Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Monday, October 13, 2025, 6:45 AM EDT
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Proposed cod & haddock regulations for the 2025 fishing season (May 1, 2025 thru April 30, 2026):
Note: These regulations still haven't been implimented for this season yet (as of September 7, 2025). So last years regulations are still in force, including an 18" haddock minimum size. But this also means that we will be able to keep a cod a person per trip for the months of September and October or until November.
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 63°F, the sky was overcast, the wind was blowing out of the west at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
When we left the lights of Perkins Cove behind, I expected some chops or wave action from eight knots of westerly wind that we had inside. In fact, we might have had three knots. We had light westerly, northwest and north winds on the way to the fishing grounds, in that order. I don't believe we ever saw more than five knots. The ocean was calm the whole way. The sky, although overcast to start, cleared as we progressed offshore.. The sky was clear upon arrival. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature got as high as 62°F.
On the fishing grounds, the wind was light and the ocean was calm for about fifteen minutes. After that, we had fifteen knots of north northeast wind that showed up streaking towards us with white caps. It might have blown harder in that initial thrust. But it settled at fifteen knots. Seas built to about three feet as the wind settled in out of the northeast. The tide gave us steeper chops at times. But the wind had no teeth. By noon, the northeast wind was about ten knots, less later when it hauled out of the east northeast. We carried an east wind with a two foot chop all the way home. The air temperature reached a high of 65°F. The visibility ranged to thirty miles plus. The tide (current) was moderate. The sky was clear with few clouds. The surface water temperature reached a high of 58.8°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 72°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 57°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 71°F (with a low of 50°F).
The fishing was fair to good. The sea state had several anglers sea sick all day, still others fell to the curse of the mal de mer at the half way mark, during the fishing. We had no blue sharks or dogfish. But the tangles were many to start. We had the tide opposing the wind and the boat was drifting obliquely to leeward, bow first. We could not sustain this drift. So I went on the sea anchor. This made the lines run to the bow. This method was a little easier to handle but we caught less fish. After two hours, the drift settled so we could go back to open drifting. For the rest of the trip the drift was fine but you still had to pay attention.
Ken Bowring (ME) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 20.5 pound steaker cod. It was almost the last fish landed for the trip. I stood beside him with the gaff saying; "I hope this is one fish.", thinking it might be a double pollock. I was surprised to see the cod! Officially, this is the Bunny Clark's largest cod of the fishing season so far. I say officially because we had a young man lose a cod of 25 pounds or more right next to the boat a couple days before the cod season started. We didn't want to kill it just to get a weight and, in the mix, the fish got off the hook and swam to bottom. I took a picture of Ken holding his steaker. This digital image appears on the left. The largest pollock of his that I weighed was 12 pounds. Emile Gallant (ME) won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the fourth largest fish, a 17 pound pollock. Greg White (MA) won the boat pool for third largest fish with the second largest fish, a 19 pound pollock. This was the first fish of the trip. He had a double that broke his jig off, the 19 pounder coming in on the fly above the jig. Greg only entered the pool for the third largest fish. I took a picture of Greg and said pollock. This digital image appears on the right. He also caught the third largest fish, a 17.25 pound pollock.
Other Angler Highlights: Paul Killmyer (ME) landed a 10 pound pollock and a 13.5 pound pollock. Kevin Viel (NH) might have caught a pollock over 10 pounds but the only one I weighed came out at 9.5 pounds. Buzz Leonard (ME) caught his first ever Maine state trophy cusk today. It weighed 12.5 pounds. It looked and felt bigger than that when I gaffed it. Some of Buzz's other fish included a double with an 11.25 pound pollock and an 11.25 cod, a 12.5 pound pollock and a 15 pound pollock. Kevin White (ME) landed a 10 pound pollock and two other pollock I didn't weigh that looked to be the same or a bit bigger. Chris Sullivan (VT) landed a double that included an 11.5 pound pollock and a 14 pound pollock. Darlene Chin (NH/FL) landed a double that included a 13 pound pollock and an 11.75 pound pollock. A good time was had by at least two thirds of the anglers aboard!
I received a nice $55.00 donation from Kevin White sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge. I haven't seen Kevin all year even though he lives in the area. It was nice to have him aboard today. Thanks, Kevin, I appreciate the support!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 49°F, the sky was crystal clear, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The day started off crisp and fall like. Although we have had colder mornings in September, this morning felt colder still. This maybe because it took a while to get light outside? The wind was blowing out of the northeast and it kept up all day. Wind gusts in the morning got up to twenty-five knots. But the wind was already tapering off by late morning. In the afternoon, the northeast wind dropped down to almost ten knots but, then, increased again to almost twenty knots by sunset or shortly afterward. The wind kept up and the bell buoy clanged all night. The visibility was excellent. The sky was clear with some clouds all day. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. But it was warmer than that in the shelter of the deck over Perkins Cove at Barnacle Billy's restaurant. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 63°F (with a low of 52°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 68°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 44°F).
I spent the morning putting up this new report, opening up the restaurant, pawing through the garbage with the collector, washing the street and getting everything ship shape for my son, Micah, who was going to take over at 9:00 AM. After a shower, I worked in the restaurant, talking to patrons at tables and working in the office.
At 2:30 PM, I took off with Deb and my sister, Meg, to watch Meg's grandson, Landon Mitchell, in an Amsbury, Massachusetts cross country meet. Landon is a sophomore in high school. They ran against Ipswich. Landon came in forth. Landon is in better shape than all the runners he competes with. However, he isn't in running shape. He's into cycling, Lacrosse and a variety of other sports and athletic activities. If he stuck to running, he would be the best. His form in terrific. Anyway, I relived my cross country running episodes in his race; the feelings, the anguish and the great joy that I got out of running. It was a wonderful event in a perfect place to run with rolling grassy hills on a beautiful day.
I didn't go back to work after that. I'm tired after yesterday's "beat up". I work at the restaurant all day tomorrow anyway.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 47°F, the sky was crystal clear, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at twenty knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
It seemed cooler than it has been all morning. I didn't see the air temperature dip any lower but it seemed to stay at this lower level for longer. It never really got very warm with only 61°F as the highest air temperature that I observed. The wind blew out of the north northeast all morning. Wind speeds started around twenty knots. Seas in chops didn't seem that large along the shore. Although, it seemed choppy. By 9:00 AM, the wind had backed off to fifteen and seventeen knots. At noon, we had ten knots of north northeast wind. The wind had hauled out of the southeast by late afternoon with wind speeds less than ten knots. Seas on the fishing grounds (the Portland lightship buoy) were four feet every six seconds which wasn't bad but hard to head into on a fishing trip. This was around departure time, had we departed. Of course, on the grounds, these might have been bigger with the tide. The sky was clear all day. The visibility remained excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 59°F (with a low of 47°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 40°F).
Today was one of those days where it would have been hard to get to the fishing grounds. But, once there, was very sustainable with improving weather all day long. I was happy about staying ashore in the early morning and disappointed we didn't sail during the later part of the morning. But I'm also fighting some chest thing. So this break came at a time when I could get more rest.
I've been opening early at the restaurants as our number one "night man" has been out after a surgery and is recovering. I have a series of tasks along with restaurant deliveries that have to be completed to prepare for the employees arriving later in the morning. Also, there are general setup procedures.
The rest of the day was just the normal restaurant routine.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 46°F, the sky was crystal clear, the wind was blowing out of the west at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The wind blew out of the west, ten knots at most, and, then, southwest. It backed into the south around noon and blew up to ten knots, maybe. It wasn't much. The sky stayed clear all day. The visibility remained excellent. The air temperature rose to a value of 75°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 74°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 78°F (with a low of 33°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 70°F (with a low of 40°F).
I spent my morning as normal, posting this missive and opening Barnacle Billy's, including setting up. Friday is my day to get things ready, which I did.
The rest of the day was routine, very much a regular Friday at the restaurants.
Today was certainly, what my father would have called, a "111". The wind was light out of the northwest, petered out to nothing leaving the ocean glass calm and then hauling out of the south at light speeds for the rest of the day. The sky was clear all day. The visibility was excellent. But the air temperature was the weather's salient feature. It got up to 82°F at one point today. It could have been higher but that's what I saw. It was t-shirt weather all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 79°F (with a low of 58°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature of 84°F in Concord this day ties the record high temperature for this date of 84°F that was first set in 1931 and tied again in 2023. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 80°F (with a low of 46°F).
I did nothing with the boat today. Although, Danny DellaMonica was on the Bunny Clark this afternoon putting bait and ice aboard for Monday's trip.
I opened up the restaurants again at 4:45 AM this morning. We had some early deliveries and we two employees coming in to make the clam chowder. It was going to be a busy day and we were getting ready for it.
It was a busy day in town today. It was like a summer day in all aspects except that we didn't have the humidity normally associated with 80°F air temperatures. It was a wonderful day and everyone was happy today, particularly the patrons who I talked to during the business.
For most of the morning, the ocean was so calm that it looked like light blue glass from the shore. Later, probably around noon, the wind blew lightly out of the south. I don't believe the wind ever blew hard enough to lift a flag. The air temperature got up to 80°F in the Portsmouth area. But I never saw anything more than 77°F in Perkins Cove. Maybe I didn't look at the right time but it never felt like 80°F. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The visibility was excellent all day as well. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 75°F (with a low of 60°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 84°F (with a low of 46°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 79°F (with a low of 50°F).
As I have done, I was opening the restaurants before 5:00 AM. I worked down in the Cove for most of the morning. I also worked on the engine of the Bunny Clark, warming her up, checking systems and checking the sacrificial anodes (zincs) for wear. After regrouping at home, I was back down at the Cove at noon.
It was a beautiful day but it wasn't a busy day like it was yesterday. It was more relaxed. I was back home again at 5:30 PM. Gill (our border collie) and I walked back down to the Cove to get the Bunny Clark truck and say hello to the girls in takeout.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 61°F, the sky was clear with a full moon setting just over the trees in the west, the wind was light out of the southwest and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
As soon as we poked our nose through the gate, we found light southwest wind. You couldn't feel it in the Cove as it was low tide and the wind wasn't blowing hard enough in the lee of the land. We carried light southwest wind all the way to the fishing grounds. Seas were chops of a foot. The air temperature hung at 62°F for the ride. The visibility was excellent. The sky was cloudless. The surface water temperature stayed at 58°F.
On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest all day. Wind speeds got up as high as twelve knots. Seas were about two feet, more or less. The air temperature reached a high of 66°F. The sky was cloudless. The visibility was very good or about twenty miles in some haze. The tide (current) was moderate to light. The tide was into the wind for most of the morning. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 83°F. My son, Micah, said that it was hot ashore, humid, I assume. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 84°F (with a low of 61°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 55°F). The high air temperature of 86°F in Concord this day breaks the record high temperature for this date of 84°F that was first set in 1946 and tied again in 1990. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 86°F (with a low of 52°F). The high air temperature of 86°F in Portland today breaks the record high temperature for this date of 84°F that was first set in 1946 and tied again in 1947.
The fishing was excellent. We had no problem tending the bottom, there were no dogfish, blue sharks were only one that bothered and the sea state and weather were great. The catching was good. Landings were good. Most legal fish landed were pollock. These pollock were mostly small keeper size, around 3 pounds. Legal landings also included two cod, ten cusk, six haddock, thirty-nine redfish, a whiting, eighteen mackerel and a cunner. Released fish included ten sub-legal cod, eight sub-legal haddock, twenty-two small pollock, seven small redfish and one blue shark with jewelry. We drift fished and anchored. Everyone used jigs and cod flies.
I couldn't tell you who was high hook with the most legal fish. Danny said that it was between Effrum Morrill and Fabian Corriveau. But Fabian had bigger fish overall so the fillet bags were bigger. Fabian won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 10 pound pollock. He also caught a 6 pound pollock, a few other pollock, several redfish and two legal haddock. Effrum boated the second largest fish, an 8 pound cusk. His largest pollock weighed 6.75 pounds. Gage Mowatt caught the third largest fish, a 7 pound cod. Gage's largest pollock weighed 6.5 pounds.
Other Angler Highlights: Dustin Morrill fished in the bow with Fabian. He too caught two legal haddock, a number of legal pollock and his share of the redfish. His largest fish was a 6.5 pound pollock. René Chabe caught the best double of the day. Her catch included a 6.25 pound pollock and a 5 pound pollock, both fish on the same line at the same time. Andrew Morrill caught the largest redfish of the day, just shy of a trophy in size at 1.75 pounds. He never caught anything, beside the redfish, to weigh but he was in the running for high hook.
At 2:45 AM EDT the air temperature was 63°F, the sky was clear with a full moon setting higher in the western sky, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The wind was already blowing out of the southwest at fifteen knots by the time we reached the bell buoy three quarters of a mile from the entrance of Perkins Cove We carried southwest winds of about fifteen knots all the way to the fishing grounds. Seas were three to four feet in chops. The sky was clear the whole way out, the setting full moon behind us lighting most of the way. The air temperature hung around 61°F for the full ride. The visibility was excellent. .
On the fishing grounds, the wind remained out of the southwest for most of the morning. However, the wind increased and the seas increased. Wind speeds increased to twenty knots plus. Seas increased to six feet, more or less, in chops, no doubt influenced by the tide. The wind backed more out of the south, giving us south southwest winds, during the later morning. It brought a light fog and overcast skies. For the longest time it looked like it was going to rain. But, it didn't. The wind and the seas were the strongest and biggest at this time. The wind hauled back out of the southwest at noon and the skies cleared. We had clear skies for the rest of the day and the ride home. The air temperature reached a high of 64°F. The tide (current) was moderate and, mostly, into the wind. The visibility ranged to twenty-five miles, down to one and three miles in fog and then to sixteen miles. The surface water temperature reached a high of 59°F.
Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 82°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 81°F (with a low of 62°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 85°F (with a low of 50°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 75°F (with a low of 58°F).
The fishing was challenging at best or fair to good, in relative terms. We drift fished all day. The chops were short and big and, at times, ended up in angler's laps. Plus, you had to be careful how you let your line out, unless you were casting to leeward. We only had a couple of anglers seasoned enough and in the right spot on the boat to cast. The catching was excellent as were the landings. This was our best trip of the year for poundage per hour of fishing. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far. Legal landings also included nine cod, twenty-seven haddock, forty-two cusk, three whiting and eleven mackerel. Released fish included twenty-one small cod, twenty-five sub-legal haddock, seventeen small pollock and two blue sharks with jewelry. Everyone used jigs and cod flies.
Shawn "Mr. Doubles" Rosenberger (PA) was high hook with the most legal fish. He caught the most pollock, by far, and the most legal haddock with a count of six. He won the boat pool for the second and third largest fish with the third largest fish, two pollock of 15.25 pounds each. He caught the most doubles of the day, the largest haddock at 4.25 pounds and another pollock that I weighed of 14.5 pounds. I took a picture of Shawn holding up a double haddock. This digital image appears on the left. The haddock in Shawn's left hand was sub-legal. Justin Brown (NY) tied with Shawn with another 15.25 pound pollock. Justin was not in the boat pool. Justin also caught a 15 pound pollock. Roman Michalko (NY) caught the largest fish of the trip, an 18.5 pound pollock. This fish ties the sixth largest pollock of the fishing season to date. Roman was not in the boat pool. One of the first fish that Roman caught today was a 10 pound pollock. Fred Kunz (NH) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the second largest fish, a 16.25 pound pollock. Fred was second hook. Some of his other fish included an 8 pound cod (he released a 7 pound cod) and an early pollock of his that weighed 10.25 pounds. Fred caught four legal haddock and three legal cod. He only kept the one cod, of course. Every angler caught pollock of 10 pounds or more.
Other Angler Highlights: Nick Kirychuk (CT) caught a 13.5 pound pollock, an 11.5 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound pollock that I weighed for him. Phil "Buddy" Hocter (NH) landed the largest cusk at 8.5 pounds. Ivan Beaulieu (ME) caught a 10 pound pollock. Raymond Charles (ME) caught a 12 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Klajdi Isaku (Albania) boated a 10.25 pound pollock, his largest fish. This is the first fish that he has ever caught. He works for me at Barnacle Billy's. I had invited him on other trips but he decided to attend the longest and roughest trip of the year to date! He had a lot of fun. Garrett Benedict (NY) caught a 10.5 pound pollock. David Hunt (NY) caught several good sized pollock. The only one I weighed was 10 pounds. Bill Harding (ME) caught the largest cod. It weighed 14 pounds. His largest pollock weighed 13.75 pounds. Mike Altomer (NY) boated a 14.25 pound pollock, his best fish. Rich Martin (NY) landed a 13.5 pound pollock.
A good day was had by most. Some were sea sick.
I received two donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Raymond Charles donated $50.00 while Fred Kunz donated another $30.00 to the growing list this season's donations. Thank you both so very much for your thoughtfulness and support. Very much appreciated!!
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 66°F, the sky was a thin overcast with the lume of a full moon barely visible behind the clouds, the wind was blowing out of the south southwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
It started to rain shortly after 5:00 AM. It poured at times but was showing signs of slowing down at 9:00 AM. The rain was all over for the day by 10:00 AM. The sky remained overcast for the rest of the morning, clearing after noon. The sky stayed clear for the rest of the day with clouds here and there. The wind blew out of the south at ten knots until about 8:00 AM (twenty knots offshore). It came northeast around 10:00 AM. Wind speeds of fifteen knots. This backed off when it blew out of the north at ten to fifteen knots. Offshore, the win blew up to thirty knots - the Portland Lightship buoy. It continued to blow twenty to twenty-five knots until later in the afternoon. Along the shore, the wind continued to blow out of the north at ten or more knots until sunset. The visibility was excellent except in the rain. The air temperature almost made the 70°F mark but fell after that and kept dropping. I believe that it was around 8:00 AM that I saw 69°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 70°F (with a low of 53°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 69°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 48°F).
I opened the restaurants as I have been doing, lately. I finished this report early but I had more work to do in the Cove before posting this at 8:00 AM.
At 9:00 AM, Power Products, out of Portland, showed up with Cody and Jim, Cody the main road tech and Jim, his trainee. I had made this reservation three weeks ago to do the normal end of the year engine tune up, coolant change and injector height analysis. This year I also wanted to look at the fresh water pump and change out the thermostat. I had a problem with the fresh water pump going bad in 2020, the bearing going and the impeller actually wearing out the casting, opening up a hole in the outside and losing the coolant. I guess this is a flaw in the engine as we discovered that it was happening again upon inspecting the pump today. I had a spare fresh water pump after I had to get towed in 2020 with coolant all over the engine room. So Cody and Jim put my spare pump in today. I'm glad I had it checked but it extended the work on the engine for another three hours. We also completed a few other things I needed to do. Sea trials started after 5:00 PM. So this was a whole day affair. Most of the time I was working in the restaurant as they were working on the engine. I checked in from time to time and, of course, ran the boat through sea trials.
In the meantime, I had to make a decision on whether to run tomorrow's trip. After checking a few factors, the weather, anglers and Phil Eastman, I decided to bag the trip for tomorrow.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 43°F, the sky was crystal clear with a waning previous full moon high over head on the tilt to the western horizon, the wind was blowing out of the north at fifteen knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The sky stayed clear and the visibility was excellent all day. The wind offshore would not have been great and it would have been a tough ride home afterward. Some of the anglers who would have been on the boat today (Rick Gurney being one) would have remembered coming home in a similar blow where I couldn't have anyone in the forecastle (cabin) for the pounding coming home. I was just as happy to be ashore today. The air temperature was cool today with a high reading of only 57°F, that I saw. The wind, ashore, blew out of the northwest at fifteen to twenty knots with some higher gusts, hauling out of the northeast at the end of the day along the shore. Offshore, the wind blew up to twenty-seven knots; not too dissimilar to Tuesday's weather with the wind from a different direction. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 57°F (with a low of 46°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 30°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 36°F).
I spent no time on the Bunny Clark today. I did spend some time with our harbormaster today. I wanted him to dive on the Bunny Clark so I could figure out the status of the propeller, shaft, shaft nuts, to see if I had anything (like fishing line) in the wheel and to note any electrolysis that might be happening that I wasn't aware of. I also wanted him to check out the mooring in the Cove that I haven't used this season yet. We have an impending Nor'easter coming starting on Sunday. I do not want to be tied to the float with potential fifty knots of wind with the associated swells during that kind of weather event. Anyway, Erin Gott, our harbormaster, checked all this out for me and even gave me an underwater video of the propeller, shaft and nuts so I could see this for myself.
As I was just about to go to work today, after opening the restaurant and all the associated items that go with it, Deb was upset that our two year old cat, Tiller, a Maine Coon mix, wasn't getting better. She wanted me to go with her to the veterinary emergency hospital in Portsmouth to find out what was wrong with Tiller. So I called my managers and drove off with Deb, Tiller and me, dressed in full Barnacle Billy's regalia. Turns out it seemed to them that it was an UTI. So they gave the cat a shot of antibiotics and a steroid to take down the swelling and relieve the pain in that area. After paying over $500, we were free to go. I must say, the cat hardly made a peep on the way back home. On the way down, Tiller was moaning so much I unzipped one end of the carrier (in my lap) so her head could poke out and I could settle her down a bit. It did work for a little while. Then she tried to get out. And I had a heck of a time trying to get her back in. The cat weighs 30 pounds or more. I did the same thing on the way back without much resistance at all.
Aside from watching a "friendly" football game between England and Wales, I spent the rest of my time in the restaurants.
On this day in 1978 we had snow, the earliest snowfall I can remember. It was 28°F when I went lobstering that day. I ended up turing around as the water temperature change from the air made some of the lobsters shoot their claws, a defensive mechanism, and I wasn't ready for the cold weather yet.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 37°F, the sky was crystal clear with a waning moon directly overhead, there were whisps of clouds in places, there was barely enough northwest wind to write about, the ocean was flat calm along the shore (as I walked our border collie (Gill) back from Perkins Cove and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
The air temperature seemed cold all day to me. It dropped to 35°F in the Cove before rising. The high might have been 60°F today, as I heard that it was in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but I never saw the air temperature go past 57°F. There wasn't much wind in the morning. The ocean along the coast stayed calm. After noon, the wind blew out of the south. We might have had eight knots around 1:00 PM that increased to fifteen knots in the afternoon. This seemed to keep the air temperature down in Perkins Cove. I checked the closest weather buoy after sunset and saw that wind speeds were twenty knots with some higher gusts out of the south. The visibility was excellent. The sky was sunny with few clouds all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 61°F (with a low of 41°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 62°F (with a low of 26°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 31°F).
I opened Barnacle Billy's again this morning. I also spent some time on the Bunny Clark, cleaning around the engine, checking the engine out after maintenance day and running her for a while to get the coolant temperature up. She needed about a gallon of coolant, which I expected after I had left the engine for a day without starting it. Tomorrow, I will put the Bunny Clark on a mooring before we start seeing the easterly wind tomorrow.
I spent extra time at the restaurant this morning. The garbage truck came late at a time when I usually go home. So I stayed to rake the trash. As a result, I didn't post yesterday's missive until late morning. I usually also jump on the fluid trainer before taking a shower. That didn't happen either. The business at the restaurant was steady but it became busy after 6:00 PM. Although it did seem cold out, the weather was nice and was good for business.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 45°F, the sky was filled with stars and an, almost, half moon directly overhead, the wind was out of the west at eight knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.
Today was an excellent weather day. The air temperature warmed up to 65°F. It could have been higher as I didn't pay attention to the thermometer during, probably, the warmest part of the day. The visibility was excellent. The wind blew lightly out of the west to start. By noon, there was no wind. The ocean along the shore was flat calm. The afternoon saw increasing winds from the south. This dropped the air temperature down later in the afternoon. Wind speeds increased to over fifteen knots. The wind backed off in velocity by sunset. The wind was southerly at eight knots when I went to bed. It was sunny all day with few clouds. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 52°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 68°F (with a low of 30°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 37°F).
I opened up the restaurants, walked Gill home and got to work on posting this update. Soon after, I was down lighting the lobster cooker tanks, pawing through the garbage with Nick and his garbage truck, washing the streets down, etc., etc. I got home at 9:00 AM or a little before.
At some point in the early part of the morning, I started the engine on the Bunny Clark, checking all systems again after the engine work on the 8th and warming the engine up. After noon, Grant Hubbard and I moved the Bunny Clark off the float to pick up two moorings in preparation for the impending nor'easter expected starting tomorrow. The wind is expected to be out of the east as soon as I get up tomorrow at 3:00 AM. After it gets light, I will be running storm lines off the Bunny Clark to the adjacent boats around me to prepare for the surge we normally get in the Cove with strong winds and high seas.
I had a short meeting with the managers today to tell them to expect changes in opening or closing early if the storm gets too severe. Northeast wind rises the level of the high tide and prevents the tide from getting to it's maximum low. So we could experience flooding in the dining room at Barnacle Billy's, Original. I just wanted them to be thinking about what we could be doing and how to best prepare for it. You can't assume that everyone is on the same page. Communication. Right?
It was a very busy day at both restaurants. I stayed later than I normally do because of it.
At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 50°F, the sky seemed overcast, the wind was northeast at twelve knots and the visibility over the ocean was poor in thick fog.
The fog didn't last for but an hour after 5:00 AM. This was probably because the wind hadn't ramped up yet. By 6:00 AM, we had northeast winds of fifteen knots. The wind, of course, increased in strength as the day progressed. By noon, the wind was northeast at a steady twenty knots, blowing across the parking lot in Perkins Cove with the flags straight out. Around the time of high tide or about 4:00 PM, we had splash-over in the Barnacle Billy's parking lot. It was enough that Hunter, our valet there, had to move cars a few rows closer to the road. This splash over lasted about an hour or an hour and a half. The wind steadily increased to about twenty-five knots. We surely had gusts to thirty knots in the late afternoon. But it wasn't crazy windy like it could have been. The sky was mostly cloudy in the morning. Blue sky was noted toward the western part of the visible area over head. This diminished and the morning moved on. Still, there were cracks in the clouds and had light in places. I'm not sure if you could really call it overcast although we never saw blue sky patches after 9:00 AM. It didn't rain all day. I was surprised at this after looking at the early morning radar with the rain south of us. All through the night we did not have rain. The air temperature got up to 57°F. It might have risen higher but I never saw that. The visibility over the ocean was excellent in the morning after the fog disappeared. It was at least very good for the rest of the day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 58°F (with a low of 52°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 58°F (with a low of 37°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 43°F).
It was very helpful that we didn't have rain today, at any time during the day. It was windy in the Cove but not so windy that we couldn't get storm lines out to get ready in case the surge got really bad. With the help of the assistant harbormaster, I ran storm lines from the stern of the Bunny Clark ashore and a bow line to the closest boat ahead of the Bunny Clark. I had already secured two mooring lines, fore and aft, to the Bunny Clark. This gave me extra protection but it also kept the boat more central so that there was less of a chance of bumping into adjacent boats. I put out fenders anyway on the starboard side, the side closest to the nearest vessel.
The weather prevented us from having the busy day I would have expected with good weather. But the business wasn't bad. With no rain, we did better in this nor'easter than we should have done. The fire places were on in both buildings, blazing away. They were much appreciated. Also, the air temperature was milder than I would have expected with a northeast blow. Temperatures this time of year could have been in the low 40°s.
I overslept this morning and got up at 3:30 AM. I didn't set an alarm as I always wake up at 3:00 AM. I had planned to be down at the Cove by 3:30 AM, as the tide was high at 4:40 AM. I wanted to make sure that there wasn't too much splash-over in the valet lot. I also wanted to make sure that I didn't have to pull the hatches out in the dining room to let the sea water in. To my pleasant surprise, the Cove water didn't even come over the lower part of the dock leading to the float where the Bunny Clark normally resides. This meant that it was three feet or so from getting into the dining room. There was also zero spash-over at the Billy's parking lot. I waited in the restaurant until nearly 5:30 AM, when the threat of flooding was clearly over. I was also surprised that we had so little rain during this weather event. I expect it to be pouring rain at some time today. But you never know. More later.
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