Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Saturday, November 27, 2021, 6:00 AM EST/AST
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At 4:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 55°F, the sky was clear, the wind was barely blowing out of the west and the visibility over the ocean was very good.
The wind was light out of the northwest when we slid out the gate on the ride to the fishing grounds. This wind died before we arrived on the fishing grounds. The ocean was calm with a larger than normal ocean swell out of the southeast. The sky was clear. The air temperature was 58°F at the ten mile mark. The visibility was very good.
On the grounds, there was no wind to start. The ocean surface was smooth over a rolling sea swell of six to eight feet with a few queer ones in between. The swells lasted all day but were a bit diminished in the later afternoon. The wind was blowing out of the west by mid morning. Wind speeds were light. By mid afternoon, the wind had backed out of the southwest. We carried southwest wind all the way back to Perkins Cove. The wind never blew over eight knots today. The air temperature was in the low 60s. The sky was cloudless in the morning and mostly sunny in the afternoon through wispy high thin clouds and mare's tails to the south. The air temperature reached 64°F for a high. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59.8°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 75°F with a low of 57°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 48°F).
The fishing was excellent. The weather was perfect, the drift was perfect, there were few dogfish and only one blue shark took a jig. In fact, we only lost two jigs all day. The catching and landings were very good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included thirty-two haddock, eight cusk, twenty white hake, forty mackerel and three whiting. Released fish included a few mackerel, five sub-legal pollock, seven small cod, twelve cod of 5 pounds or more, nineteen sub-legal haddock, sixteen dogfish, three long horn sculpins, a sea raven and one blue shark with jewelry. We drift fished for every area. All terminal gear worked well.
There was a tie for high hook between Shawn Rosenberger (PA) and David Macklin (MA). Both seemed to have the same number of legal fish. Dave won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 31.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is Dave's largest white hake, ever! Dave also caught a 26 pound Maine state trophy white hake, a 26.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake, a 21.5 pound white hake and a 30 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Dave also caught the most legal haddock of the trip.
Shawn Rosenberger caught the biggest double of the 2021 Bunny Clark fishing season today, so far. His double included a 30 pound Maine state trophy white hake and a 30.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! He also caught the third largest double of the 2021 Bunny Clark fishing season today. This double included a 14.5 pound white hake and a 26.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. The 30.5 pound white hake was the third largest fish of the trip. Some of his other good fish included a 12 pound pollock, a 25.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake, a 13 pound pollock and another double that included a 13 pound pollock and a 9.5 pound pollock. Shawn also caught the Bunny Clark's fifth largest pollock of the fishing season, today, at 21.25 pounds.
Tim MacDonald (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 36.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is the largest hake that he has ever caught. It's also the third largest hake of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. I took a picture of Tim holding his big hake. This digital image appears on the left. Some of his other good fish included an 18 pound pollock, an 18 pound white hake and a 17 pound white hake.
Other Angler Highlights: Chris Bergier (MA) landed only the second Maine state trophy pollock that we have seen this year, today. The pollock weighed 26 pounds, the second largest pollock of the season so far. I also took a picture of Chris holding his trophy pollock. This digital image appears on the right. His largest fish was a 28.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake which he caught as a double with another white hake that weighed 20.5 pounds. This is the Bunny Clark's second largest double of the fishing season so far. Some of his other good fish included a 28 pound Maine state trophy white hake, an 11.5 pound pollock and a 14.5 pound pollock. Chris landed the hard luck award t-shirt for losing a jig to a blue shark and for getting sea sick!
Bill Otto (PA) caught the largest cod of the day at 14.25 pounds. He also caught a 9.75 pound cod the first thing in the morning. His largest pollock weighed 14.75 pounds. And he also caught a 27 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Ray Westermann (MA) landed the Bunny Clark's fourth largest pollock of the fishing season today with a 21.5 pounder. His largest fish was a 25.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. He also caught a 25 pound Maine state trophy white hake, a 15.5 pound pollock, a 12 pound cod (released, of course), a 16 pound white hake and another white hake of 23 pounds. Ray caught the most short haddock!
Also, there were some of you, including Dave Macklin and Chris, who I didn't get phone numbers or email addresses to send your digital images to. I had planned to ask for this information when I got to the dock. But I never followed through - I forgot! So let me know so I can send them to you.
At 4:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was crystal clear, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at five knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good, at least. Ashore, we had very little wind all day. The wind was from the southwest but it never blew more than eight knots, at most. The sky was sunny all day with few clouds. The visibility was very good. The air temperature reached a high of 73°F in Perkins Cove. It might have actually been a little warmer than that. But that was the highest value that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 78°F with a low of 60°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 73°F (with a low of 51°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at five to ten knots. Seas were chops of a foot or less. I guess that there was no discernable swell as Ian never mentioned it to me. The air temperature reached the mid 60s. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was sunny. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60°F.
The fishing was excellent, the catching was very good and landings were also very good. There were few dogfish, the weather was great and the tide was just perfect for drifting. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included seventy-one haddock, two redfish, twelve cusk, five white hake and thirty-five mackerel. Released fish included a few small pollock, a mackerel or two, seven sub-legal haddock, fifteen small cod, a cod over 5 pounds and a couple sculpins. They drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked well.
Fred Kunz (NH) and Shawn Rosenberger (PA) were high hook. Fred caught the most haddock of the trip for an angler. His largest fish was probably a 10 pound pollock. Shawn caught an 11 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Zach Pearson (NH) caught the largest fish of the trip, a 17 pound pollock. He was not in the boat pool. Ken Lemke (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 14 pound pollock. There was a tie for third place with two pollock of 13 pounds each. Joe Gamble (NJ) caught one. Jack Berghof (NJ) caught the other.
Other Angler Highlights: Greg Ludington (ME) caught a 12 pound pollock, his largest fish. Dave Dinsmore (ME) caught a 12.5 pound pollock. Marty Buskey (NY) caught a 12 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Mark Simpson (NH) caught a 12 pound pollock. Zach Berghof (NJ) landed the hard luck award for being the best at being sea sick. I guess that there were a couple who were.
I received two donations sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a ride to generate funding for cancer research. Dave Dinsmore, himself a cancer survivor, gave $50.00 and Marty & Elise Buskey gave another $50.00 donation. Marty & Elise have probably given $250.00 in $50.00 donations.It may even be more. I will have to look or you can do that for yourself. Thank you all for the support and your generosity. I do very much appreciate your help!
At 3:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was crystal clear, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at five knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good.
The wind was light out of the southwest when we poked the bow out between the gate. There was no chop but it wasn't flat calm either. The air temperature was in the middle 50s the whole ride out. The sky remained hazy clear. The visibility was very good. The ride was very comfortable the whole way to our destination.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was light out of the southwest. The wind created a ruffle on the surface but not much more than that. Around mid morning, the wind hauled out of the north and then northeast. Wind speeds increased to about ten knots. The seas became chops of about a foot. A half hour later, the wind had dropped to five knots, the chops dropped and the wind decreased a little more. By late morning, the wind was gone. The ocean was flat calm from noon until we could see the can buoys of Perkins Cove. The air temperature reached a high of 72°F. The sky was mostly sunny all day, cloudless most of the morning. The tide (current) was moderate. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60.5°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 75°F with a low of 60°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 76°F (with a low of 50°F).
The fishing was very good. It could have been excellent had there not been so many blue sharks and dogfish. The weather was perfect for fishing and perfect for drifting. The catching was excellent. Landings were a little bit better than good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included sixty-five haddock and fifty-two cusk. Released fish included over two hundred small pollock, sixty-seven dogfish, fifteen blue sharks released with jewelry, seven sub-legal haddock, two cusk, twenty-seven small cod and seventy-four cod between 6 pounds and 30.5 pounds. Most cod were in the 10 pound range. We drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked well but jigs and cod flies caught the most legal fish.
Tim Rozan (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. There was no one close. I didn't weigh all his fish over 10 pounds but I did weigh some of them. The fish I did weigh included a 10 pound cod, a 12 pound pollock, a 16 pound pollock, a 15.5 pound pollock, a 13 pound cod and a 12 pound pollock. Tim's dory mate, Lewis Hazelwood (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 30.5 pound cod. This is the largest cod we have seen on the Bunny Clark for at least two years. I took a picture of Lew holding his big cod before releasing it back to the ocean alive. This digital image appears on the left. Lew caught quite a few pollock and cod.
Mark LaRocca (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 20 pound pollock. The two largest fish I had weighed for him before was an 8.5 pound cod and an 11 pound cod. I took a picture of Mark holding his slammer pollock. This digital image appears on the right. The third largest fish of the trip was an 18 pound pollock caught by Karl Day (ME). The reason I went where I went today was to, hopefully, catch a halibut. Karl was the only person to hook one. He brought it off the bottom half way to the surface when it screwed back all the way to bottom. A few seconds after it got there, there was a head shake and the fish was gone. For the first three hours of the day I could see big halibut following us (while looking at the sounding machine) on three different drifts. We could not get one to bite, except for the fish that Karl hooked.
Other Angler Highlights: Ed Brozo (MA) caught a 10.5 pound pollock in the first five minutes of the day. And, like he did last time he was with me, he caught quite a few cod. The largest cod of his that I weighed was a 13 pounder. He also landed the hard luck award for losing five jigs to blue sharks!
Shawn Rosenberger (PA) wasn't high hook today but he caught a lot of good fish. He was the first angler this year, on today's trip, to catch a "quad", four fish on the same line at the same time. The four fish included a 12 pound cod, a 9 pound cod, a 10.5 pound cod and an 8 pound pollock. He also caught a double that included a 14 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. Other fish of Shawn's that I weighed included a 13 pound cod, a 14.5 pound pollock and an 11.5 pound cod.
Joe Columbus (MA) caught a 15 pound pollock in the first five minutes of fishing. That fish stood as the largest fish for a couple of hours before we caught a fish bigger. I also weighed a 10.5 pound cod and a 12 pound cod for Joe. Neil Feldman (NJ) caught a cod that looked to be 12 or 13 pounds. I never got a chance to weigh it before he released it back alive.
Another couple donations helped raise the bar today for my cancer fund raising total with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Eduard Brozo donated $25.00 when he first met me on the boat this morning. Joe Columbus passed me another $40.00. Like Marty & Elise Buskey, Joe has given me a donation every time I see him. Then, when we got back to the dock at the end of the trip, Steve McGrath (NH), donated $50.00. Steve, too, has already donated to the PMC through me. Steve has helped me every year since I started funding research in 2007. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and support. I really do appreciate your help trying to reach my goal.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 61°F, the sky was cloudy, the wind was blowing out of the east at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good. Ashore, the wind was light and variable in direction all day, the ocean along the shore was calm. Basically, the wind started by blowing out of the east and then worked it's way around to be blowing out of the south in the afternoon. The sky was overcast all day. The visibility was very good. The highest air temperature that I saw in Perkins Cove was 64°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 69°F with a low of 60°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 72°F (with a low of 54°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 58°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the east at five knots and hauled out of the south by the time the fishing was completed. The ocean was calm over a sea swell that was about two feet. The air temperature was warm. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60°F.
The fishing was very good. A stronger than normal tide, a few dogfish and angler tangles kept the fishing below the excellent category. The catching was very good to excellent. Landings were good to very good. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. They caught many more haddock than I saw yesterday on the offshore trip. Legal landings also included thirty-five pollock, six redfish, nine cusk, one white hake, a monkfish and eight mackerel. Released fish included twenty cod of 5 pounds or more, fifteen short cod, six sub-legal haddock, a few small pollock, a couple sculpins and a mackerel or two. Drifting was the method. All terminal gear worked well.
Shawn Rosenberger (PA) was high hook with the most legal fish. I believe he told me that he had nineteen haddock alone. His largest fish of the trip was a 9 pound pollock. LeAndre Hadden (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound cod. The second largest fish was a 13 pound pollock caught by Orville Ross (PA). Adam Kendall (VT) caught the third largest fish, a 12 pound cod.
Other Angler Highlights: James Franklin (MA) caught an 8 pound monkfish. Believe it or not, this is only our second largest monkfish of the season so far. We have caught fewer monkfish this year than almost any year that I can remember. Darren Whearry (PA) caught an 11 pound cod, his biggest fish. Captain Steve McGrath (NH) landed the hard luck award because everyone kept pointing the finger at him when tangles ensued. I believe it was those around him who put him in this position. But if the shirt fits.........
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 63°F, the sky was overcast (it had been raining lightly an hour earlier), the wind was blowing out of the south at ten to twelve knots and the visibility over the ocean was good. Ashore, the wind blew out of the south all day with an average speed of about eighteen knots or fifteen to twenty-five knots. Big white beards could be seen from the shore all day. The air temperature was mild with a high of 72°F, that I saw in Perkins Cove. The visibility was good, or better than that, in some haze. The sky was overcast all day. It never did rain again after the early morning. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 76°F with a low of 62°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 57°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 68°F (with a low of 61°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the south at fifteen to twenty knots. Seas were chops of three to five feet. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles in some haze. The tide (current) was strong. The sky was mostly cloudy with some peeks at the sun as a dull orb floating through the clouds. The air temperature was warm, 60s. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59°F.
The fishing was not good. The seas made it difficult for most to maintain their equilibrium, the dogfish were back in full force (for God knows what reason - it's really time for them to leave!) and the tide ran a river. The catching suffered because of this as did the landings. Most anglers were not fishing as they were concentrating on getting through the trip instead. Legal landings included ten haddock, twenty-two pollock, one redfish, one cusk and ten mackerel. Released fish included one cod over 5 pounds, six small cod, two sub-legal haddock and a couple mackerel. They drift fished and anchored. Drifting worked best as the tide was opposing the wind. Only one jig was used today which might have also made the landings less. Everyone used bait and cod flies today; definitely not the most productive way to catch fish at this time of year.
Danny Maines (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. He stood out like a sore thumb in this category. Maybe the thumb analogy isn't the best! And he stood out again because he also landed the boat pool for the largest fish of the trip with the largest fish, a 12 pound pollock. This made him the fisherman of the day. He also caught the second largest fish, an 11 pound pollock. The third largest fish was a 10.5 pound pollock caught by Justin Saunders (CT).
Other Angler Highlights: Bobby Blake (ME) caught a 10 pound pollock, the only other good sized fish that was caught today. He also landed the hard luck award for being the high hurler of the trip. Fortitude; that's what I say. A good man, that Bobby Blake!
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was overcast, it was drizzling rain after having rained for large part of the morning, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good in light precipitation. By 7:00 AM, the rain had stopped for the day. The sky was still overcast. Two hours later, there were signs of clearing. By 11:00 AM, the sky was cloudless and the sky remained so until 2:00 PM, when scattered clouds showed. The wind blew out of the west for most of the morning, hauling out of the west northwest in the afternoon. Wind speeds were fifteen knots in the morning and fifteen to twenty knots in the afternoon with higher gusts. The highest air temperature that I saw was 64°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 65°F with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 49°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 43°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west and then northwest at ten to twenty knots. The wind was stronger in the second half of the trip. Seas were chops of two to four feet, higher, again, in the afternoon. The air temperature was right around 60°F, but a bit colder being exposed to the wind, mild overall. The visibility was over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The sky was overcast in the morning and sunny in the afternoon. The surface water temperature reached a high of 60°F.
The fishing only met the "good" category because there were no dogfish seen today. Had there been dogfish, it would have been the ultimate poor fishing day because the weather, to these anglers, was poor - which made the fishing poor. In fact, there were only one or two anglers fishing half way through the trip and all wanted to go home. Ian obliged them and got back to the town dock at Perkins Cove an hour and a half early. Because the fishing was so poor, we couldn't get a read on the catching because no one really tried. Landings were just fair. Total legal landings included one haddock, twenty-seven pollock, one redfish, one cusk, three white hake and one monkfish. Released fish included eight small cod, one cod over 5 pounds and three sub-legal haddock. As I mentioned, there were no dogfish seen. They drift fished and anchored. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish.
Oren Everts (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 9 pound pollock. The second largest fish was an 8.5 pound pollock caught by Jim Potter (NY). Rachel Cerrone (NY) caught the third largest fish, an 8 pound monkfish. This is the tie for the Bunny Clark's second largest monkfish of this season to date.
Other Angler Highlights: Doug Morrow (NY) landed the hard luck award today for, you guessed it, becoming the high hurler of the trip. Not a good day for angler health.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the west northwest at twelve knots and the visibility over the ocean was very good, at least. We had clouds for a while in the early part of the morning after dawn. Later in the morning, the clouds disappeared and left us with clear, almost cloudless, skies. After 1:00 PM, the clouds started building to the point were some cells could be seen going offshore of the Kennebunkport area with rain. By 5:30 PM, we had the same with a small cell that gave us pouring rain for more than fifteen minutes, maybe even a half hour. I was in the office at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. at the time so I didn't really mark the exact time span. After the rain, we never saw rain again. The wind in Perkins Cove was out of the northwest or some variation of the northwest all day. Wind speeds ranged from ten to fifteen or more knots. The visibility was excellent, except during the rain. The air temperature never cracked the 60°F mark. It even dropped to 47°F by 7:00 AM before rebounding. The highest air temperature that I noticed was 58°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 62°F with a low of 47°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 42°F).
After I was done at the restaurant, yesterday; I get out of work there at 6:00 PM on Sundays unless it's a holiday weekend, I grabbed my tools and worked on replacing the electric wash down pump in the engine room of the Bunny Clark. The pump had been making noises for a couple of months or more and finally gave out on Friday morning's trip. I didn't have a chance to work replacing it then as the weekend was upon us and I had too much to do between the fishing trips coming and going and the restaurants. It took me about an hour and a half but it wasn't a complicated task to complete. And it was nice to get this behind me going forward.
Today I spent my time working in the restaurants, catching up in the office and talking to patrons, some of whom I won't see until we open again next season. I left at 6:30 PM, when the business slowed down enough and after I had talked to everyone eating at a table in both establishments. Normally, I leave earlier on a Monday night as I have to get up extra early to take the marathon fishing trip on Tuesday. We didn't have a trip so I had a leisurely dinner with Deb and got to bed by 8:30 PM.
In turn, I didn't get up this morning until 4:20 AM, quite a bit later than normal. This allowed our border collie, Gill, who just turned eight years old yesterday, to jump up on the foot of the bed to wait until I stirred. As soon as I move an arm, Gill is on me licking and pawing at me. As long as I stay still and work through a normal sleep pattern, he maintains his vigil at the foot of the bed. Of course, I get up once he's on me. And we go through the same ritual every day when I do get up; "Good boy", "Where have you been?", "What an honest dog!", "I missed you, Gill." In turn, he whines and sneezes as I scratch his back and give him his morning rub-down. On a day where fishing is not an option, I have more time because, as you know, restaurants start later and end later. Even for just an extra half an hour in the morning, it makes for an easier day and, I believe, a happier dog.
This year has been the most challenging year of my life. I usually don't want a season to end. And, in some ways, I still feel that way. But I will be happy to be over with the challenges of this year. Oh, I will still have challenges. But I will also have time to sit back and reflect on what happened and how I could improve things for next season. And things do have to improve in many aspects.
I received a very generous $750.00 donation to my cancer research project with the Pan-Mass Challenge from Howard & Barbara Goldenfarb (ME) today. Howard & Barbara have been very loyal contributors over the years. Normally, Howard, myself and two others do an 100 mile bike ride together to celebrate the normal end of a season around Labor Day. Last year and this year Covid took that away from us. Hopefully, we will get back together and do it next season. There was just so little time to fit it in during the last two seasons due to the extra time needed to cope with the changes that Covid brought upon us. Thank you so much, Howard & Barbara. I do so appreciate your support and generosity every year!
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 45°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at twenty knots plus and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind blew out of the west to start and for most of the morning. Wind speeds were over twenty knots for most of the time. By noon, the wind was mostly northwest with wind speeds increasing to over thirty knots at times. The sky was mostly clear with scattered clouds in the morning, nearly overcast in the afternoon when the wind was at it's strongest. We never did see any rain. The air temperature slowly crept up. By noon, the air temperature was 54°F. The highest air temperature that I saw was 59°F but it could have been higher. I saw an air temperature in Portsmouth, New Hampshire of 61°F. We usually match the air temperature in Portsmouth. The visibility was excellent all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 63°F with a low of 46°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 40°F).
I spent the day working at the restaurants. Much of my focus today was trying to get a crew together to stay open at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. for six days next week, our last week to be open there, instead of the five days we have been open. I hate to have a day in a week where neither restaurant is open. So, right now, it looks like Tuesday will be the only day this year where no Barnacle Billy's restaurant will be open. It looks like we will be open on Wednesday, October 27th. There are still a couple of things I have to work out before this is really the plan. We shall see.
Barnacle Billy's (original) will be closing on Sunday, October 24th. Normally, I do not like closing or seeing the end of the summer upon on. But, this time, I will be happy not to have the challenges of this season upon me. There are always challenges, of course, but they will be less once we close.
I did nothing on the Bunny Clark today except catch up on work at the desk.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the west at twelve knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the wind blew out of the west at ten to fifteen knots to start and then died off. By late morning there was very little wind. The ocean along the shore was calm. When the wind did establish a direction, it was from the east but very light, five knots or so. The wind hauled out of the southeast by 7:00 PM with wind speeds up around ten knots or more. The sky, overcast until 7:00 AM, cleared and was cloudless after 8:00 AM. Cloudless skies remained for the rest of the day. In fact, a full moon rose out of the ocean completely uninhibited by clouds. The highest air temperature that I saw was 65°F. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 72°F with a low of 54°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 37°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 42°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at ten to five knots. Seas were chops of two feet or so to start and then dropped to a foot or so. The wind was light out of the east on the ride home. The air temperature rose above 60°F. The visibility ranged to over twenty miles. [I had rode on my bike today and could clearly see Mt. Washington - 40 miles away?]. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was sunny all day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 56°F.
The fishing was good to very good, depending on the angler. There were a lot of dogfish around again today. The catching was very good. Landings were good, better than that for some. Most legal fish landed were haddock. Legal landings also included forty-four pollock, six redfish, one cusk, three white hake and twenty-six mackerel. Released fish included thirty mackerel, eighty dogfish, twelve sub-legal haddock, four cod of 5 pounds or more, eight small cod and a couple sculpins. They drift fished all day. All terminal gear worked well today.
Ron Antanavich (ME) was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was a 13.5 pound pollock, the third largest fish of the trip. He also caught a 10 pound pollock in the beginning. Joe Ford (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 15 pound pollock. Joe also caught a 12.5 pound pollock. The second largest fish was a 14 pound pollock caught by Matt "lefty" Clark (ME).
Other Angler Highlights: John Ford (PA) caught the largest cod at 10.25 pounds. His largest fish was a 12.5 pound pollock. Shawn Rosenberger (PA) caught a triple that included a 12 pound pollock, a 10 pound pollock and a 9 pound pollock, all on the same line at the same time! Darrus Grate (ME) landed the hard luck award for having the most tangled lines!
At 4:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 50°F, the sky was cloudless with a full moon shinning brightly high in the western sky, there was no wind in Perkins Cove and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
We had five knots of westerly wind as we cruised to the fishing grounds. There was a very light chop over a hubble that was left over from yesterday's southerly wind. So it wasn't completely flat. The sky was cloudless with a full moon behind us as we headed down the channel this morning. It wasn't like heading out during the day but it was close. Six miles out we ran into a low fog. This limited our visibility to three boat lengths at the most. Ten miles from our first stop, the fog cleared. We never saw fog again this day. The air temperature was in the 50s. The visibility turned out to be good.
On the fishing grounds, we had no wind at all. The wind had flunked out about a mile or two on the approach. We had no wind throughout the morning. A southerly wind showed up around 1:00 PM and might have blown up to eight knots. But just when it seemed that the wind was going to blow, the wind dropped down to about three knots. In fact, we carried three knots of light southerly wind all the way back to Perkins Cove. The sky was cloudless in the morning, mostly sunny in the afternoon. The air temperature reached a high of 65°F around noon. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The visibility ranged to twenty miles in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 56.5°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 75°F with a low of 58°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 73°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 46°F).
The fishing was very good. As I mention continuously, it could have been better had the dogfish not been around. This was my first time this summer and fall that we didn't see a single blue shark. The catching was very good. Landings were good overall, excellent on one spot. Most legal fish landed were pollock followed by haddock. Legal landings also included eight redfish, two cusk, eight white hake and nine squirrel hake. Released fish included two small cod, ten cod of 5 pounds or more, Thirty dogfish (or more), three sub-legal haddock, twenty-three sub-legal pollock, seven sub-legal redfish and two large pollock. We drift fished and anchored. Anchoring worked the best. Jigs and cod flies caught the most fish. Bait caught the most dogfish today.
There were a number of anglers who could have been high hook. Shawn Rosenberger (PA) begged off the pollock when we started to get into them because he wanted to catch haddock. He could have been high hook had he wanted to. Fred Kunz (NH) would have been high hook had he not stopped to help Jon cut fish. Afterward, he took a bunk; he had exactly what he wanted for species and quantity today. The Fords, one of them, could have been high hook. And Tim Rozan (ME) could easily have been high hook. Tim fished for the duration, never giving up. I believe he caught the most haddock with a count of nine good sized ones.
Fred Kunz won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 35.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is one of the top ten hake he has ever caught. It's also the fourth largest hake of this year's Bunny Clark fishing season. I took a picture of Fred with his prize hake. This digital image appears on the left. I weighed a 10 pound pollock for him early in the trip. I also weighed a double that included a 9 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time.
Greg Ludington (ME) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, an 18 pound pollock. Some of his other fish that I weighed included an 11.25 pound pollock, a 13 pound pollock and an 11 pound pollock. The third largest fish was a 16 pound Maine state trophy cusk caught by John Ford (PA). I was so surprised to see a cusk that big where we were fishing. I took a picture of John holding his cusk with his son, Joe Ford, on the right in the shot. This digital image appears on the right. I also weighed a 12 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound pollock for John. By the way, Joe caught the largest cod of the day at 14.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Paul Pearson (NH) caught a 10 pound cod, one of the biggest cod of the trip. His largest pollock weighed 12 pounds. Mark "Ray" Flower (NY) caught a 12 pound pollock, his biggest fish. He also caught a 9 pound cod. David Dorr (ME) landed a 13.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. I weighed a 10.5 pound pollock for Shawn Rosenberger. Mark Belanger (ME) caught a 15.75 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Buzz Leonard (ME) caught the largest haddock of the trip at 5.5 pounds. This is the largest haddock I have seen in a while. Tim Rozan caught a 13 pound pollock, his biggest fish today. Of the nine legal haddock that Tim caught, two were 4.5 pounds each and one was 4 pounds. Jon Campbell (NY) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for catching a larger number of dogfish than most and for being the most vociferous complainer. He even complained about his own complaining!
I received four donations today sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge, for cancer research. These donors and their donations included Fred Kunz for a generous $110.00, Greg Ludington for a generous $70.00, David Dorr for a $20.00 and Ken & Carolyn Erikson (ME) for a very generous $250.00. Thank you all so very much for your support, generosity and thoughtfulness. It's so wonderful to have the support of you all. And I'm very appreciative!
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 58°F, the sky was mostly clear with a waning moon high is the western horizon, the wind was out of the south at twelve knots and the visibility over the ocean seemed good to very good. Ashore, the wind blew out of the southwest at ten knots, more or less, all morning and into the afternoon. By late afternoon, the wind had hauled out of the west. Wind speeds were about the same at that time. The sky was mostly sunny all day overall. The sky was clearest in the morning with most of the clouds coming in the late afternoon. The highest air temperature that I saw today was a pleasant 72°F. The visibility was very good. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 72°F with a low of 55°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 48°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest at fifteen knots to start and dropped to ten knots at some time during the middle of the trip. Seas were chop/swells of three to five feet that dropped to two and three feet, typical of a southwest wind this time of year. The air temperature resided in the 60s. The visibility ranged from fifteen to twenty miles. The tide was moderate to strong. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 56°F.
The fishing was very good, the catching was very good and landings were a shade more than good. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included twenty-three haddock, two redfish, a cusk, a white hake and two whiting. Released fish included twenty-five dogfish, two cod over 5 pounds, six short cod, four sub-legal haddock, a few small pollock and a butter mullet. They anchored, motor drifted and drifted. All terminal gear worked about the same today.
Tim Rozan (ME) was the fisherman of the day. He tied with Shawn Rosenberger (PA) for high hook with the most legal fish. He also caught the largest, second largest and tied for the third largest fish of the trip. Tim's largest fish was a 14 pound pollock. His second largest fish was a 13 pound pollock. And he tied with Shawn and Joe Ford (PA) with the third largest fish, all three fish being pollock of 12 pounds. Tim also caught a 10 pound pollock that Ian weighed.
Some of Shawn's other fish included an 11 pound pollock and two pollock of 10 pounds each. Some of Joe's other fish included an 11.5 pound pollock and two pollock of 10 pounds each. John Ford (PA) caught an 11 pound pollock and two pollock of 10 pounds each. Joe landed the hard luck award t-shirt because of the sizes that were left (at the end of the year), Joe fit a size XL perfectly!
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 51°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at fifteen knots, more or less, and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The air temperature dropped to 48°F by 7:00 AM. By noon, the air temperature was back up to 52°F. The highest air temperature that I saw in Perkins Cove was 55°F. The sky remained overcast all day with an occasional peek at the sun. The wind blew out of the northeast most of the morning. Wind speeds were ten knots or more. By noon, the wind was done. The ocean calmed down. I noticed a light southerly wind near sunset. By 7:00 PM, the wind was blowing out of the west at twelve knots. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 60°F with a low of 49°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 33°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 41°F).
After getting the morning set-up done at the restaurant, I rode for fifty-two miles on the bike, most with my cycling friends out of the Kennebunkport. This season and it's challenges have not allowed me the time I would have liked to have had to ride the bike. But, c'est la vie. La vie continue, avec un sans toi!
The rest of the day I spent in the restaurants. It was very busy. With the last weekend of the Barnacle Billy's season upon us, a good weather weekend and the weekend of Ogunquitfest, it was busier than we thought it would be. In fact, we ran out of clam chowder at 6:30 PM. That is the first time that this has happened. Except for a short break to go home to eat dinner, I worked from noon until 10:00 PM.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 40°F, the sky was crystal clear, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at seventeen knots, more or less, and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. Ashore, the air temperature dropped to 38°F before rebounding, slowly, through the 40°s and into the 50°s. The air temperature reached a high of 57°F by the time it stopped climbing up. The wind blew out of the northwest all day. Wind speeds were approaching twenty knots in the morning but this wind diminished as the day progressed. The northwest wind dropped to ten knots approaching sunset. By sunset, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots. There was no wind at all around 9:00 PM. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The visibility remained 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 57°F (with a low of 27°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 56°F (with a low of 32°F).
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the northwest at fifteen to ten knots. Seas were chops of two to three feet. The air temperature remained in the 50s all day. The visibility ranged to well over twenty miles. The sky was clear and sunny. The tide (current) was moderate. The surface water temperature reached a high of 55°F.
The fishing, catching and landings were very good today. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included twenty-three haddock, three redfish, one cusk and three white hake. Released fish included a few pollock, eight cod over 5 pounds, six small cod, eighteen dogfish and a porbeagle shark. Anchoring/drifting was the method. Cod flies worked the best.
Former class 1 deck hand, Anthony Palumbo (NH), was high hook with the most legal fish. His largest fish was a 15 pound pollock, the second largest fish of the trip. He also caught two pollock of 12 pounds each and an 11 pound pollock that Ian weighed. Shawn Rosenberger (PA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 26 pound porbeagle shark. This shark was too small to keep so Ian tailed it, weighed it and took a quick picture with his iPhone before letting it go back alive. Porbeagle sharks aren't the most aggressive sharks so this was a fairly easy thing to do. Had it been a mako, Ian wouldn't have had as much luck. The digital image of Shawn holding his mackerel shark appears on the left.
The third and fourth largest fish of the trip were caught by Steve Balevre (NH). He caught these fish, both pollock, on the same line at the same time. They weighed 13 and 14 pounds, a tie for the fourth largest double of the Bunny Clark fishing season to date. He had previously caught, earlier in the trip, an 11 pound pollock that Ian had weighed.
Other Angler Highlights: Darlene Chin (VT) caught the most haddock and the most dogfish. She was fishing with bait. Her largest fish was a 10 pound pollock. Marty Buskey (NY) landed an 11.5 pound pollock. And no one broke down his fishing equipment and stowed it as if it were Bunny Clark gear! Nilton Pechejosvski (MA) caught the first fish to be weighed for the boat pool, an 11.5 pound pollock. His largest fish was a 12 pound pollock. Sergio Aguiar (MA) landed the hardest luck of the day award by getting a touch of the mal de mer.
Marty & Elise Buskey went overboard, so to say, in the cancer fund raising department by sponsoring me yet again in the Pan-Mass Challenge, a ride to support a team of researchers at Boston Childrens/Dana-Farber. Their donation was $50.00. I haven't counted up the number of $50.00 donations they have passed my way this year but there have been a number of them. They are always so thoughtful and kind and, of course, supportive. Thank you both so very much for your generosity and thoughtfulness. It means so much to me but more to those who are working on the cancer problem.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was overcast, there was no rain or drizzle despite the note on my phone telling me that there was drizzle in Ogunquit, the wind was light out of the east and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. It started to lightly rain around 6:30 AM. For the rest of the day it rained and drizzled with no let up. For fifteen minutes here and there you could go outside without a rain jacket. Most of the time you needed one. The wind remained light until the wind piped up at 7:30 AM. By 8 AM, the wind was a sustained eighteen knots with higher gusts out of the east. Throughout the day we had easterly winds of twenty to twenty-five knots. Seas were big chops as observed from the shore. The visibility dropped to fair with a few good periods that were short in duration. The air temperature remained about the same all day. Despite the warmer than normal water temperatures (56°F in Perkins Cove this morning) and the wind blowing off it on to Perkins Cove, the highest air temperature that I saw was 48°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 56°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 45°F (with a low of 41°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 46°F (with a low of 42°F).
I spent part of the morning tying storm lines to the Bunny Clark while my son, Micah, did the same with the Petrel. The rest of the morning I spent in the office at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. setting up appointments and reservations for hood cleaners, carpenters, vendors and businesses we deal with at every closing time of year. The crew at Barnacle Billy's, at the same time, were getting that building organized to clean it before shutting the town water off and getting it buttoned up for the winter.
At noon, Barnacle Billy's, Etc. opened. I spent the first three hours there. Went home to take the first nap I have been able to have for three weeks (that lasted over two hours), had dinner and spent the rest of the night working back at the restaurant. We had a party of twenty-five that turned into a party of eight. We had a party of fourteen that turned into a party of seven. No doubt all this change in numbers due to the weather. I, kind of, suspected this was going to happen - but I was hoping..... Basically, the night was slow but busier than I suspected it would be with the weather and the weather predictions.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly with drizzle, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at twenty-five knots with seas over seven feet at the closest weather buoy and the visibility over the ocean was fair in precipitation and haze. During the daylight hours, the wind blew out of the northeast at twenty-five to thirty-five knots. Seas at the closest weather buoy increased to ten feet by sunset. After sunset, winds increased out of the northeast again. By 10:00 PM, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at thirty-five to forty knots with seas of fifteen feet every eight seconds. It rained all day, mostly light and steady with periods of downpours that didn't last too long. The air temperature reached a high of 54°F, that I saw. The visibility remained the same all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 60°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 52°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 50°F (with a low of 44°F).
I took the day off after two hours at the desk at home and at the office of Barnacle Billy's, Etc. At 9:30 AM, I jumped on my cyclocross bike and rode for 41 miles in the rain and wind over wet leaf covered roads. For the first ten miles, I was fairly dry underneath the shell I was wearing. But it poured at mile eleven so hard that I was, pretty much, soaked. Later, a car, a huge puddle and the timing was not in my favor as a deluge of sprayed water completely drowned me. It was surprising how warm that water felt. The air temperature was 50°F at the time. So I wasn't cold. On these days I dress in layers of wool. And, as most know, wet wool clothing is just about as warm as dry wool clothing if you are exercising in it.
In the afternoon, I drove to a friend of mine's house and watched the Chelsea/Southampton football game, part of the League Cup in England. It was a very close game and very enjoyable. After this game, I worked on orders for bringing supplies in to Barnacle Billy's, Etc. for tomorrow's opening. By 6:30 PM, I headed down the road with Deb to go out to dinner.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 48°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly with drizzle, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at thirty-five to forty-five knots with seas at the closest weather buoy of twenty feet every eleven seconds and the visibility over the ocean was fair in precipitation and haze. It rained and drizzled all morning and on into the afternoon. The wind slowly dropped off during the day. At 10:00 AM, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at thirty knots with gusts to forty knots. Seas were seventeen feet every twelve seconds. By 2:00 PM, the seas had dropped to fifteen feet and winds were thirty to thirty-five knots. By sunset, north northeast winds were thirty to thirty-five knots but the rain had stopped a couple of hours earlier. Winds were still thirty to thirty-five knots at 10:00 PM but the seas had dropped to eleven feet. The air temperature dropped during the day to 46°F at noon. Funny, I never looked at the air temperature again today. The visibility was fair over the ocean right until I went to bed. The sky was overcast long into the night. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 60°F with a low of 50°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 48°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 52°F - at 5:48 PM - (with a low of 45°F).
I was down at the Cove at 5:00 AM assessing the situation with the boats. I had tied extra lines on the stern of the Bunny Clark last night. One had parted off during the evening and others were close. So I had to re-up some of the storm lines until I could get someone down to help in securing the boats a bit better. Tightening up the lines to shore didn't make me feel a whole lot better; the float and ramp were swinging too far both north and south in the surge. By 8:00 AM, Grant Hubbard had showed up and, for two hours, we ran more lines just in case one of the forward lines on either end parted or chaffed off. At low water, the surge was about the same but there were so many lines run at that point, things were going to have to be what they were going to be. During the day I kept checking the status but everything seemed secure enough. It was a wild morning but a not so wild afternoon - which was fine by me.
Aside from working at the restaurant, I went to get a Covid booster shot with Deb in Kennebunk. Moderna was the booster that we both got. Deb felt weird an hour later. I felt nothing. My arm wasn't even sore. After the jab, I worked at the restaurant until after closing at 8:30 PM.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 44°F, the sky was hazy clear with a half moon shinning directly overhead, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at twenty-two to twenty-six knots with seas at the closest weather buoy of ten feet and the visibility over the ocean was good at least. By the time that the sun rose out of the ocean the sky was nearly clouded over again. By 8:00 AM, the sky was overcast. The sky remained overcast until around 4:00 PM, when the sun came out and the clouds were disappearing. The sky was clear at night. The wind blew out of the north northeast at over twenty knots to almost thirty knots in gusts. By 9:00 AM, the seas had dropped to nine feet. There was still a surge in the Cove so boats were still secured with storm lines to each other throughout the day and back into the night. (I will have to take some of them down tomorrow morning). By noon, the wind had backed out of the north and was blowing fifteen to twenty knots. The wind stayed out of the north all afternoon. By mid afternoon, wind speeds had dropped to ten and fifteen knots. At sunset, the wind hauled out of the north northeast again and was picking up. At 9:00 PM, I noticed that the wind was fifteen to twenty knots again. The highest air temperature that I saw was 52°F. That was around 2:00 PM. The visibility was very good, maybe excellent over the ocean. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 50°F with a low of 43°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 29°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 35°F).
There isn't much to write about today. I did nothing special except work at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. and watch to make sure the boats were okay in the Cove. Sunday will be our last day so much notice was paid to product on hand and what we needed to finish the season with not too much left over. At $53/pound, we don't want to have too much lobster meat left over. Of course, this applies to everything. Our soft shell clams, calm products and crab meat fall into the same category. Aside from talking to customers and working in the office, that was my day.
It looks like our only two trips will be Monday and Tuesday. Saturday's boat will not sail because of the weather and, of course, tomorrow is out. A sad end to a challenging year.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 39°F, the sky was clear with a partial moon shinning almost directly overhead, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at eighteen knots with seas at the closest weather buoy of six feet every thirteen second and the visibility over the ocean was nearly excellent. It's going to be a great day in Ogunquit. Clouds were creeping in as daylight was approaching. By sunrise, the sky was overcast again. The sky stayed overcast until 11:00 AM, when clearing was evident. By noon, the sky was nearly cloudless and became cloudless within a half hour later. The sky stayed clear and mostly cloudless for the rest of the day. The wind continued out of the northeast by stayed dying out. By early afternoon, there was hardly any wind at all. The wind increased out of the east later in the afternoon and was blowing about fifteen knots by sunset. The wind was still blowing out of the east at fifteen knots by 8:00 PM. The visibility was nearly excellent all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 52°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 52°F with a low of 41°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 57°F (with a low of 29°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 52°F (with a low of 35°F).
I spent the morning, starting at 5:00 AM, taking deliveries at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. (Pepsi shows up at that time). So between the restaurant and working on the Bunny Clark and adjusting storm lines, I was in the Cove until 9:30 AM. I was back in there around noon. At 2:00 PM, I had to take our lobster cooker tank to DSM in Biddeford to either get it repaired or replaced. I left the tank with them to look it over and give me an assessment later next week. Once I got back to the Cove, I had to take a shipment of paper towel rolls to be stored at the house. This was a full year's supply.
The rest of the day was spent in the restaurant. Half the patrons today were regulars who were here for the last meal of the season. So it was more fun than normal.
I received a generous $100.00 donation from Michael & Kerry Mithen (MA) sponsoring me in my cancer research project with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Michael & Kerry have donated to my cause for many years now. Thank you both so much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. I know you believe in what Dana-Farber is doing as much as I so. Much appreciated!
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 49°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining lightly and had been raining for at least an hour earlier, the wind was blowing out of the east southeast at ten knots or more and the visibility over the ocean was good in precipitation. By sunrise, the wind had picked up to fifteen knots out of the east. The wind continued out of the east and increased as the day progressed. By noon, the wind was blowing at twenty knots, sustained, out of the east. At 6:00 PM, I really noticed an increase in the wind. It was a solid twenty-five knots with gusts over thirty knots with pouring rain. Strong wind speeds out of the east continued into the night. It rained all day, light in the morning and steady in the afternoon. From mid afternoon on into the night it poured down at times in, almost, tropical amounts. The visibility over the ocean was fair, poor after nightfall. The highest air temperature that I saw during the day was 54°F. But I did see 56°F at 8:00 PM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 59°F with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 44°F).
I didn't do anything with the Bunny Clark today. All my work was done at the restaurants. My main focus was with the patrons and not being left with too much product on our last day tomorrow.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was overcast, it was raining with thunder and lightning flashes, the wind was blowing out of the east at twenty-five knots or more and the visibility over the ocean was fair at best in precipitation and fog. It was still drizzling rain at 6:00 AM. By 7:00 AM, the sky was overcast, it had stopped raining and it looked like the sky was starting to clear. For the rest of the morning, we had periods of sun and the very occasional shower. By noon, the rain, even occasional rain, was over. The sky was nearly cloudless and the air temperature started to rise. The highest air temperature that I saw at 2:00 PM was 66°F, very mild for this time of year. The wind, strong out of the southeast in the morning, backed out of the southwest and blew up to almost forty knots at times throughout the morning. As the morning progressed, the wind dropped. By noon, the wind had hauled out of the south at fifteen to twenty knots. By sunset, the wind was blowing out of the south at ten knots. The wind was out of the southwest when I went to bed. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 67°F with a low of 53°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 51°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 54°F).
My day centered around deciding on tomorrow's trip, which I ended up canceling after conferring with Captain Ian Keniston, who was going to run that trip and the last day of business for the season at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. Later, this evening, I ate dinner at Etc. with Deb and Paul "Hez" Haseltine for our annual closing dinner. Hez and his wife, Johanna, are our close friends. Jo was visiting her mother so she couldn't be with us this evening. Hez and my father designed Barnacle Billy's, Etc. and brought the restaurant to where it is today. We still have the same, or very similar menu, that Hez and my father created before the grand opening in 1989. It was a wonderful last meal.
As is the case every season ending, I have mixed feelings about closing. I would like to stay open but it would not be practical. But, at the same time, I'm glad the challenges of this season are over. And I wonder what next season will bring.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 49°F, the sky was crystal clear with a sliver of a moon hanging high over the eastern horizon, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at fifteen knots or more and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind blew out of the southwest at twenty knots, more or less, only until about 9:00 AM. At 10:00 AM, I noticed that the wind had hauled out of the northwest or west northwest. Wind speeds were up to thirty knots. This kept up for most of the day, all of the afternoon and nearly until sunset. At 7:00 PM, I noticed that the wind had hauled out of the west and was blowing about ten knots in Perkins Cove. The air temperature rose a value of 61°F by 2:30 PM. The visibility was excellent. The sky was devoid of clouds for most of the day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 60°F with a low of 47°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 44°F).
I spent the day working at the restaurant mostly. My work included making sure all the product that could go back to the vendors went back to the vendors, organizing, thanking all the participants outside the business and making sure that clean-up was going according to plan.
I also spent about four hours on the boat. This included cleaning, provisioning for tomorrow and icing. I also checked the engine and ran it for a while. An hour of it was taking the storm lines down and bringing all that stuff home.
At 3:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Westerly wind chased us to the fishing grounds. Maybe ten knots of wind. Seas were a foot or two. The sky was hazy clear but the air temperature was in the low 50s, mild for this time of year. The visibility was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the west at barely five knots to start. Seas were less than a foot. Later in the morning, the wind hauled out of the west northwest at ten to fifteen knots. Seas increased to chops of about two feet. Sustained winds were fifteen knots out of the west northwest for the early part of the afternoon until the end. Seas were two to three knots. And I backed off on the cruising speed on the way home to give the anglers a more comfortable ride. The air temperature reached a high of 55°F. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The visibility ranged to thirty miles. The sky was sunny to start but clouds crept in during the later afternoon. The sky was almost overcast and I could see isolated showers in a couple of place when I called the day. The surface water temperature reached a high of 53.7°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 57°F with a low of 45°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 54°F (with a low of 40°F).
The fishing was very good all day. There weren't too many dogfish, the tide wasn't that strong and the weather was about as good as you could ask for at this time of year. No angler was sea sick or even thought about it. It was a great day to be on the ocean. The catching was very slow to start, good after 10:00 AM and excellent for the last two hour drift. Landings were very good overall.
Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included a whiting, nine white hake, ten cusk, six redfish, thirty mackerel and nineteen haddock. Released fish included thirty-seven dogfish, nine cod over 5 pounds, a couple small cod, four short haddock, eleven small pollock, eight sub-legal redfish and a couple mackerel. We drift fished and anchored (once). Jigs and cod flies worked the best.
I don't exactly know who was high hook. I didn't count fish or fillets. Nor did anyone else. But if Jim Feeney wasn't high hook then the Pope isn't Catholic. Jim won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 24 pound white hake. He also caught the fourth largest fish of the trip, a 21.5 pound white hake. And Jim caught the largest pollock of the trip at 18 pounds. Fred Kunz (NH) was second hook. Fred won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 28.5 pound Maine state trophy hake, his second trophy hake in as many trips and the second boat pool in as many trips. His second largest fish was a 20.5 pound white hake. His largest pollock was probably 14 pounds. I didn't weigh any of Fred's pollock.
Jason O'Connor (ME) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, a 23 pound white hake. He lost a big hake. Jason could very well have been third hook. He caught quite few pollock. I never weighed any of his pollock. But I'm sure he caught one over 12 pounds, at least one.
I took a digital image of the four long time regular anglers who were aboard today and who I have fished with on other boats throughout the years. This picture appears on the upper left. From left to right are Fred Kunz holding a white hake, Don Johnson with the bright orange gloves, Jim Feeney holding a white hake and Jason O'Connor, wearing a smile and a full beard. I don't know if the hake they are holding match the angler who caught the fish.
Other Angler Highlights: Tim Rozan (ME) caught the most legal sized cod with a count of four. He may well have caught the most haddock too. His largest fish was a 17.5 pound white hake. I didn't weigh any pollock of his but I did see one that was at least 12 pounds. Don Johnson (MA) caught a 14.5 pound pollock. I believe it was his biggest fish. He was heard chanting; "Let's go Brandon; Let's go Brandon!" But I believe he was referencing Brandon Robinson (MA) who was fishing on the stern. I don't think Brandon had a fish until noon. After noon, though, he caught fish like a "house afire". His largest fish was a 16 pound cod, the largest cod of the trip. He also caught a 14 pound pollock and a double that included a 10 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound pollock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. His father, Terry, used to fish with me in the past; a wonderful guy and a very good angler.
Jeff Larson (NH) landed a 15 pound pollock, his largest fish. He caught an 11 pound pollock early in the trip. Ed Vanlingen (NH) caught a 13 pound pollock, his best fish. Celia Knight (ME), on her maiden voyage aboard the Bunny Clark, caught a pollock that weighed 13 pounds, her largest fish. Captain Ian Keniston, on a bus man's holiday, caught the second largest cod of the day at 14 pounds. Marty Buskey (NY) was his normal fish catching self. I've gotten so used to Marty catching big fish that I never did weigh any of his pollock today. I'm sure he had a pollock of 13 pounds or better. Matt Tingos (NH) caught the largest haddock of the day at 5.5 pounds. His biggest fish was a 16 pound pollock. Chris Oliver (ME) caught the second largest haddock of the day at 5 pounds. Buzz Leonard (ME) caught a 16 pound pollock that I weighed after it had been bled. Darlene Chin (VT) landed the hard luck award for catching the most dogfish!
So ends another season, one of the most challenging seasons that I have seen. I am very grateful to all my wonderful angling customers and very much appreciate those who have worked with me this year to make this the fun and interesting business that it is. We had some great times this year and broke some Bunny Clark records. On to next season!
I received three very generous donations sponsoring me in my cancer fund raising program with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. The anglers and their donations appear as follows: Marty & Elise Buskey for $50.00 (Marty & Elise have donated a total well over $500.00 the season alone!), Jim & Angela Feeney for $300.00 and Fred Kunz for $120.00 (Only last week Fred donated $110.00.). Thank you all so very much for your kindness and for supporting me in this project. It means a great deal to me as I truly want to help. And, what's even better, I know that you feel the same way. This makes me appreciate your sponsorship that much more.
At 5:00 AM EDT/AST the air temperature was 39°F, the sky was clear, the wind was light out of the northwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The wind came up with the sun and blew at about ten knots, at most, during the morning. By noon, what little wind we had was less. The ocean along the shore was calm. Mid afternoon saw light winds that were variable in direction and a flat calm ocean. The wind backed out of the northwest before sunset. By 7:00 PM, we had gusts of wind from the northwest registering twenty knots at times. The air temperature started to drop after noon. By 4:00 PM, the air temperature was 46°F. By 6:00 PM, the air temperature was 43°F. I never did see the high air temperature in Perkins Cove today. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 52°F with a low of 40°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 51°F (with a low of 26°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 52°F (with a low of 32°F).
Today was a day of cleaning. With the Bunny Clark, Ian Keniston and Jon Calivas worked on getting rods and reels apart and cleaning them. The next move will be ordering reel parts and repairing the rods.
At the restaurants, the chimney sweeps came to do all four chimneys. There was much cleaning going on at both restaurants.
My day was spent wrapping up the year and getting ready for cataract surgery on my left eye tomorrow.
I had my cataract surgery in the early afternoon today. I couldn't have any food or water since midnight last night which meant that I didn't do much of anything until I got to York Hospital. When they wheeled me out of the operating room, I had a patch over my left eye and some discomfort there. But it wasn't bad. I was to keep that patch on all day until I saw the surgeon again before 9 AM tomorrow. So I took it easy for the rest of the night and went to bed at around 8 PM.
At 1:00 AM this morning, I woke up with a massive headache over the area of my left eye. I was also nauseous. It wasn't a good feeling. And I certainly couldn't sleep. The headache I likened to the one I had with Covid but instead of it being my whole head it was mostly in one area. I tried 400 mg of Advil. After an hour it was the same. Then I tried some Tylenol. Nothing seemed to work. By 4 AM, the pain had subsided somewhat which allowed me to go back to sleep. And I did so, getting up a couple hours later. I had a mild headache after that but it wasn't much. I was told at the surgeon's office that the pressure had built up in my eye overnight to cause the headache. He told me it was normal.
The surgeon took the eye patch off the eye that he had worked on. Gave me a bunch of tests. He was satisfied that everything went okay but I had specific instructions as to what I could and could not do. Plus, an endless number of eye drops for a long time. The rest of the day I spent doing easy chores including some blood work back at York Hospital for a urology exam later next week. It's hell getting old.
I laid low for the rest of the day.
I had planned to take the day off today, the first day off I've had since March. I chose to ride my bike with friends out of the Maine Coast Cycling Club. We started with eight. One guy left the group at Nubble Light in Cape Neddick, the group got broken up around York so there were three of us left, one dropped off with seven miles to go, so we were two and I rode the last ten miles back home alone. A total of eighty-two miles at a rather slow 16 mph pace. Perfect for me.
An hour after I got home, Deb and I went to our storage unit, which we have been renting for a few years, to switch to a cheaper unit. I also checked to make sure we wouldn't freeze any fresh water lines at the restaurants. It was around 5:00 PM when we got home.
This was a day off for the Bunny Clark crew and the crew at both Barnacle Billy's restaurants. So I took most of the day off as well. I normally meet my cycling friends on Sunday mornings for the Maine Coast Cycling Club get together/ride every Sunday. Today I planned to do their ride and enough extra miles to complete a century today, which I did. One hundred and two miles. All I had to do was make sure I was back at 3:00 PM to put eye drops in the eye that I had the new lens put in. I rode an easy pace but there was no problem getting home on time. But I probably wouldn't have done the full century without the help of key people who I have met from the MC3.
The rest of the day was spent getting cleaned up, working on my eye and taking Deb for Chinese. It was an early night for me.
Today was a day packed full of business items to complete. On the docket were getting all my engine maintenance items scheduled, advancing a haul out date for the Bunny Clark, securing the Independant Boat Haulers team to haul the boat on the road to her winter resting place and getting everyone lined up to complete the job.
I had to get my left lens on the my eye glasses changed out. The old prescription with the new eye was driving me crazy. That took a couple back and forths to Kittery Eye in Kittery, Maine.
I had to meet A1 Septic at the restaurants to do the last pump out of the grease traps for the season. This happened a little after 7:00 AM.
We had to clean out the old storage unit, cull out the stuff that we wanted to jettison and secure the new unit.
I had to clean out the bait freezer to make room for enough bait to start the Bunny Clark season next year. The rest of the bait I contracted with a local lobsterman to take tomorrow.
I had to okay the use of one of our lower parking lots by the town to store their ticket booth and benches.
I have an interview with a reporter for the London Telegraph tomorrow morning. So I spent some time setting up for that. The story is about the Chinese buying up all our hard shell lobsters. This year it was quite a hassle because it was driving the price of hard shells through the roof and hurting the profit margin and the availability. Anyway, this reporter thinks that the UK will like hearing about this. And I am willing to help.
I had to set a time for a concern who wants to buy chicken seasoning tomorrow. I order it at 2,000 pounds an order, sell off most of it to local concerns in Maine and use the rest for our barbecued chicken at Barnacle Billy's. Like everything else, the price per pound has almost doubled in the last two years.
During the day, Ian Keniston and Jon Calivas were cleaning the Bunny Clark, bringing our life raft to be inspected and repacked and helping with the clean-out of the storage units.
I also spent time organizing a meeting date with my account, attorney and the family to go future issues and needs where my mother is involved.
It was a long day. A day that would have been perfect for riding. But a day where much was accomplished.
I spent the early part of this morning working on this website. Tomorrow, between doctors, I would like to work on the Barnacle Billy's Journal. We shall see. I also started getting materials together to write the Guestletter, due out in January.
Before leaving the house, I set up a tentative schedule for the engine work on the Bunny Clark, a hauling date, a trucking date and a moving date. During the day I kept in touch with Ian Keniston who, with Jon Calivas, was getting a parts list together for rebuilding the reels. When they moved back to dismantling the Bunny Clark, there was a little back and forth there as well..
Around 10 AM, I had an interview with a journalist who writes for the National, a magazine for ex-Pats in Dubai. The subject was lobsters being sold to China, the increased demand, the rumor that Covid started with the lobsters (ahh, the influence of the Internet, yet again) and the impact China sales have had on local retail businesses serving the public. That lasted about a half hour. It was frustrating this last season competing with the Chinese for hard shell lobsters. And you may have thought, with all the whining from local wholesale exporters of lobster, that Trumps "no export to China" thing hurt Maine whiners when it really didn't. They had to adjust, certainly. And, for a while, the pressure was off the retailers. But a couple of weeks later sales of lobster to China from Maine started all over again after most created a dummy company in Canada that put the hard shells back on the road overseas again. So Trump got a bad rap and the interested public were not told the difference. Months after Trump's no export rule went into effect, the public were still moaning about the unfairness to Maine's export businesses. Now I was never a lover of Trump. But if you can be objective for a while (most can't with that man), he did do some good things. Anyway, I hope my journalist, David, got some good material out of me during the interview.
From there I did more house cleaning or things I put aside for the fall because I didn't want to take the time to do them during the season. I had to register my truck which had been out of registration and inspection for two months. From there I cleaned out the rest of the old storage unit, closed out that account and brought all that junk to the transfer station. Ian and Jon had done most of the moving yesterday, leaving the stuff I had to take to the dump.
By the time I got done with all that it was lunch. The afternoon saw me working at the desk at home.
Today had been reserved as a doctor's day for a while. A visit to my urologist started it off at 8:00 AM. After the blood work last week, I was deemed a less likely candidate for prostate cancer. From there it was getting my blood drawn at a lab in Portsmouth for my annual physical on Monday. I had to fast before the blood work. It's always been tradition to go out afterward and treat myself to a big breakfast, which I did. From there it was running around shopping for ground tackle parts, filters, glove liners and a surge protector. By 12:30 PM, I met with Ian Keniston and Jon Calivas to go over ground tackle maintenance, reel bearings and the work order. After lunch it was back to Portsmouth to visit my dermatologist. From there I had to pick up a few more items and get gas. By 3:00 PM, I was back at the eye surgeon's office checking out my left eye and to see how the eye was doing. "It's healing nicely", he said. He changed my meds for the eye and I was out. The rest of the daylight hours were spent driving back to Ogunquit and Wells to pick up more items I needed included breakfast cereal for a month. I was home at 6:00 PM.
What is nice about driving around getting things done is the fact that my truck becomes my office, as the mobile phone is available. I had a list of items I had to check up on. I would say I probably spent an hour and a half on the phone from the truck, stealing time. It was also nice to get all the doctor's appointments behind me. I do have my annual physical coming up and there will be more eye doctor visits. But I'm, essentially, done with doctors except for a dentist visit. But all this is what happens when there is no time in the summer. So it was a good day.
Except for the normal business stuff that I do in the morning every day, I took most of the day off. This short vacation ended around 3:00 PM.
The rest of the afternoon was spent conferring with Ian Keniston about work on the Bunny Clark and making new dock lines. We did run one storm line (a breasting line) from the Bunny Clark to the dock. Tomorrow, early, I will probably have to run a storm line off the bow. Gale warnings have been posted for tomorrow. Winds are supposed to increase to fifty mph, according to the local forecast. The inshore marine forecast is giving southeast winds of twenty-five to thirty knots with gusts to forty-five knots and seas building from eight to eleven feet. Offshore, they are calling for nine to fourteen foot seas. And rain from mid morning throughout the day.
My day was a day of meetings, almost all designed to protect assets in the future.
The early part of the morning was spent on the computer at home. At 6:00 AM, I was down at the Cove running an extra storm line off the bow of the Bunny Clark. Afterward, I met with the harbor master to make sure I wasn't preventing others from getting to the floats where my storm line was fixed. And I did talk to our harbor master about having a Cove Committee meeting in the near future to get the committees opinions on some ideas that the harbor master had on improvements to Perkins Cove. So far, our harbor master has been the most pro-active harbor master we have had in Perkins Cove. And I am very happy that our involvement in the selection process went as well as it did. It was very useful to have the Committee become involved. I still need to get in contact with the rest of the Committee for a future meeting date. Once that's established I will write up and agenda and bring it to the Town Office.
The rest of the morning was spent getting ready for a meeting at the restaurant and the meeting itself that went well past noon.
At the same time, we had hood cleaners at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. cleaning all the grease from the vents leading out of the building from the fryalators that were used all summer. It was dirty. I cut them a check before they left at 6:00 PM.
I took another day off today except for the morning routine of writing this fish report. I was also able to get 113 miles on the bike today.
As is the tradition at this time of year, I took the whole of today off. I met friends at the Maine Coast Cycling Club at 8:00 AM, after riding my bike up there from Ogunquit. I continued for a combined total of sixty miles and then went off on my own up to the hills of Sanford and down to Ogunquit with a combined total of one hundred and five miles. I got home in the early afternoon and watched the Patriots game (along with the Tampa Bay game) with Deb, watched a movie on ABC's streaming site, had dinner and went to bed.
After the morning routine, I had a physical at my doctor's office in Portsmouth. Aside from some boat materials I had to pick up, I ran around trying to get the flu vaccine to no avail. I needed a higher dose for my age group which they were out of stock on at my doctor's office. But he felt I should have it. But this ate up a bit of time.
The rest of the day was spent at the office, on the computer, conferring with Ian Keniston on boat issues and working on ordering parts for reels for the winter reel repairs. I also started setting up for writing my yearly Guestletter missive. After making my rounds at the restaurant, I took Deb to get her vehicle worked on. We had to leave the vehicle for a couple of days.
And it was a very exciting day on the donation front. I received three generous donations, all today, sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge. The individuals and their donations appear as follows: Andy Barowsky (ME) for a very generous $1,000.00, Harold Peck (NY) for a generous $200.00 and Sam Theodosopoulos (NH) for a generous $100.00. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity to a cause and a program I fully support for cancer research. Wonderful results have come from this group and the funding, I'm sure, is going to help to bring a brighter future to those who have the disease. This support is very much appreciated.
Today was engine repair day. As most of you know, I had issues with the electronic side of the engine all season, or most of the season. At this point, Skip Dunning from Power Products had changed every nodule that was available on the engine. The wiring harness was the next thing to change. We were waiting until the end of the season to do so. That was today. Plus, we were getting a read-out at the panel that we weren't getting the turbo pressure needed. In the afternoon, Skip found that, indeed, a valve in the turbo was stuck in the closed position and could not be fixed. All these parts had to be ordered and, hopefully, will be in tomorrow. A turbo is expensive. The wiring harness was replaced, the valves were adjusted (I have these adjusted every fall) and the coolant was changed out. Ian Keniston was the main man helping Skip.
I had made an appointment to get a flu shot in Sanford, Maine, about forty minutes from Ogunquit. All my previous flu shots were walk-ups with no appointment. This time, all the Walgreens in the area were booked up. The closest one that wasn't was in Sanford. I also decided to get the Shingles shot as well. The Shingles shot is a two part thing where I have to come back in January to get the second one.
After checking in at the boat where they were just starting to get into the turbo problem, I drove to Portsmouth for an appointment with the oral surgeon that extracted a tooth of mine earlier in the year. He needed to inspect the area to see if a post could be put in. When I left, I had set up a date in January where this procedure was due to be initiated.
Back at the boat, I found that hauling the boat tomorrow wasn't an option as the engine wasn't going to be ready. The meant that I couldn't haul the boat over the road on Thursday and we couldn't cover it before the long weekend. This was a bit of a bummer. But things happen. And this has been the year for things to happen. And not all good things. A very challenging year, for sure.
I received a generous $200.00 donation from Ron & Robin Krause (MA) sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge, a cycling event to raise money for cancer research. Ron himself has been fighting cancer for a few years now and had a bad session with it this year which prevented him from fishing with us. The good news is that he is getting better. With all the trials, expenses and tribulations he faces with this disease, he and Robin still find time to donate. Thank you both so very much. Here's to hoping we Ron on the Bunny next season!
I got up at 3:00 AM this morning to start my day. Normally, I start getting up at that time at this time of year throughout the winter. I felt awful. The flu shot yesterday must have made me feel this way. It isn't the first time. More times than not, I get a bit sick after a flu shot. So, despite feeling the way I did, I wrote up this fish report. Afterward, however, I went right back to bed. And I slept like a dead man for two hours.
I would have stayed in bed longer had my sister not called me to tell me that they were cutting down the wrong tree at our mother's house. So I got out of the bed, got dressed and went over to my mother's house only to find out that they were taking down the tree I had discussed with them about the day before. So all is well that ends well. I have to tell you, though, I felt so much better. I didn't feel one hundred percent but I was on track to be fine after lunch, which I was.
The work day was centered around getting the engine fixed. I found that the re-manned turbo had arrived along with all the parts needed to replace the turbo and fix and oil leak at the back of the engine. Skip Dunning would start on it again before noon. I called Ian Keniston who was working with Jon Calivas at Ian's house rebuilding reels. We met at the boat for the engine project. After a half hour, I decided to work at home while Ian and Jon would help Skip and Cody (Cody came along from Power Products to help Skip) complete the engine work. Ian and Jon also stayed busy working on getting the Bunny Clark ready to haul out as well.
I went home and worked on the Guestletter. I spent six hours, solid, working on it. The top priority of this session was finding out who the top five anglers were placed in the Fisherman of the Year competition. In order to do this I had to go through every category to figure out the top five anglers who won the most boat pools, high hook, fisherman of the day, largest doubles, most trophies, most trophies in the top five, etc., etc. I totally completed all this before Ian called me to say that they had reached a stopping point with the engine and would finish up tomorrow. This is the earliest, in many years, that I have discerned who was FY - '21. The major hurtle before me now is to read all I wrote over 2021 and take notes so I can write an accurate newsletter (Guestletter), a primer of the 2021 fishing season. So I have a ways to go. I was done with my working day at 6:00 PM.
At 4:00 AM EST/AST the air temperature was 46°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the southwest at less than ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. The air temperature dipped down to 43°F by 6:00 AM before soaring up during the morning and into the afternoon. Unfortunately, I wasn't near a thermometer at the time it was the warmest but, I can tell you, it was shorts and t-shirts weather, for sure. The wind was southwest at first, light, but then backed out of the south. By 2:30 PM, the wind was started to pick up. By 5:00 PM, it was blowing over fifteen knots. But it didn't really start to blow until after sunset. From that time on it was blowing over twenty knots out of the south. The visibility, although excellent in the morning, was only good in haze during the later part of the morning and all afternoon. There was never any fog but it looked like fog might happen at any time. It didn't. The sky was party cloudy in the morning and mostly clear in the afternoon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 70°F (with a low of 52°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 61°F (with a low of 44°F).
Skip Dunning from Power Products showed up at the Bunny Clark by 10:00 AM. Ian Keniston and Jon Calivas were there shortly afterward. There were a few things to put back together on the engine, which Skip did. 
Then we fired up the engine, checking all indexes with a computer (Skip) plugged into the system. A sea trial was next. Everything ran perfectly. I'm hoping this is the end of all this for at least another year so we get generate enough income to pay back the loan we had to take out to have the work done. It was a huge loss of income and it was a very expensive fix costing about as much as it did to rebuild other engines in the past that I have had in the boat.
Skip was gone before noon and much more satisfied that he had fixed the problem than any other time he left the boat this season. And, indeed, later in the day, the engine ran like a charm with no codes and no engine hiccups.
We decided that there couldn't be a better day to take the Bunny Clark over to where we will be hauling out on Monday. There is a lot of wind coming up this week and there would never be a warmer day than today. So this is what we did. I went home and dressed in my cycling apparel and grabbed my bike. Ian and Jon grabbed take out lunches. After noon, Jon and I took the boat out of the Cove, along the coast, up the Piscataqua River to a float off the dock at Kittery Point Yacht Yard in Eliot, Maine and ate the lunches on the way. Ian met us over there in his truck. It was an easy ride across and so warm. Ian was waiting on the float when we got there. The plan was that Ian and Jon were going to take advantage of the weather and get the radars and radar mast off while also sealing up the holes in the canopy top. With everything outside the boat removed, all the other things to do remain under cover in the boat. I took a couple of pictures with my iPhone before I jumped on the bike to go home. The shot on the left shows the Bunny Clark, underway, headed up river with a poor shot of Jon Calivas standing in the stern and my bike in the foreground. The shot on the right shows the Bunny Clark at the final destination tied to the floats with Ian and Jon working on getting the radar arrays and radar mast off the Bunny Clark.
I brought my bike because I wanted to get a ride in and because I would have had to wait until Ian and Jon were done in order to get a ride home. They could have taken me right home but they would have missed the opportunity to work on the boat in the excellent weather. So, after checking out with the yard manager, I took off to ride, in a roundabout way, home. I wanted to get a few extra miles in and add a few hills during the ride. I got back home after 5:00 PM.
The morning was all about Barnacle Billy's restaurants, after I wrote the morning missive, here. The high point was a meeting with our insurance agent. And, of course, prices in all aspects of the policy have gone up. And the Sword of Damocles, the "Global Warming" warning of sea level rise, hangs like a spectre as a focal point of significant premium rise. Although not dramatic yet, I look at insurance companies grabbing this and holding it to their chest the next time we get a storm like we had in 1978 where, during the height of it, the high water mark was three feet above the parking lot at Perkins Cove. It's certainly a concern. So we will be paying a significantly higher price for insurance this coming season. But then prices of everything right now are through the roof.
Ian Keniston and Jon Calivas worked on reels today.
I gave up for the day when noon rolled around and I sat down for lunch.
I took a partial day off today riding my bike to a friend's house in Kennebunkport to watch the Leicester/Chelsea EPL football game at 6:30 AM. The air temperature had dropped to 26°F and I had not enough protection from the cold for my hands. The game lasted two hours, after which I joined friends for a ride around the area on bikes and then a ride home to be there by noon.
After lunch, I drove to pick up Hez (Paul Haseltine) to attend the celebration of life for Stan Bayley in Pine Point, Maine. Stan had passed away on October 22nd at 78 years old. Stan had Bayley's Seafood. For years, Barnacle Billy's has bought our steamed clams from Stan. And they were the best clams. Always dug locally unless the flats were closed by the State. We also bought scallops from him and gallons of cut clams for frying. Years before we also bought Maine shrimp, processed at his facility in Pine Point, and crab. He had been in failing health for the last three years. But he was as sharp as a tack until at least a week before he died. That was the last time I talked to him. There wasn't even a hint that I would never talk to him again. For many years I looked forward to our conversations on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and other days as well. Of all the people I talked to associated with the life of Barnacle Billy's, Stan was by far the most genuine and down to earth. He also had the most common sense and the one person I looked forward to talking to. The reason for my love of Stan Bayley was his vast fishing experience as a dragger captain and commercial vessel owner. At one point, he owned five big draggers out of Portland, Maine. Sometimes we would talk for a half an hour before I finally got to the point of making the order for the day. His experiences were fascinating as he was one of the highliners of the New England commercial fishing front. He almost died once when his boat was hit by a 600' tanker, a tug picking him up when the same tanker cut the tug off. The tug captain saw the collision on radar and went back to investigate, finding Stan clinging to a deflated life raft. Another time, he showed up as a deck hand on the docks of the Portland waterfront only to realize that he had forgotten his boots and decided to drive back home to get them. When he got back, the boat had sailed without him. Thankfully, he wasn't on the boat that day when the boat went down. I've never been sure if all hands were lost or most died. The ocean never took the man but his failing healthy finally did; at way too young an age. He had many stories of which I loved to hear. And the way he talked, I always felt like I was there going through the same experiences myself. He also loved to hear my stories. I felt we were a good pair. And I will truly miss Stan.
We stayed at Stan's celebration for a couple of hours listening to his children recount the life of Stan. I had never met any of his kids, although I had talked to many of them on the phone in business. When the food came out, Hez and I left to go back home. We only knew a couple of people there. And I was to be at my son's house for an early Thanksgiving dinner with his fiancé's parents.
After checking in on my mother, letting the dog out and putting the scheduled eye drops in my new eye, I arrived at Micah's house at 7 PM or a little after. Micah had made a turkey which was absolutely perfect. His fiancé, Stef, made me the best margarita I have ever had. Deb was already there when I got there. A good time was had by all.
I also have to mention Justin Phibrick who passed away on November 12, 2021 at the age of 47 years old. Way too young to go, he also had failing health but also lived an unhealthy life style, not conducive to keeping him alive. He died in Massachusetts General Hospital after deciding to pull the plug on his dialysis machine. Justin and his brother, Jeff, sailed with me on the Bunny Clark for many years as excellent anglers. Their father, Russ, was a legendary angler who fished out of Hampton, New Hampshire. I had heard of Russ before I was able to attract some of the best anglers to go on my boat. Some of those best anglers included Justin and Jeff. I had many memorable experiences fishing on the Bunny Clark with these two brothers. I still have a picture of them on my brochure in a group setting holding up some of the big cod they caught on one trip. At one point, Justin entertained the idea of working as a deck hand on the Bunny Clark. Sadly, that was never meant to be. He would have been a good one. When I heard the news, I called Jeff up right away. I was lucky enough to have kept his phone number. It was a sad phone call. Some of my best fishing memories on the Bunny Clark will always include them as long as I have memory enough to recall. Justin will be sorely missed.
I took the whole day off today and have tried to do this on Sundays since the restaurants closed and we stopped fishing on Bunny Clark. And, as has been the case under the circumstances, most of my time was spent on the bike (bicycle), first, riding with the Maine Coast Cycling Club and a solo ride after lunch.
My daughter, Halley, and her husband, Nick, drove up from New Jersey to be with us through the Thanksgiving holiday. They arrived late this morning when I was riding back home from Kennebunk. It was great to see them. They took off shopping with Deb after 1:00 PM. So, with nothing left to day except work, I decided to take advantage of the time and complete 108 miles on the bike for the day.
At 5:00 AM EST/AST the air temperature was a balmy 51°F, the sky was overcast, it was drizzling, it had been raining earlier, the wind was blowing out of the south at thirteen knots (more or less) and the visibility over the ocean was good? I couldn't see Boon Island light which might mean fog or it might mean that they had the light off. With the air temperature and dew point, I would sooner think it was fog but it was too dark out to tell. When sunrise came, the visibility was good. There was too much wind from the wrong direction to make fog around Ogunquit. The wind increased to about twenty knots and started to back off in the later part of the morning. By noon, the wind was out of the southwest at ten knots or more. I noticed that the wind was out of the west before sunset. Wind speeds then were less than ten knots. Looking at the buoy reports, the wind backed out of the northwest at around 9:00 PM. The highest air temperature that I saw today was 51°F but I wasn't really paying that much attention to it. The visibility was good to very good. The sky was mostly cloudy all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 57°F (with a low of 37°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 50°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 54°F (with a low of 33°F).
After the desk work, my day started with our plumber shutting the water off at our original restaurant, Barnacle Billy's. I checked in with them a couple of times but Matt Pedersen was the one to oversee the whole operation.
Most of my morning was organizing the Bunny Clark haul out. I was back at Kittery Point Yacht Yard, Eliot, after 11:00 AM. I had planned to change the reverse gear oil and winterize the engine. But I had misjudged the amount of time it would take to get the boat hauled, move it to a position to clean the bottom and then transport it up the hill to the Yard itself. So I had to forego the oil change (I had forgotten to bring a filter with me anyway). But I did get time to start to winterize the engine.
Jon Calivas helped clean the bottom as the Yard had a guy power washing it behind the work that Jon was completing. When the Bunny Clark made it's way to the Yard, Dave Simonelli, the Yard manager, had the Bunny Clark put in straps. When that was finally completed, Ian Keniston, Jon and I were finally able to get aboard her to start the rest of the process we needed to complete before the BC went over the road tomorrow. I started by taking the impeller out of the raw water pump and draining the sea water side of the engine. Jon worked on cleaning the sea strainer and Ian worked on removing a number of things that had to be taken off the boat for the winter.
I had to leave at 3:00 PM to visit the eye doctor about my left eye that was now three weeks out of cataract surgery. My doctor removed one stitch that was bothering my eye lid, examined my eye and was happy with the healing. I was given a new set of eye care instructions and a new appointment was made. From there I went right back to the Bunny Clark. Jon and Ian had left before I got back there. And, indeed, the Yard was pretty much empty when I arrived. I completed the winterization process and left the Yard at 4:45 PM.
I took several pictures with my iPhone. The one at the top left shows the Bunny Clark from the stern, on the cradle with Dave Simonelli in the foreground inspecting the placement of the hull on it. The one on the right it a shot from the bow with the Bunny Clark just starting to come out of the water. The hull was so grassed up that it looks black at the water line and below and, almost, looks like it's still in the water setting on it's lines. We have plenty of work to do to get her ready for next year.
At 5:00 AM EST/AST the air temperature was a balmy 29°F, the sky was clear, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at twenty knots, more or less, and the visibility over the ocean was excellent. It was a colder day than I have been used to, as of late. I payed more attention to the thermometer than I have been too. The highest air temperature that I saw was 39°F. It could have been warmer but I never did see a higher value. And, mostly, it was colder. The wind blew out of the northwest at twenty to twenty-five knots with higher gusts all day. The sky was clear or cloudless every time I looked. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high was 40°F (with a low of 28°F). Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 36°F (with a low of 25°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 37°F (with a low of 29°F). My morning was designed around Barnacle Billy's, the carpenter's work order there, future meetings and getting the Bunny Clark hauled over the road to it's winter resting place. So, a lot of busy work and running around.
At noon, I was at Kittery Point Yacht Yard in Eliot, Maine, watching as Independant Boat Haulers got the trailer under the Bunny Clark to bring her over the road to York. I took a picture of the Bunny Clark in slings just before IBH showed up. This digital image appears on the left.
I had some desk work to complete before my day was done.
I received a very generous $500.00 donation from Peter & Patti Vangsness (MA) sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge. The donation is in memory of Marjorie, Peter's sister, who passed from cancer on November 9, 2021 and in memory of Carmen, their mother, who passed away less than twenty-four hours later. Such are some of the horrific situations that cancer places on families and individuals, not even considering the terrible things it does to the person with the disease. Peter & Patti have been sponsoring me for years in this cancer project, something I, of course, greatly appreciate. Thank you so much, Peter & Patti. I am so sorry for your loss having just spent time with my mother (Bunny Clark Tower - 92 years old) and my two sisters. I can't imagine. Very much appreciated!
The morning was spent trying to secure the kitchen staff at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. for the coming season. We had a round table meeting that lasted shy of two hours. Much came out of it, much was resolved and, as much as you can do this time of year, much was secured. I have a good feeling about the kitchen. And I see a good team emerging. I hope my feelings are correct.
I was able to secure a few lobsters for dinner this evening. With my daughter and her husband here, Deb thought it was be fun to have them. She was right.
The afternoon was spent going over winter repairs and projects at both restaurants with our carpenter.
In the meantime, Ian Keniston with Jon Calivas, closed the Bunny Clark in at it's winter home. A framework was built over the bow to support shrink plastic to seal it all up.
Aside from working in the office for a period of time this morning, I took the whole day off to be with friends and family. It was a wonderful day and I was very thankful to be here, of good health and surrounded by wonderful people in my life.
I spent my day working at the desk and running around in the truck getting things completed before tomorrow, when most places of business (in my world) are closed. Most of my desk work was completed at home, a fair amount starting the Guestletter. But I did have to write up a contractual agreement at the restaurant. So, from a writer's point of view, it was a fairly boring day.
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