manly Number Twelve" Stancil (PA) and Theo Harris (PA) shared high hook status for the most legal fish, any one of whom could have had fifty legal had there been no bag limit on haddock. Gus caught a 5 pound haddock, the Bunny Clark's largest haddock of the season so far. Don caught a 4.5 pound haddock that I took a picture of with the man himself holding it. The digital image of that handsome devil and his fish appears on the right.
Steve Haskins (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, an 8 pound cusk. Mark LaRocca (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 7 pound cusk. The third largest fish was a 6.5 pound cusk caught by Brian Trahan (ME). He also tied with Gus for the Bunny Clark's largest haddock at 5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Brian Trahan, II (ME) caught the last two keeper haddock of the day. He also landed the hard luck award for not aligning his equilibrium with the motion of the ocean.
I received a few donations sponsoring me on my ride with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Those donors and their donations included Brian Trahan, II for $200.00, Brian Trahan for $40.00, Ken Fowler (PA) for a generous $100.00 and Don Stancil for a generous $100.00. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I very much appreciate your help and support.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 32°F, the sky was mostly clear, the wind was blowing out of the west northwest at twenty-five to thirty knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. More later.
The hunt for a number one deck for the Bunny Clark continues. I have had lots of inquiries to this date, but nothing conclusive yet. This can be a year round job if you are interested. But it is a lot of work during the season. The number to call is 207-646-2214.
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