Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Sunday, October 4, 2026, 5:45 AM EDT
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Note: Note: The new fishing regulations for cod and haddock in the Western Gulf of Maine for the 2026 appear below. These regulations were approved for the season starting on April 1, 2026 and will extend until May 1, 2027.
Gulf of Maine cod
Gulf of Maine haddock
Danny DellaMonica and I ran the marathon trip today.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 60°F, the sky was clear, the wind was very light out of the northeast but just strong enough that you could clearly hear the bell buoy and the visibility over the ocean was not quite excellent in some haze.
It was a mild morning, compared to the last two. And I was happy for it. We broached the gate with an air temperature of 62°F and a surface water temperature of 60°F. We carried a surface water temperature of 58°F the whole ride to the fishing grounds. The temperature made the drop about two miles out. The air temperature stayed about the same. We had no wind. The light northeast disappeared after couple miles. We did have a left over hubble made by the wind that was around yesterday. So it wasn't a flat calm smooth ride out. But there was no spray. The visibility was very good in haze. We had mixed cloud cover but mostly clear skies. We maintained a sixteen knot cruising speed the whole way.
On the fishing grounds, we had light and variable winds at first. The wind was so light that wind ripples were an anomaly. The wind disappeared altogether for the whole rest of the fishing day. We did have very light south southeast wind on the ride back to Perkins Cove that increased to about five knots before we got in. The ocean surface was smooth. The air temperature reached a high of 72°F. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds. The sky was overcast for the last two or three hours of fishing. The sky cleared an hour inside of the grounds but filled in afterward. We had no rain. The tide (current) was light all day, too light after noon. The visibility ranged to twenty miles or more in haze. The surface water temperature reached a high of 63°F.
On the ride back to Perkins Cove, about the half way mark, we had increased cloud cover and, then, completely overcast skies. We got completely fogged in with eight miles to go. It was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. In fact, Deb called to ask when we would hit the dock, worried about me getting in under the cover of darkness. There wasn't even a chance of us being in that late. I had enough of the evil eye from Danny on the last trip when I misjudged the time. I won't be doing that any time soon. As it was, the fog disappeared after we were in Perkins Cove about ten minutes. It would have cleared out before darkness fell anyway. It was replaced by rain. It rained from 5:30 PM all through the night.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 74°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 76°F (with a low of 64°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 58°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 74°F (with a low of 56°F).
The fishing was excellent all day. The weather was perfect, albeit, the drift too slow. There were few blue sharks. Almost no dogfish. We had tangles but they weren't bad. The catching was very good. Landings were good to very good, excellent for quality. Most legal fish landed were haddock, by far. I decided to change my approach today and not target pollock so much. This mainly because it was so calm; a good pollock bite needs the wind. The drift wasn't good enough for pollock. Legal landings also included two cod, twenty-four good sized cusk, thirty-seven pollock to 8 pounds, twelve white hake, eighteen redfish and seven squid. Released fish included five sub-legal cod, thirty-eight sub-legal pollock, one sub-legal haddock, two blue sharks with jewelry and one dogfish. Everyone fished with jigs and cod flies, despite the fact that I anchored on a huge school of haddock. Try as I might, I could not convince anyone to go with a bait rig. [Griff did switch and caught three doubles in a row. But he switched late. Where's Ray Westermann when you need him?] We anchored once for the haddock. We drift fished for the rest of the trip.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook for sure as we don't count fillets. However, Jason Rivera (CT) seemed the most consistent with few tangles and a fish a drop. Leslie Lauritsen (IA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 30.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. I don't believe that there has been a bigger cusk caught in New England this year yet. It's certainly our largest cusk this season to date. And it's also the eleventh largest cusk that has ever been caught on one of my boats in the fifty-one years that I have been taking passengers out on the high seas. I took a picture of this fish with Leslie holding it. This digital image appears on the left. He also caught a cusk that weighed 10.75 pounds earlier. Jason Rivera won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 25.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. This is Jason's largest cusk ever and it's also the Bunny Clark's second largest cusk of the fishing season to date. Jason also caught the third largest hake of the day at 22.5 pounds, a 6 pound haddock and a haddock double that included a 4 pound haddock and a 5 pound haddock, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. He caught a lot of haddock today. The third largest fish was a 24 pound Maine state trophy cusk caught by Darlene Chin (VT/FL). This is the largest cusk that Darlene has ever caught. It's also the Bunny Clark's third largest cusk of the fishing season to date. I took a picture of Darlene holding her big cusk. This digital image appears on the right. She also caught her biggest white hake of the season today. It weighed 19.5 pounds.
Other Angler Hightlights: Bryan Lewer (ME) caught a 20 pound white hake right off the bat. I believe that it was the first fish in the boat this morning. He mostly worked the deck with Danny and I. The first fish he caught when he went back to it was a 7.5 pound Maine state trophy haddock! This is his personal best haddock this season even though he has guided his passengers to haddock over 8.5 pounds on his own boat earlier this season. Mike Bragg (MA) caught an 11.5 pound white hake, his biggest fish. Mike Tirrito (VT) landed the largest pollock today weighing 8 pounds. He also caught a 6 pound haddock and a 17 pound white hake. Steve LaPlante (CT) caught his largest haddock of the season today, a 8 pound Maine state trophy. He has caught two other trophy haddock this season. One was caught with me. The other was caught with Bryan Lewer, Salty Lewer Charters, out of Ogunquit, Perkins Cove. His first 8 pounder was caught with Bryan. But I'm not sure on the exact weight. It could have been bigger. I took a picture of Steve holding the 8 pound haddock that he caught with me today. This digital image appears on the lower left. Steve also caught his largest ever cusk, a 22.5 Maine state trophy. This cusk is the Bunny Clark's fifth largest cusk of the season so far. And he caught a 20.5 pound white hake.
Hannah Smith (VT) caught the first Maine state trophy cusk of the day. It weighed 14 pounds, the largest cusk that she has ever caught. It's also the eighth largest cusk that has been caught on the Bunny Clark this season, so far. Victor Tirrito's (VT) fish of note included a 10 pound cusk and a 6 pound haddock. Emile Gallant (ME) boated his largest haddock of the last few years, an 8 pound Maine state trophy. He had a bad start when he found that his reel stopped working. Jonathan Griffin (MA) tied for the largest white hake of the trip with a 23 pounder. Dave Haberl had the other 23 pound white hake. Dave also caught a 19 pound white hake about a half hour before his bigger one. He did well all day long. Nick Kirychuk (CT) lost the biggest haddock of the season, unfortunately. He also caught the only dogfish. It wasn't his best day but his dory make, Jason, really did well. Both Danny and Bryan believed that Jason was high hook with the most legal fish today. Jason had a lot of bags of fillets. I think Nick was happier about that. Ed Brozo (MA) caught a 14.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk. Ed's cusk is tied for the sixth largest cusk the Bunny Clark has boated this season to date. Buzz Leonard (ME) boated the largest cod at 6.5 pounds, about half the size of the cod he catches at West Cod Ledge!
I received three donations from anglers who were fishing with me today, sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge. The cycling event was completed at the end of the day on Sunday, August 2, 2026. But cancer never sleeps and the fundraising for this year continues until the dying breath of the last day in December 2026. Then I will start again in 2027. Those wonderful people who help me out, some every year, included David Haberl and Hannah Smith for $60.00, Nick Kirychuk for $20.00 and Tom & Noreen Zido (NY) for $50.00. Thank you all so very much for supporting me in these efforts, your thoughtfulness in so doing and your generosity. As those who donate know, this is very important to me, the researchers who need the money and to those patients who may never know who contributed. This is so much appreciated!
There was very little wind all morning. What wind we did have seemed to be out of the northwest. This by judging the ripples on the water in Oarweed Cove. Flags were limp. The ocean along the shore was flat calm. We didn't see any wind at all until sometime in the early afternoon, when I realized that the wind was out of the south. At that time it could have been five knots? By later afternoon the wind was out of the south at almost ten knots. The wind was out of the northwest at twelve knots at sunset. I didn't pay attention after that. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was clear and sunny. The air temperature reached a high of 79°F! But there was no humidity. So it felt really nice. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 80°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 56°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 55°F).
It was, again, Friday. I worked at the restaurant starting at 4:30 AM and leaving after 9:00 AM. I had a lot to do with the fishing report. A lot of images and much to write about. It took some time. Too much time to complete.
I had to stop to get ready for working at the restaurant. I was there before noon. I had to leave after 1:00 PM because I had a cardiac stress test at 2:00 PM. I had an MRI earlier in the year to scan for calcium in my coronary arteries. My calcium score came back at 756. A reading of 100 is of concern. So my cardiologist set up the stress test to see if I was getting any blockage of the coronary arteries. My father had issues there, of which I was very concerned about myself with. He had to have two angioplasties. I thought I might be taking the same route. You can't fight genetics. Turns out a lot of endurance athletes have calcium buildup in their coronary arteries; even as young as twenty-five, if they are heavy cyclists. (this from a study done on athletes in the Tour de France). Turns out, I was in that league. There wasn't even a hint of a blockage after the stress test with the EKG and electrocardiogram videos. I was so relieved, I can't tell you. I've been worried since I got the calcium score. That's not to say something won't happen in the future. But, for now, I'm okay.
After the stress test, I went back to work at the restaurants. I left after 6:00 PM.
We had a north northeast wind today that was stronger offshore than it was near shore. Wind speeds were no more than ten knots. It was a bit hubbly for the Fineskind Scenic Tour boats but all the trips were taken today. I didn't ask for a hurling count. The sky stayed clear with some clouds.The visibility was excellent. The air temperature warmed to a high of 65°F. It was cool in the morning with a 57°F at 9:15 AM and an increase to 61°F over an hour later. In the sun on the garden patio at Etc, it was nice and on the leeward side of the deck at Billy's.The wind was light in the afternoon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 54°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 45°F).
I spent a fair amount of time working on finishing up the Thursday fishing report and writing yesterday's entry. That was the thrust of today's morning. I didn't finish all the desk work at home, waiting to finish up tomorrow morning. This also gave me some time to go for a run before work.
Saturday is my long day at the restaurants. As is typical of the fall, business slacks off at night, particularly when the air temperature drops. Such was the state of business this night. Barnacle Billy's, Etc. hung on for a while longer and did better business. I saw many customers today. It was a particularly fun restaurant day.
We have been having incontinence issues with old Gill. Today was no exception. He has to be let out all the time now. Oddly, he seems to be okay between 8 PM and 3 AM, the next morning. We put a diaper on him. And he stands up for me to wrap it around his body. I also have a wrap with handles that I put around his torso in order to, basically, carry him upstairs. Some nights he goes up on his own with me just stabilizing him and using the wrap as a safety net. Other times, I carry the full weight of him upstairs. If we leave him downstairs, he will bark every half hour until I take him up.
He still loves going to the Cove with me in the morning. He lingered long this morning, on the walk home. But I indulge him. Deb goes outside with him during the day but does not walk him now. It's too much on the top of the dog's hind paws to take him on the road. Even in the morning, I try to keep him on the grass as much as I can. Not having one hundred percent on the back legs gives the dog some issues. I hate to see the dog disabled like this. But that's life.
Looking at our future weather, it looks like we are going to experience an easterly flow. The wind for Tuesday's trip has been upgraded with gusts out of the east to twenty-five knots for the inshore forecast (within 25 miles) and fifteen to twenty knots with no higher gusts on the offshore forecast. Keep in mind that this is a weekend forecast which, in most cases, is not as reliable as a forecast during the week. Also, with a forecast three days out, a lot can change to make the predictions better or worse. Keep informed.
The sky became completely overcast by 8:00 AM. The sky remained so all morning. At 11:45 AM, a light rain started to fall. It remained very light but kept up for about twenty minutes before stopping. We had very light periodic rain in the early afternoon and, then, no rain after 1:00 PM. The sky stayed overcast with no rain until 5:30 PM, when I light rain started to fall again. The rain became more steady as the evening progressed. By 7:00 PM, the rain became steady, almost heavy, thing. It rained on into the night. The visibility dropped to good or maybe better than that. But there was a fog or heavy haze element to it. This largely because the wind had a southeast edge to it. It was mostly out of the south. By noon, the wind was directly out of the southeast. Wind speeds started at daylight and ten knots. But it never really got any windier. Sometimes it was over ten knots, sometimes no quite. By sunset, the wind was out of the east and the visibility over the ocean improved. The air temperature rose slowly into the 50s by mid morning. The highest air temperature that I saw was 62°F. Fall is coming. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 54°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 40°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 40°F).
My day, like every Sunday, was centered about lunch time activity at the restaurants. Usually, we are busy during lunch. Then it tapers off with dinner time not nearly as busy as a Saturday night. This was one of those days. But it was less busy than a normal Sunday with the weather forecast, long before this day, with the warning of rain. So business was even a bit less than expected. And it did rain. Albeit, not as much or as soon as predicted.
Normally, I do some preparing for the fishing trip on Tuesday. I did some. But not as much as I would do if I was confident of good weather for that trip. We are going to experience an easterly flow from a system that had formed in the lower part offshore of the mid Atlantic over a week to ten days ago. At that time there was a 30% chance that a hurricane would form. That didn't happen. Wind shear had something to do with this. At that time, also, I was thinking that this might be something we might need to look out for.The system kept migrating northwest. More because of it's position and direction of travel did I expect that it would impact us. The ocean water has been so clear for the last week, I expected something would happen. Clear water has always been a warning sign in the past. Now I'm not sure how much this storm will impact us because it seems to be moving more north than northwest. The prediction for Tuesday with the inshore forecast is ten to fifteen knots with gusts to twenty-five knots out of the northeast. Expected seas are three to four feet. Not horrible. But will that really be what we can expect? northeast wind is not the best wind as, wherever I want to go fishing, I have travel right into it, the most uncomfortable direction of travel. If seas are less than expected it's no problem. If they are larger than expected? Well, that's the quandary. At least the crew I'm taking on Tuesday are driving up in the morning. That will give me a bit more time to come up with a salient decision. This, hopefully, by noon tomorrow.
The sky stayed mostly clear for the rest of the day. This was not in the forecast. There were very few clouds. What clouds we did have were insignificant in size and rain quantity. In fact, I never thought, for one second, that we would see any rain at all. And, indeed, we didn't. The wind started out from the north northeast at ten knots and slowly, throughout the morning and afternoon, diminished to nothing. The ocean was flat glassy calm in the afternoon. There was so little wind, you could have sat on the beach and lit a candle, knowing it wasn't going to get blown out. The viability remained excellent all day. The air temperature rose to a value of 70°F. By the helm of the Bunny Clark, tied stern to, to the float, the air temperature was 74°F. With no wind and the bright sun it was warmer than normal. It was really like a perfect summer day today, the day before the first day of fall. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 65°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 69°F (with a low of 47°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 47°F).
I was befuddled today as I was unsure about how to handle tomorrow's fishing trip. In my heart, I knew we could get to the grounds. But I wasn't sure how the day would progress. It was a charter with anglers, most of whom had fished with me for over thirty years. We have had some amazing trips in the past. And I was concerned that they wouldn't have a good time because of the weather. I like rougher weather in general because the chances are better that I would be on the grounds alone. I do like to fish when I can go anywhere without disturbing another boat's privacy. But northeast is not a great wind. When I leave the Cove, wherever I want to go to go fishing, the direction is always into the wind. And, depending on how much wind, the ride can be uncomfortable. Also, the boat's speed plus the wind direction always makes it seem rougher than it is. I have had patrons break legs in these conditions going in that direction. Thankfully, this never happened while I was the captain. But it very well could have. It wasn't until later afternoon that I made the decision to pull the plug and cancel the trip. This put me in a better mood but the day was already over. The thoughts of making the decision had kept me from being all that I could be in the restaurant. But I wanted to give it every chance so I didn't make the wrong decision. Of course, having canceled, the weather will turn out better than expected. And it's another trip denied, a trip I was really looking forward to taking.
Maybe it was this quandary in the back of my mind or maybe it would have happened anyway but going down the driveway headed to the restaurants, I went off the edge of the driveway with my motor scooter. Trying to get back on the driving, hitting that same ridge, made me dump the scooter. I wasn't going that fast. But, the way I dropped the bike, got me more banged up than I would have expected. I got my right leg caught under the scooter and tore some skin on the back side of my achilles, wrenched my shoulder by landing on my hands and hit my chin on the tar, jerking my head back in the process. I thought; "For Christ's sake, Tim, you idiot!" It was surprising how I felt I had to hide my true feelings when I started talking to patrons on the deck of Barnacle Billy's. My chin was throbbing, my leg hurt and my upper body was sore. My hands got over the fall relatively quickly. I discovered later, at 5:00 PM, when I was sitting down that I actually tore some skin off above my heel. It had been hurting all day but there was no blood soaking through my pants so I figured that was the way it was going to be. There was blood but, apparently, it was too far away from my white pants cuffs. The blood had seeped into my socks. I dressed the wound once it was discovered. No big deal, really. Just another annoying thing I do to myself with more frequency than I would like and a waste of time during a day when I feel I haven't enough of it.
My day was filled with getting the boat ready in case I decided to sail. I was hoping for more positivity in the weather forecast. I was also working at the restaurants. At some point I realized that I had the wrong cap on my head. I insist to employees that a Barnacle Billy's cap be worn if you are wearing a cap. I certainly want to lead by example. Plus, I usually change me glasses, which I hadn't. When one of our J1 students asked if I had something to measure blood pressure (she has some minor health issues), I took advantage of the opportunity to go home, change hat and glasses and, at the same time, honor her request.
The rest of the afternoon and evening went well.
I received a very generous $500.00 donation from Betsy McLaughlin (NY) sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge. Of course, the cycling event it over but I ask at least one person a day for donations. The fundraising goes until the end of the season or December 31, 2026. Cancer doesn't sleep and I am too serious about fighting it to stop. Of course, I am encouraged by the more money I garner in a season. And with a genetic component to pancreatic cancer discovered at Dana-Farber through genetic profiling, the very place and research I support, I'm more encouraged than ever. When the drug was first experimented with three years ago, there is a women who had stage 4 pancreatic cancer who is still alive today because of this drug that, essentially, shuts off the gene that's largely responsible for her cancer. That this comes out of Boston boosted on by the very money I am funding through my wonderful donors makes all this so real to me. So I thank Betsy and people like her, who, every year, donate to what is more than ever shown as a very good thing to do to save people with cancer. I appreciate this so much. But think how appreciative the person is who is living thanks to you all!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 52°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the northeast at fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The weather turned out to be better than expected. We had light northeast winds early that strengthened to twenty-three knots by 6:00 AM. The offshore buoys had the wind out of the north northeast at seventeen to twenty-three knots until the later morning. By noon, the wind had come fully northeast but only at ten knots. This hung on until 1:00 PM, when the wind dropped further still. By 3:00 PM, the wind was hardly even five knots. Along the shore, the ocean was calm by mid afternoon, glassy calm by 4:00 PM. When I went to bed there was no wind at all. The sky was clear all day. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 65°F according to the thermometer at home and the high in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Incidently, the air temperature under the canopy at low tide under the bright sun was 77°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 63°F (with a low of 53°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 45°F).
The day was, of course, centered around the restaurants. We had a good early afternoon lunch followed by, what I would call, a relaxing afternoon with just enough business to keep everyone busy. For patrons, it was really good on the deck. There were enough tables available and it was really warm out of the wind.
My sister, Meg, showed up to sit with some of our more regular patrons. It was nice to see her. She has retired but does come by every once and a while to visit. It was nice to see her.
The visibility stayed excellent all day. The sky was nearly cloudless all day. The wind blew out of the northeast and, then, east at as much as eighteen knots in gusts but was, generally, about fifteen knots for most of the day, dying out to about five knots out of the east at 6:00 PM. The wind did pick up again to about ten knots or less going into the night. The air temperature rose to the low high of 64°F. In the lee of the wind, on the deck of Barnacle Billy's, it was t-shirt weather or 75°F in the sun from opening to about 3:00 PM. It was lovely. I expect another day like this tomorrow. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 67°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 62°F (with a low of 44°F).
As this low pressure weather system churns in a nearly stationary position well south of Cape Cod, the isobars are getting closer together. Or, the winds are getting stronger. This storm is planted right between the Cape and Hatteras not two hundred miles or so offshore or about two hundred and fifty miles east of Cape Hatteras. The wind field of this system is enormous with threads of northeast wind affecting the Maine coast to the Delaware coast. My fear is that it will strengthen and move north, taking it right over Cape Cod, or worse, taking it outside Cape Cod and stalling again. The high pressure area above it is strong and holding it back for now. This has, pretty much, stymied the National Weather Service and prevented me from going fishing when it would have been fine to take the trip on Tuesday and, possibly, today. What worries me most is that this system could evolve into a sub-tropical storm similar to the "Perfect Storm" or even the blizzard of '78. Those two storms were a bit different as they became planted off our coast whereas this present one is south of us. I guess a lot depends on thunder storms becoming more prevalent in the middle of this whirling system, taping into the ocean heat energy, sending it aloft and creating more convection, increasing it's strength. The NWS, then, might be able to give it a name, which suggests that, if this happens, that they are agreeing with me. Wouldn't that be something? Right now the American model suggests a regular noreaster. The European model suggests my line of worst case scenario thinking. And, yes, I have put some time into working this whole weather scene out. Right now the water temperature in the area that the storm is located is about 78°F, which is plenty warm enough to create a heat rise into this thing. The fact that we have lighter wind than expected today makes me think that this system is becoming more tightly wound? And talk about tightly wound, take a look at super Hurricane Polo on the west coast of Mexico. Wow. Stay tuned.
I spent most of my time in the restaurant today, early in the morning, from noon until 3:00 PM and after 5:30 PM. Between times, I was working on Bunny Clark issues, visiting the eye doctor for my six month check, working out a plan for dealing with a noreaster or worse and visiting a high school cross country meet where my great nephew (and he is, certainly, a great nephew), Landon Mitchell, was competing. I rode up to the meet with Deb and my sister, Meg, Landon's grandmother. Landon's form is really good, in my opinion. He hasn't got that running maturity it takes to make him a winner yet. But, boy, the potential is there. He is a physical specimen. It will be interesting to see if he is interested in expanding his commitment to running or if he will just become an excellent well rounded athlete. I just know that it is very much fun watching him.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 46°F, the sky was crystal clear and full of stars, the wind was blowing out of the north at ten knots along the shore and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
As it has done every day since we had this easterly flow, the wind blew about fifteen knots out of the north to northeast and died in the afternoon. The wind gradually started dropping after noon. By 5:00 PM, we had three knots of wind in Perkins Cove. The sky stayed clear, almost cloudless, all day. The visibility remained excellent. The air temperature followed the same pattern it has been doing. Lows in the forties before daylight and a warming into the 60s by noon. The highest air temperature that I saw today was at home, a third of a mile from Perkins Cove. That reading value was 66°F. It was probably a bit cooler in the Cove. But you wouldn't know it sitting on the deck at Barnacle Billy's, in the sun and out of the wind. It was t-shirt weather there until about 4:00 PM, when it started to cool down. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 65°F (with a low of 49°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 39°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 66°F (with a low of 41°F).
The focus on most mariner's minds today was on the impending coast low centered off Cape Hatteras. It's so strange, this lack of movement north. There was so much talk about it strengthening into a sub-tropical storm. Looking at it in detail without any facts to go on, I believed it was getting stronger too. It could have. But it doesn't seem to be now. And the direction the European model is giving shows it going more ashore than out to sea, hitting the Rhode Island/Cape Cod area first before going east and out to see. This will spare us the huge seas (if the storm actually follows this path) we were predicted to get. So I'm cautious but optimistic. Rainfall totals are an enigma to me now. We will have to see how that goes. How long it will linger in our coastal waters is also and unknown as well. It almost looks like it will be tough to get Tuesday's trip in. I would hate to miss another trip. We shall see.
As I wasn't on the marathon trip yesterday, I was in the restaurant all afternoon and into the night. I was also having a water shut off put in the house in the afternoon. So I had to keep going back and forth between the restaurant and the house. It was only a couple of times, really. But it was on my mind until it was completed.
Our border collie, Gill, seems to be maintaining the same level of health. Who knows what's going on internally. But he is still happy, still waiting for me in anticipation to take him to the Cove, still eating his food (although, he has to be coaxed at times) and still sniffing around every bush, hedge and fire hydrant whenever I take him walking anywhere. This is good.
And, yes, we could have sailed today.
The sky stayed clear for part of the morning with clouds moving in later. The afternoon saw mostly overcast skies with clear breaks. There was no hint of rain. The wind blew out of the north to northeast at fifteen knots with higher gusts and seven or eight foot seas (according to the weather buoys). The wind dropped off to five knots before sunset but stayed about eight to ten knots offshore of us, again, as observed by the offshore weather buoys. The visibility over the ocean remained excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 69°F in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I didn't look at the thermometer but once and saw 67°F as a high. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 50°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 74°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 41°F).
I neglected to mention the tying of storm lines the day before. This morning, I secured these storm lines, making sure we were ready for the worst. There is quite a surge in Perkins Cove with boats moving fore and aft. It was amazing that so much surge was experienced with such small seas. Seas ranged from seven to eight feet, at most.
Aside from securing our boats in the Cove, it was, again, Friday. So I was down at the restaurants from 4:30 AM until 9:00 AM. At noon and a bit before, we had splash over in the "corral" parking lot across from Barnacle Billy's (Original). It wasn't enough to move cars. But it might be tomorrow at high tide at noon. It depends on how much easterly wind we get.
The rest of the day I went between restaurants, talking to patrons as I usually do.
I received a very generous $500.00 donation from Dennis Pietro (NH) sponsoring me in the season's Pan-Mass Challenge. Dennis has been an excellent fishing patron of mine and an excellent angler. He is responsible for hooking the largest fish that has ever been hooked on the Bunny Clark. Between him and Shane Anderson, they brought a 26' basking shark to gaff after three hours of fighting it and seven miles of chasing it around with the Bunny Clark. Of course, when we got it to the boat we cut the jig off the line that it had lodged in the corner of it's mouth. Thank you for the special gift, Dennis. This is so very much appreciated by so many!
The sky became more overcast as the day progressed, totally overcast by noon. We had a hint of rain at 10:30 AM. This was not enough to see it on the ground and was only evident on the truck windshield. We had periodic rain starting at 4:00 PM and more continuous light rain after 7:00 PM. According to the closest weather buoy, the wind strength ranged from twenty to thirty knots for most of the day and twenty-five to thirty-five knots after sunset until midnight. We had a light splash-over in the parking lot of Barnacle Billy's from 11:00 AM until almost 1:00 PM. This was not steady. Seas at the time were averaging about 8', again, according to the closest weather buoy. The surge in the Cove wasn't horrible. The visibility dropped as the day went on. Looking over the ocean, it was good with mist and haze. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F, that I saw. It was mild, for sure. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 61°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 56°F).
At 6:00 AM, the strong low pressure system was east of Washington, D. C., about one hundred and fifty miles or more. It was inching it's way north, expecting to strike Rhode Island and then move around the Cape Cod region. I don't think anyone can tell me definitively what is going to happen. Another model I looked at this morning showed it continuing inland. I'm not sure I have ever experienced a storm quite like this one. I have no idea what is going to happen. The National Weather Service has downgraded the wind strength in the offshore weather forecast to twenty to thirty knots for today and Sunday. The inshore forecast is the same except they predict gusts to forty-five knots. Nine to thirteen foot seas are predicted for the inshore while nine to fifteen foot seas are predicted for the offshore. I have no idea what is going to play out. We are prepared for gale strength winds but my feeling is that they will be less. But I'm certainly not convinced of anything right now.
At this same time, Frank Blount and his Francis Fleet in Point Judith, Rhode Island were experiencing light rain and forty knots of wind. I didn't ask Frank about the tides at the time. But he did send me digital images of his boats with the water almost level with the parking lot next to them. I assumed that it would be problematic for him but it turned out to be okay.
We some minor splash-over in the parking lot in to the ocean side of Barnacle Billy's. For a while, the valet's parked cars closer to the road away from the ocean side of the lot. That lasted about an hour before normal parking resumed. The rest of the day was fine, as the next high tide would occur at midnight.
This is normally my day to spend at the restaurant. Except for a nap in the afternoon, I was there from noon on. Originally, I thought I would have to go down early. But that proved to be unnecessary. Instead, I used that time to go for a four mile run with a session on the stat bike afterward.
Business at the two restaurants was not much with the weather report and the weather. We did have a large number of people walking the Marginal Way to see the surf.
Around 9:00 AM, it started to rain in earnest. That was also at the same time I decided to go for a walk/run. It rained for the whole time I was out, getting drenching wet in the process. As runners know, as long as you keep running, you will stay warm. So I ran, mostly. The rain continued after I stopped running but let up, somewhat, when I walked to the Cove from the house to start work at noon. My walk takes me right in front of the parking lot in front of Barnacle Billy's. So I had to time it, between waves crashing over the rocks onto the parking lot, to run through without getting soaked. I, actually, mis-timed it but the wave I needed to avoid was small enough as to not break over into the parking lot and over me. Thus I made it to work, dry.
The wind started to pick up on the tide, around noon. Wind speeds increased to a sustained thirty knots with gusts just shy of forty knots. Wave heights remained at ten feet or less through all this wind. I found this incredible. But it wasn't as if the storm was directly east of us. We were still protected by Cape Cod. Had the storm been to the east of us, we would have seen seas over twenty feet. And, when the National Weather Service predicted that it would move around Cape Cod and park itself out in front of us, seas were predicted to be as much as twenty-five feet. I'm so glad this didn't happen. The wind never slacked off all day, the seas never got larger, the rain never stopped (albeit, it was a misty rain for the rest of the day with the occasional rare moment when it poured) and no one lost power because the wind never got to the 40 knots value. We really lucked out. The visibility over the ocean was just good at best. The air temperature never got higher than 58°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 60°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 56°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 58°F (with a low of 54°F).
The storm was still only a hundred miles south of the south shore of Long Island at 6:00 AM. But it appeared to be losing steam down there. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet told me that it was blowing twenty to thirty knots off Point Judith, Rhode Island. It was blowing that here at the time he told me this. I wonder if it picked up in speed like it did here during the day. We had a little bit of splash-over in the parking lot at 1:00 AM this morning. The splash over at noon was a bit more than yesterday at high tide. But not as much as I would have expected. The tide in the Cove rose two more feet than it did yesterday, lifting the dock leaves up. I saw this at noon and got help to take the leaves up, out and to higher ground for fear of having them float off. This may not have been warranted but piece of mind is worth much in a storm like this.
The business reflected the weather. We didn't have much. At times, we only had a single table in the house. It was worth staying open even if employee pay was greater than the gross sales.
I worked until 5:30 PM. Deb and I came down later for dinner as it was so quiet.
The Calypso King of the Caribbean, the Mighty Sparrow, died today at ninety-one years old. He was my favorite artist when I was running sailboats through the Caribbean winters from 1975 through 1985. His songs like Jean and Dinah, Congo Man and Erasmus B. Black were funny, witty, right on the edge and commented on social mores and politics. The music and melody were the best of any Calypso band and he won many awards for his music, particularly in Trinidad. I loved his music and brought it up north. No band was better, in my mind. He had a deep baritone voice that shook the Caribbean. And every year I would head down there, the first thought on my mind was; "Will Sparrow have a new song?" He always did. I can remember bringing my people to Anguilla and running into a guy who had pirated Sparrow tapes. It was like Christmas. And I played these tapes in my truck until the tapes died. If you look in Apple Music or Spotify, you won't find all his best songs, unfortunately. Some of the songs would never be socially acceptable here on radio. I do play the music I have found on Spotify and I have downloaded a few from Apple Music. But they will never match seeing him live at Carnival or living the experience of his music in the Caribbean. A sad loss indeed.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was overcast, it was drizzling rain, the wind was out of the northeast at twenty-five to over thirty knots with reported seas of ten feet and the visibility over the ocean was good in haze and mist. More later.
The storm was still pretty bad in southern Maine. With this lingering on through the night, no fisherman clearing storm lines before tomorrow, seas at the mouth and trying to leave in the dark, I have canceled tomorrow's fishing trip. I didn't want to. But I couldn't see us being able to complete it. That, and all the flotsam that is out there on the surface, makes it hard to even think about going. Better days are coming. I'm looking forward to Thursday.
The wind blew out of the north northeast at twenty-five to thirty knots until almost the middle of the afternoon. Around 2:30 PM, I noticed that the gusts weren't quite as strong, although strong enough. There was splash over again at the seaward side of the parking lot. It was about the same as it was the last couple of days. The tide was as high as the day before with the Cove water level slightly over the lower part of the Barnacle Billy's dock and the ramp inclined up to the float attached to it. It rained all day, heavy at times. The wind made it worse. Seas were still ten feet. But, still, no higher. As I've said before, had this system been parked outside of us, it could have been so much worse. At sunset, wind had gusts over twenty knots while sustained winds were less. The visibility was good, at best. It never stopped raining while I was awake. The highest air temperature that I saw was 58°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 58°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 54°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 56°F (with a low of 54°F).
I spent my time checking the boat and working in both restaurants. As was true yesterday, the restaurants suffered for business. The rain all day made it hard for people to be outside. We did have people on the Marginal Way watching the surf. I left the restaurants before 7:00 PM.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 54°F, the sky was overcast, it was drizzling very light rain, the wind was light out of the north and the visibility over the ocean was good in haze and mist.
The wind blew up to, maybe, fifteen knots out of the north at daylight. By later morning, the wind had already dropped to about eight knots. There was no wind at noon. In fact, by 2:00 PM, you could have lit a candle and walked along the beach without it blowing out. The afternoon saw the ocean in front of Oarweek Cove a mirror of calmness. At that point, I wanted to kick myself in the ass for not taking the Bunny Clark out. But, on the other hand, I couldn't have left the float until 6:00 AM, waiting for others to pull the storm lines out of the way. And there wasn't a guarantee that that was going to happen. So gypped out of three trips in a row. The sky became partly cloudy but was overcast for most of the day. The visibility went from good to excellent before noon. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F, that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 64°F (with a low of 55°F).
I left shortly after 5:00 AM to bring Gill, our border collie, with the Bunny Clark truck to the Cove. At the same time I was looking at the Cove to see if there was any surge left. There was very little. In fact, there was so little that I took the bow storm lines that led from the bow of the BC to the shore and town floats off. I coiled the lines on the bow. I will leave them there through the day so they will dry out and weigh less when I carry them up to the truck and, later, the house. A couple of lobstermen were also taking storm lines off so they could get out fishing.
Regardless of the weather, there were only three lobster boats who sailed today. I spent my time in the morning getting the Bunny Clark ready to sail on Thursday. This was mostly my stuff. I did spend some time getting the windows cleaned both inside and out so I can see better when heading out on the first trip in nearly two weeks.
The rest of my day was spent at the restaurants. Nothing out of the ordinary happened except that I decided, probably wrongly, to walk Gill to the Cove to get the Bunny Clark truck after work. We had no problem until we got to Barnacle Billy's. After that, Gill had a problem, more of a problem with his right back leg. I thought I was going to have to carry him the rest of the way. He was limping more than normal for the rest of the night. Heart rending stuff.
The sky stayed overcast for most of the day. Partly cloudy skies arrived at 4:00 PM. It was nice to see the sun. The visibility was excellent all day. The wind, when there was some, was light and variable in direction. The ocean along the shore stayed calm all day. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 70°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 60°F (with a low of 56°F).
I spent a couple hours in the morning taking down storm lines, bringing them home and getting the Bunny Clark ready for tomorrow's fishing trip. The rest of the day I spent in the restaurants. Nothing exciting happened today except that Gill made it back home okay this morning after bringing the truck down to the Cove. He was limping less than he was last night.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 56°F, the sky was clear with a waning, almost half moon high overhead, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was very good in some haze and partial fog.
When I got up at 1:00 AM this morning, I looked outside to find Boon Island light but found thick fog instead. Ground fog, obviously, as the moon was shinning overhead in a nearly cloudless sky. There was less fog when I got to the dock with Gill in tow. Gill hunkered down at the head of the dock and watched as I got the boat ready to roll. There was no fog left when I lifted Gill back into the truck to go home and wait for Danny to grab the truck to take back down there.
When we poked our nose out between the gate we had haze but no fog. The air temperature had risen to 59°F and the sky was mostly cloudy. In fact, it was cloudy all the way to the fishing grounds. We saw the sun at sunrise as it appeared over the eastern horizon but it was quickly lost in the clouds after a sun's width. There was only a narrow band of clear ahead of us for most of the continuing ride. We carried a water temperature of 57°F all the way to our destination. The wind was light out of the south southwest. This turned into southwest with a third of the ride to go. Seas were about a foot in chops. The visibility for most of the ride was excellent.
On the fishing grounds, we had very light southwest wind. It might have been three knots at most. The ocean was flat with a wind ripple. The southwest wind increased all day, slowly, evenly. We had ten knots or more of southwest wind by the end of the trip. Seas increased to about two feet at most. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles. The tide (current) was strong all day. The sky cleared and was sunny almost all morning. After noon, the clouds rolled in for a period of overcast skies for the rest of the afternoon. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature was 77°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 79°F (with a low of 59°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 75°F (with a low of 54°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 72°F (with a low of 54°F).
The fishing was very good. If the tide hadn't been so strong, it would have been excellent. We had more tangles than normal because of it. Pollock also contributed to the tangles. The catching was excellent. Landings were excellent. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Too many pollock, really. Legal landings also included forty-seven haddock, eight cusk, three squid and twelve redfish. Released fish included two blue sharks, five small cod, four sub-legal haddock, three barndoor skates and fifty-eight small pollock. We didn't see a single dogfish. We anchored and drift fished. It didn't matter; the fishing was the same. Most of the haddock were caught on bait. Jigs and flies were best with the pollock.
Captain Jason Kenyon (NY) was probably high hook with the most legal fish (It could also have been Jason Ridolfi (NY). Reason being he (they) only got in one tangle all day. And like the other pros on the boat, he (they) had a fish a cast all day long. He (they) caught very few sub-legal fish. His biggest fish was a 10 pound pollock that he lost right next to the boat. I know it was 10 pounds because I weighed a smaller one a minute later to start the boat pool and that fish weighed 8 pounds.
Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 29.5 pound barndoor skate. This is the Bunny Clark's largest barndoor skate of the fishing season so far. It's also the Bunny Clark's sixth largest barndoor skate all time. It wasn't ten minutes later, Griff caught an 20 pound barndoor skate. This was the third largest fish of the trip. Griff has now caught three barndoor skates off the Bunny Clark. He too didn't get tangled which put him in high hook contention. His biggest pollock was 10 pounds. Jason Ridolfi (NY) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 21 pound barndoor skate. This is his second barndoor skate with us on the Bunny Clark. He tied for the largest pollock of the trip with a 12 pounder.
Interestingly enough, Jason hooked his barndoor skate at the same time that Griff hooked the bigger one. However, I was in the bow with Jason when he hooked his, completely oblivious to Griff who was fishing in the cockpit and had the bigger of the two barndoor skates. Griff was actually having a harder time bringing his fish to the surface because he was using a reel with a 5 to 1 retreive ratio. Captain Bryan Lewer had stopped fishing by then and was helping both Danny and I with the crush of pollock we were experiencing. Bryan was watching Griff. And I told Bryan; "If Griff get's tangled with Jason, cut his line." Of course, I thought that Jason had a halibut; both fish fight similarly until the halibut reveals itself by making that initial run to bottom. When I finally figured out what was going on, I could see Jason's fish and could also see that Griff was well clear of Jason and his line. Both anglers were not only fighting their respective "flat" fish, they were also fighting the massive tide we were experiencing. At any rate, I'm glad that I didn't order Griff's line to be cut, damn glad!
We have now caught eighty-four barndoor skates by recreational anglers in the fifty-one years that I have owned boats to take people deep sea fishing. The first one that I ever heard of being caught by rod and reel happened with Captain Ian Keniston on the Bunny Clark, October 4, 2008. The fish was caught by Rick Gelaznik (MA), a very good friend of Griff's. And I believe that Griff was there that day as well. At the time, I was envious of Ian seeing the first one! Griff's last skate gives us nine barndoors caught this season so far. Griff becomes one of three anglers who have caught more than one barndoor skate on the same trip. A few years ago Steve Selmer (NH) caught two, a male and a female. This year, Dave Burton (MA) caught three barndoor skates on one trip.
Other Angler Hightlights: Captain Bryan Lewer (ME) caught the first good sized haddock of the trip at 5.5 pounds. He wanted a couple of haddock for his grandfather. He did that, two, plus a couple of pollock. . Peter Wiese (NJ) caught the first pollock I could weigh for the boat pool at 8 pounds. His biggest haddock weighed 5 pounds. Ray Westermann (MA) caught a haddock double, both fish caught on the same line at the same time. Both haddock weighed 4 pounds. I took a picture of Ray with his fish just as he caught them. This digital image appears on the left. Fred Kunz (NH), also a high hook contender who never had a single tangle, caught a haddock that weighed 5.25 pounds. I took a picture of his fish. This digital image appears on the right. His two biggest pollock weighed 11 pounds and 11.5 pounds. Bruce Andersen (FL) boated a 6 pound haddock, the largest haddock of the trip, and a 5 pound haddock, his two "best" fish. He caught several pollock in the 8 plus pound size range.
Howard Smith (VT) caught a 5 pound haddock and lots of pollock. Nino Pierdipino (NY) caught the first good double of the day. His double included an 8.5 pound pollock and a 9 pound pollock. His biggest haddock weighed 5 pounds. Bill Kelson (MA) caught the biggest double of the day. It included a 7 pound pollock and a 12 pound pollock. Of course, the 12 pound pollock tied for the biggest pollock of the trip. Galen Rhode (VT) caught a 10 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Darlene Chin (FL) also caught a 10 pound pollock. I believe that was her largest fish of the trip as well. Captain Shawn Rosenberger (PA) should have been high hook today but for his many tangles. Oh, for want of a hard luck of the day award t-shirt! His largest fish was also a 10 pound pollock.
I received four donations today from anglers aboard, sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge. Those anglers and their contributions to the cause included Galen Rhode for $50.00, Jason Ridolfi for $50.00, Bruce Andersen for $50.00 and Bill Kelson for $50.00. Thank you all so very much for your help and support. Very thoughful of you and very much appreciated by me, those who do all the research work and those patients who may never know those who were so generous and kind.
The air temperature was 76°F at 10:00 AM when I stepped outside to go for a five mile run. It was also humid. I was not accustomed to running with it so warm. After every mile I considered walking but kept deciding against it. But it took me a while to recover. Even after a shower, my face was still red. It was a summer day in the fall today.
The wind blew out of the south all morning and most of the afternoon. Before sunset, the wind had backed out of the north. It blew out of the north at five or six knots at first but, then, petered out to nothing. The ocean along the shore was flat calm when there was still light enough to notice. The sky was clear for most of the morning with clouds moving in around noon. For most of the afternoon, it looked like it was going to rain. It actually did rain around 4:00 PM. But it was so light as to only be noticed partially on the roads. There was no wind with the rain clouds. The sky became mostly clear going into the night. The visibility was excellent but went to very good in some haze later in the day. The air temperature got as high as 83°F in Ogunquit, tempered by the southerly wind after noon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 87°F (with a low of 66°F). Incidentally, the record high for this date in Boston occurred in 1954. That high temperature was 88°F, a degree off from today. The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 60°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 83°F (with a low of 59°F).
I spent a lot of time on the website this morning. So much time that I could only do a run for exercise before going in to work. I would have walked with running intervals had I had more time. Running the whole route takes less time, more bang for the buck, so to say. Probably not as good for me and I could get injured. But it turned out okay. Of course, it's also the day, Friday, when I open up the restaurants. I was down in the Cove at 4:30 AM opening restaurants and doing my chores around there before walking Gill back home with me, after leaving the Bunny Clark truck in it's parking place. I worked on the website before I went to the Cove, for half hour while there and after getting back home. I almost thought I would have to finish it up tomorrow. But I managed to get it all day. It takes up more time when I have to do research on the fish we catch on a given trip.
The rest of the day was spent in the restaurants. I had lunch with Bob Cary and his wife, Janet, while there. Bob's father was my father's first accountant when he started Barnacle Billy's in 1961. Bob took over from his father and was also my accountant. He gave me advice on buying my first fishing boat, starting a fishing business and throughout my life until he retired a few years ago. A good personal friend of the family, it was wonderful to talk to him and Janet.
I worked through the day until I left to go home at 6:30 PM.
It was a beautiful fall day today, all day. The sky was clear with a bright sun, the visibility remained excellent all day and the air temperature, although cooler than most days, was just warm enough in the sun to be very pleasant in the garden patio at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. and warm on the deck at Billy's. The highest air temperature that I saw was 66°F. The wind started out from the north until later morning, when it hauled easterly. We had an east wind for most of the afternoon that hauled southeast at the end. A southerly wind rounded off the day after sunset. Most of the wind today was less than ten knots. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 67°F (with a low of 54°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 69°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 68°F (with a low of 47°F).
I didn't go near the Bunny Clark today. It was all restaurants for me today. I did have some desk work at home to clean up, in the morning. I ended up leaving the restaurants at 7:45 PM. Nothing extra special went on today in my world, except the weather. It was a typical warm October fall day. The garden patio at Etc. stayed active, even after sunset. But the cooler air temperature at night kept the business light after 7:00 PM. My brother, Court, used to call it the "insect theory".
This was the first day that our border collie, Gill, didn't show any interest in going to the Cove in the truck. After I came back from the Cove, he seemed disappointed that he didn't go. But I tried everything to get him to come with me. I even tried to lift his backside up off the floor. He is a very stubborn dog, though. I think he had regrets.
As the Iran war continues, and our involvement deepens, so does the increase in fuel prices. Today, the price is over double the price I paid for fuel last year. I thought it was high last year. I will continue to request a fuel surcharge of $20.00 per person for the more inshore trips but am going to have to increase it to $30.00 when I can go offshore further. I will make the determination on the day of the trip.. Hopefully, that will be the most I have to charge. I'm sorry I have to do this. And I hope you understand. Hopefully, these fuel prices will decrease sooner than later. Whatever it is, it will not keep me from going where I need to go to catch you the number of fish you like to bring home including a few big ones here and there.
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