Bunny Clark Fishing Update
Written & Edited by Tim Tower
Monday, January 20, 2025, 7:30 AM EST
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As you might know by now, in the above paragraph, I am referencing the passing of Captain Ian Keniston who died in his sleep sometime during the early hours of the morning on a full moon. I didn't find out about it until 7:45 AM EST or 8:45 AM where we were. Jared Keniston called me while I was in an SUV on the island with one of my two phones that don't get a signal down where I was. I had the phone with me because it took better pictures. I didn't expect to get any calls, never mind a call from Jared. I have never received a call away from WiFi on that island on that phone. Even after the call I wondered if I heard right. Was I dreaming? Did this really happen?
Back at the cottage, where I had WiFi, I called Ian's wife, Sonya, who, at that time, was sitting beside Ian on the floor where he had been pronounced moments earlier. She was sitting with him until the next phase was to take place. She had placed a pillow under his head. Both of us were too distraught to make any sense out of what had happened. It was such a hard phone call. I felt so sorry for her and I felt sorry for myself. I will never be able to describe that feeling. I'm certainly not going to try here.
Ian started working on boats when he was fourteen years old, in the Portland area. He also worked on them for fourteen years there. When I first met him he was a deck hand on the Indian II out of Portland Harbor. The crew of the Indian II finished their party boat fishing season earlier than I did in the '90s. So they would all come out fishing on the Bunny Clark with me after their season was over. I would make a big deal out of it and take them places that had some great fish, mostly big fish. It might have been the second or third trip where Ian had been an angler on the boat, the last being in the middle of the season. It was probably not with the Indian II crew. But, honestly, I can't remember. After the trip I talked to Ian; "If you ever want to really get serious about working on a party boat, I would hire you in an instant." I believe that it was about a week later when I got the call asking if the offer was still on the table. He started working for me during the middle of our season in 1998.
[On the left is a picture of Captain Ian Keniston taken on November 16, 2004 during his bachelor party, I gave him, in the quest to get his largest cod and, hopefully, his first cod over 50 pounds. The cod in the picture was a 41.5 pound Maine state trophy cod that he caught early in the trip, his largest cod ever. A few hours later, he would land his first cod over 50 pounds, a 52 pound Maine state trophy. These were the two largest fish of the trip that day. ]
Ian was the best part of the Bunny Clark for me. His interest, his knowledge and his involvement increased with every year. He worked year round for me. At first he helped me to get the Bunny Clark ready for the following season and as a deck hand during the season. A couple of years after that, he was "the" person I relied upon to paint the boat and get it ready for the season under the tutelage of David Pease, the individual who finished the boat off when I brought the hull to his barn in 1982. Ian went on to rebuild all the rods & reels, establish our fishing dates with me, design our trips, improve our trips and make the Bunny Clark a better place to be if you wanted to catch fish. It didn't take but a few years before he went from deck hand to captain. He became my best captain and my best competition. Although, I never got the impression that competing was much on his mind.
Ian's mind set became the same mind set I had. Or maybe it was already that way. We stuck with every new fishing regulation to the letter of the law. We had similar ideas about where the fishery was going, what should be done, what definitely wasn't being done, how we were going to approach every new fishing season and how long each season should be. In the end, I was able to be with my kids more because of Ian. I was able to take vacations. I could get something done with a phone call. And he would lead other deck hands into being good deck hands.
Ian ran my business like it was his business. I can't remember any one time where he did something that I didn't feel was right. His aim was more on getting fish for all his customers and making sure they enjoyed the time while there. Where I liked to see the Bunny Clark sail every trip that was possible he always seemed more concerned about angler welfare. He would shy away from trips where he thought that people would hate it. He was also very concerned about what I thought about taking a trip. I always told him; "You are the captain; Whatever you say and do I will back you on." The really nice thing was that if I couldn't make a trip where I was the scheduled captain, anglers were just as happy having Ian as the captain. I can't tell you how good that is or how good that made me feel. He was like another me, only better. I have always felt that he was the best captain on the New England coast. Of course, his captaincy was specific to groundfishing. So I suppose that statement could be qualified. But he was everything I wanted on the Bunny Clark.
And he made it so easy for me to run the Barnacle Billy's restaurants and allow me to captain the trips I captained. Him being there allowed me to free up my mind to get the most out of a fishing trip and, thus, give my patrons a better trip for it. I knew that the boat would always be ready to go for me. And I made sure all was okay when it was his turn on the boat. During the summer months, he worked six days a week while I did the one trip a week. In the spring and the fall, I did two trips a week. It worked out great. It was paradise for me.
[On the right is a digital image I took of Captain Ian Keniston on June 25, 2024. He is holding a 16.5 pound cod which he caught as an angling passenger on an offshore trip with me that day. At the time, that was the Bunny Clark's largest cod of the fishing season.]
Our customers loved Ian. And who wouldn't? He was an excellent fisherman. A fisherman's fisherman. I remember him as an angler on the boat when I was running the trip one day. The record number of haddock for an angler on the Bunny Clark was forty-nine fish at that time. He was up well over forty but wouldn't count them because he didn't want the attention called to him. A humble guy, he had well over fifty haddock that day but I couldn't officially say that because he wouldn't keep a count.
God, I miss Ian. Forget what he did for me on the boat. To think that I won't be able to call, text or see him is unfathomable. And I guess that leads me to what the future will bring. I just don't know. I have been so conflicted as to the future of the Bunny Clark. I don't like to make rash decisions. So I'm going to go through the Christmas/New Year holiday and make a decision after January 1. There will be no replacing him. But will I be able to do it without him? Do I want to do it without him? Those are good questions. They are questions where I will need Deb's help to answer.
There will be a celebration of Ian Keniston's life at Litchfield's restaurant in Wells, Maine on Saturday, December 28th at 2:00 PM. I understand that everyone will be welcome. I have not been informed about where to send flowers or, indeed, if any charities have been set up where Ian would rather you spend your money. It was so sudden and so much of a surprise, I'm not sure how prepared the family is in this matter or how concerning that part of the equation is to them. I know Ian wouldn't care. I don't know how much this matters. I know that everyone would want to do something to give back. Ian Keniston was fifty-four years old.
When Deb and I were in the air, well before landing at JFK Airport in New York City on December 21, at 7:00 PM, the Christmas Shop (Uniques & Antiques) was aflame. How the fire started we don't know at this time. The establishment is right across the street from Barnacle Billy's restaurants and adjacent to the Oarweed Restaurant. It wasn't until near 7:30 PM before the fire trucks could make it on scene. All the local fire departments took part including York, York Beach, South Berwick and Wells. Of course, Ogunquit Fire Department was there first. The Oarweed restaurant caught fire shortly after the fire started. But, probably due to the wind, only a third of the building was burned? Maybe half? Regardless, they had water damage throughout but most of the northern dining room wasn't touched and very little of the ocean side dining room was burned. The kitchen was totaled. Uniques & Antiques was totaled.
When we landed in JFK, my phone exploded with texts and calls after taking it off airplane mode. Although glowing cinders flew over the top and on Barnacle Billy's (original), that building didn't catch fire. The wind was out of the north northwest which probably saved part of the Oarweed and certainly prevented Barnacle Billy's from catching fire.
These events have saddened me greatly. I have reached out to the owners of the Oarweed to tell them that the team at Barnacle Billy's will help in any way if they would like us to be involved. We certainly were not the only ones to offer, I am sure.
I received a few significant donations toward my fundraising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge while I was away. I will write about that tomorrow.
The wind dropped all morning. By mid morning there was barely any wind at all. The ocean along the shore was calm. By noon, the wind was light out of the southwest. By sunset, the southwest wind had increased to over fifteen knots. There was twenty knots of southwest wind by the time I went to bed. The sky was clear for most of the morning, hazy closer to noon and overcast in the afternoon. The air temperature stayed in the low teens for most of the morning, reaching the 20°F mark before noon. The highest air temperature that I saw during the day was 25°F. But that was late in the afternoon. Nine degrees is the lowest air temperature we have seen February. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 26°F (with a low of 10°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 23°F (with a low of -3°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 25°F (with a low of 5°F).
My whole day centered around Captain Ian Keniston and working on the Guestletter. I spent a total of almost ten hours at my desk here. I had a short lunch break and worked straight through until 6:30 PM. Ian's daughter, Deanna, had asked us to find digital images of Ian that she could use in a slide show during his celebration of life. It took me nearly five hours to go through the thousands of images that have been taken for Bunny Clark Deep Sea Fishing. The problem is that about ninety-nine percent of the images are pictures of our customers and shots around Ogunquit in the winter. I managed to get sixty-nine images of Ian, some not of Ian but ones he took that he liked, a couple videos with Ian as a deck hand during rough weather and a couple of shots that Ian and I got a huge laugh over. That's twenty-seven years of digital images. And all the time I kept thinking; "Ian would hate that I am making such a fuss over digging up pictures of him!" I also know that Ian would hate to be alive to witness a celebration of life for him. However, I know that he would appreciate the love of so many admirers. But I can tell you that I am looking forward to seeing all the people who meant so much to Ian's fishing life as they meant so very much to me as well. It's been a tough week plus. It really has.
While I was away I received several donations sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge. The donors and donations were as follows: I received a generous $100.00 from Marc & Claire St. Onge (ME), I received a very generous $1,500.00 from Connie Griffin & Mike Harris (ME), $100.00 from Rebecca & Don Stedman (TN), this donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site with the message; "Tim, thanks for all you do in this important fight against cancer. Our brother, Jim, was taken far too early and we miss him dearly every day [I know what she means!]. We hope you and your family have a Merry Xmas! - Rebecca" and $75.00 from Deb LaPerche (MA), also in the form of an "eGift" with the note: "In loving memory of Bunny & Billy." All these individuals have been supporting this cancer project through me for many years, all of them since I started in 2007! Thank you all so very much for the help you give me and others to fight cancer. It will certainly be a better world with your help.
The day looked like it was going to be miserable. It started to rain around 8:00 AM. It might have been about fifteen minutes later that it turned to snow. It might have snowed for an hour. It seemed like it was going to last forever. Fine snow. So accumulation wasn't much; maybe a little more than an inch? By 10:00 AM, or maybe a bit later, the sky started to clear. By noon we had sunny skies with a few clouds. The sky remained sunny for the rest of the day. I never did look at the thermometer much, except in the morning. It never got above the freezing mark before noon. The wind blew strongly out of the southwest for most of the morning. Wind speeds were up almost thirty knots at times. By noon, the wind had backed out of the west with speeds approaching twenty knots. By early afternoon, the wind became established out of the north. The northerly wind was light until after sunset. By the time I went to bed, it was blowing at twenty to twenty-five knots. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 35°F (with a low of 24°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 33°F (with a low of 14°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 31°F (with a low of 20°F).
I spent the day running around working on my health. This was the last day that I could have blood work done before my physical on Friday. So I had to fast starting at 7:00 PM last night. By the time I was done with my core workout (an hour or more every morning - for my back) and posting this missive, I was on the road to Portsmouth to the Path Lab. From there I went home via Dunkin Donuts. I started having tooth pain the day Ian passed. By Monday afternoon, it was unbearable. So I met my dentist at 10:00 AM today. One of my crowned teeth was dying. So I had to make appointments for root canal work, get penicillin at the pharmacy (that took a half hour of waiting) and change things around on the calendar. The root canal has to be done somewhere else. And do you think I could get this appointment done quickly? Nope. An hour on the phone. Just one of those days. By the time I was finished, it was 2:00 PM and I hadn't eaten lunch. By 3:00 PM, I was down at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. working in the office. I gave up on the day at 4:00 PM and just watched a movie on TV. I was done. I just had to try to get my mind on something else, to no avail, I might add.
I secured some lobsters for Christmas from Mike Parenteau, a good friend and lobsterman out of Perkins Cove. He put them in a crate in the Cove. I left them overnight. Hopefully they will still be there in the morning or I am in big trouble.
Another cold morning turned into another day of below freezing air temperatures. The highest air temperature that I saw was 28°F around noon. But it was probably a degree or two more than that later in the afternoon. The sky was mostly sunny all day. The visibility was excellent. The little snow we had the other day remained at less than an inch most everywhere. The wind blew out of the north at speeds over twenty knots at times in the morning, backing off after noon. When I went to bed, the wind was out of the north at ten knots. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 33°F (with a low of 24°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 31°F (with a low of 3°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 28°F (with a low of 13°F).
I worked at the desk all morning, had lunch and, later, Deb and I went to Amesbury, New Hampshire to spend the rest of the day with my niece and her husband and their kids (including my sister, Meg, Hez & Jo Haseltine - who drove us down there). I had secured some lobsters from Mike P, as I mentioned in yesterday's report. They were still floating in a crate when I went to get them this morning. It was a very enjoyable time today. Only a bit of a shadow hung over me as the warmth displayed with family displaced what could have been a morose time had I let my mind dwell on things. I'm not like that. Or I should say I've gotten away from me feeling sorry for myself in times of hardship. We shall see how that goes on the 28th at Ian's Celebration of Life.
The weather was great today, although not warm enough to melt the patina of snow around Ogunquit. However, I did see a high air temperature of 38°F around 2:30 PM. It actually felt comfortable. There was very little wind with the velocity of no more than ten knots out of the north in the morning and barely enough wind to blow a candle out in the afternoon. The ocean was flat calm with a few wind patches. The visibility was excellent and the sky had few clouds all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 37°F (with a low of 27°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 36°F (with a low of 10°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 35°F (with a low of 16°F).
Looking at the weather for Ian's Celebration of Life, the wind is supposed to be fairly light from the southwest (west, offshore). But the air temperature is only supposed to reach a high of 35°F on the coast and go down around the freezing mark Saturday night. Rain and freezing rain is predicted from Saturday afternoon, through the night and all of Sunday. My feeling is that air temperatures will be colder inland so there is a good chance - according to the NWS - that driving will not be good with the potential of icy driving conditions. It would be just like Ian to have weather like this when concerning a gathering to honor him and his legacy. He never wanted to call attention to himself. Of course, my feeling is that this is the only chance I will have to say goodbye along with the people who loved and respected Ian. So it's really for us to relive some of the good times with "the man". So, if you could, Ian, please rethink this and back the weather off a bit? At least for Saturday afternoon and some of the night. It's been really hard to say goodbye to you to this point.
Today was centered around me, yet again. I had a bit of work down at the restaurants today at first. Then I headed to Somersworth, New Hampshire to have an elaborate root canal procedure. I have a gold crown over the tooth that is dying. So she [Yes, I had another good looking female doctor] drilled right through the crown to get to the three roots. At first she said that I would probably have to have the crown removed and the tooth replaced with another crown. But, after she completed the procedure, she said she didn't believe the crown needed to be replaced. I hope it doesn't. It would just be more money and more hassles and doctor appointments. I've had enough doctors for one year, regardless of how good looking they are!
The whole root canal process took four hours including driving to and from Somersworth. Plus, I couldn't really continue working after all was completed and I was back home.
The day turned out to be milder than I thought it would be. But when I looked at the weather forecast for rain and southwest wind later in the day, I realized we would be in for a warming trend of sorts. Today's high air temperature, that I saw, was 40°F after getting as low as 16°F by 8:00 AM. The air temperature was rising over 20°F by 9:00 AM and continuing it's upward progress until about 2:00 PM, when it started to drop again. There was no wind until 11:00 AM, the ocean along the shore was calm. By noon, it was already blowing out of the southwest. Wind speeds got up to almost fifteen knots before the wind backed off in the early part of the evening. There was seven knots of southwest wind when I went to bed at 8:00 PM. The sky was clear all morning and mostly cloudy close to sunset. The visibility remained excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 40°F (with a low of 24°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 37°F (with a low of 4°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 37°F (with a low of 12°F).
I spent the day working on Barnacle Billy's projects and setting up meetings for after January 1. I also worked on a presentation for Ian's Celebration of Life tomorrow. I was done by 6:00 PM.
I received three donations sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge. One was a generous $100.00 donation from Dave Bassett (MD), another was a generous $100.00 donation from Kevin & Kate Strong (NC). This donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site with the message; "In memory of the friends who have fought and lost, and in support of the families and friends who have fought and won, and those who are still fighting." The last was a very generous $250.00 from Ray Washburn (VT), also in the form of an "eGift" with the note: "In memory of a great friend and captain, Ian Keniston." Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness, your feelings from the heart and your generosity. It means so very much to me but it means so much more to those who are suffering but who may not be in the future, because of you!
By 7:30 AM, we had a completely overcast sky. The sky remained this way for the rest of the day. It rained a very light rain from time to time. The roads were dry at certain periods through the day. We ended with very little rain overall. The visibility deteriorated through the afternoon after being excellent to start. By nightfall, the visibility over the ocean was fair, at best. There wasn't much wind at all today. The ocean was flat calm all day with barely a ripple on it. After sunset, I checked one of the offshore weather buoys to find that there was about six knots of northerly wind. There was nothing here ashore. The highest air temperature that I saw was 38°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 46°F (with a low of 33°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 39°F (with a low of 21°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 35°F (with a low of 23°F).
I worked at the restaurant for most of the morning. I also practiced my speech for Ian's Celebration of Life.
At 1:45 PM, my sister, Meg, Deb and I drove to Litchfield's Restaurant in Wells, Maine to attend Ian's event. I believe the whole thing was organized by his daughter, Deanna. Regardless of who was involved, it was very well done. They had scrolling digital images of Ian in all phases of his life on a screen above all our heads. I contributed a few from the two boats we own. And I spoke for a little over five minutes. I had prepared something and had typed it up before arrival. As expected, I didn't get through the speech without breaking down somewhat. It didn't prevent me from finishing it but it was hard to speak for a bit. Others including Brian Murphy (who was great, by the way), Markie (Ian's best friend), Deanna & Ryan Keniston and Kenton Geer also spoke. All the speakers were good. I think that many didn't speak because it was so emotional for all. I'm not supposed to drink after my heart ablation. But I did do a couple of bourbon shots in Ian's honor with some of the best fishermen I have ever known. [And, for the record, I didn't get any adverse reaction from the drinking, except for the heart's reaction everyone gets when drinking.] It was a bit sad to see some of these hard fishing guys breaking down. But it was so easy to get emotionally involved with Ian; he was a caring intelligent individual who was nothing if he wasn't a man's man and, certainly, a fisherman's fisherman. I am so sorry that I will never see or speak with him again. Deb and I were so emotionally drained by the time we got home at 6:45 PM, that we both had sandwiches and went to bed.
I received two donations sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge. I will be taking donations for three more days before this donation season is over. The donors and their donations were as follows: Ro & Vinney Valentine (VT) for $50.00. This donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site with the message; "In Ian's memory. With love to you, Tim & Deb." Marty & Elise Buskey (NY) for a generous $100.00, "In fond memory of Captain Ian Keniston". Marty & Elise have donated so many times this season, it's wonderful. Thank you all for your thoughtfulness and generosity, thinking of helping others fight cancer and for the thoughts and prayers for Ian and his family. I really appreciate this so very much. But I'm not alone in this either. All the best!
We had no wind all day. We also had fog all day. With limp flags and no visual on the ocean along the shore, there wasn't a hint of a wind direction. The wind did strike out of the south at around 8:30 PM. Wind speeds started out at about ten knots. They increased to almost fifteen knots or more later in the evening. The had small drops of rain from time to time. But, basically, we had no rain today. It was drizzling a bit and the roads were wet all day. The visibility remained poor and the sky remained overcast, as far as I could tell with the thick fog around. The highest air temperature that I saw was 42°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 46°F (with a low of 40°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 39°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 39°F (with a low of 32°F).
I woke up today drained from Ian's farewell last night. I worked on the computer here at the house for a while. Then I decided to watch the Leicester/Manchester City football game on Peacock starting at 9:30 AM. I was going to jump on the fluid trainer as I watched but I just didn't feel up to it. At half time, or before, I heard some talking down stairs, in the kitchen, and found out that my former deck hand/captain, Kenton Geer (HI) had come over for a visit and was talking to Deb. I joined in the conversation until Kenton left at 4:30 PM. Of course, the topics of conversation were; what are we going to do now, Ian's life on the Bunny Clark and about all types of fishing, the fishery management's many mistakes and specifics about fish behavior. It's so easy to talk with him about fishing. I have fished all around world but Kenton has made a living at fishing all around the world and from his own boat (boats) out of Kona, Hawaii. I could have talked to him forever. And, in the old days, we might have done all this in a bar. Now he hasn't had a drink in years and I drink so little that I'm not any fun in that department. Anyway, Kenton means a lot to me. And, not to put Kenton a peg down on the ladder, he reminds me so much of me when I was his age. I remember hiring him as a deck hand for the Bunny Clark at age 16 and being so excited about having him on the boat. I hope to always have him as a great friend. Kenton flew from Hawaii just to attend Ian's Celebration of Life.
During Deb's and my conversation with Kenton, Marty Buskey showed up. Marty drove all the way from western New York state to come to attend Ian's Celebration of Life. He wanted to stop by and say goodbye before traveling back home, an eight hour drive. Marty took place in our discussions for the better part of an hour before leaving. Marty was one of our, mostly Ian's, best patrons and a huge supporter of my cancer fund raising efforts. I hope to fish with him in the future. I don't know how I am going to do it. But I will find a way.
I gave up on trying to get any work done when my daughter, Halley's, family showed up from their home in New Jersey. They are staying with us through the holidays. They have two kids, Ben (two years old) and Adelaide (a half year old, almost). It is always fun to have them here. Her husband, Nick, is a hell of a good guy.
I received a generous donation of $100.00 from Mark & Linda Hamel (NH) sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge, two days before I stop taking donations for this year. I plan to be involved next year as well. This donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site with the message; "In memory of your Captain Ian. We've read so much about him we feel we know him. We are truly sorry for your loss. Thinking of you, Mark & Linda." They have supported me for years, maybe since I started taking donations in 2007. They had already donated to the cause earlier this season. Thank you so very much for your gift of thoughtfulness and generosity. I don't have to tell you how much this means to me. But, suffice it to say, I appreciate your help a great deal. Being the strange year that it was, I never expected to make the $30, 000.00 mark this season. So I'm very happy that, now, the figure is $33, 210.00, thanks to so many thoughtful individuals.
It started raining at 8:00 AM. It rained fairly steady until around noon, when the rain stopped. It never really rained again for the rest of the day. The sky stayed overcast until 3:00 PM, when it started to clear. By sunset, or shortly after, the sky was clear, nearly cloudless. The visibility improved to very good by sunset. It was good for most of the day with much less fog. The wind blew out of the south at speeds up to thirty knots in gusts before noon with sustained speeds over twenty knots. The wind backed off a bit at sunset but I still saw gusts up to twenty knots. The wind was less by 8:00 PM. The highest air temperature, that I saw, was 52°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 58°F (with a low of 44°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 32°F). The high of 58°F recorded in Concord breaks the record high of 58°F for this date that was first set in 1885 and tied again in 1895 before it was, finally, broken today. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 50°F (with a low of 35°F).
The talk I had with Kenton Geer yesterday came home to nest in my mind today, leaving me less than relaxed for the decisions I will be making in the near future. As a result, I didn't have the impetus to start working until 3:00 PM. I worked for about two and a half hours. My work was all on the Bunny Clark website today.
The rest of the day was spent lounging around with my daughter's family.
I received two more donations today sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge. Both were for a generous $100.00. And both were made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. One was from David Dorr (ME) who has been sailing on the Bunny Clark with us for years. He left a message; "In memory of Ian." The other was from Jon Tesnakis who included the message; "In memory of my good friend, Capt. Ian. It will never be the same in Ogunquit." Yes, how could it ever be the same? Jon has been fishing on the Bunny Clark for so many years and trips. Thank you both for your thoughts and your generosity. I know that Ian would appreciate it although he wouldn't, in real life, want to be doted on. But I very much appreciate it. I believe it's a great cause or I wouldn't be doing this.
Today is the last day of 2024, this is the one thing I know for a fact. The rest of the future is so vast and unknowing. I feel so lucky to be in the position I am in right now, regardless of our recent loss of a man who meant so much to me, personally, and who also meant so much to the fabric of our fishing business. This will certainly create a dogleg in my future direction. Knowing that I will have to dive into solidifying a new direction makes me anxious on the one hand and hopeful on the other. What gets me is how quick all this happened. I certainly didn't expect this. But how much of life is a surprise. Quite a bit of life is like that, I'm afraid. I must admit, I like the good surprises, like landing a big halibut, much more. Not everyone can land that big fish. You have to look at every day with anticipation. But hope has to be there. I haven't lost hope. But this certainly wasn't the surprise I ever would have wanted. See you next year.
When I was taking vacationers sailing through the Caribbean winters, many times I would stop at Trellis Bay on Beef Island where there was an English entertainer, Tony Snell. You would have dinner there and he would entertain everyone with his guitar and his joke telling. After every show he used to say; "Whatever happens in the future, don't miss it." There are some things that you just can't miss.
The weather today was beautiful all day long. The sky was clear until sunset with a bright sun all day. The sky became overcast into the night. The wind was light all day with wind speeds of about eight knots, tops. The ocean along the shore was calm all day. The wind direction was, predominantly, out of the south or some element of the south. For most of the morning it was out of the southwest of fifteen knots or more. By noon, the wind had died. The wind was out of the south, barely, for the afternoon. Before the ball dropped in NYC, the wind was still light but out of the southeast. The light winds and the clear blue skies allowed the air temperature to rise quickly. It was already 45°F by 10:30 AM. The highest air temperature that I saw was 50°F. The visibility was excellent all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 52°F (with a low of 38°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 50°F (with a low of 27°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 51°F (with a low of 29°F).
I spent the day working on our alarm system at Barnacle Billy's, both restaurants. I also worked on the Guestletter, worked with the painters at Barnacle Billy's, Etc., started work on planning upkeep and repairs on the Bunny Clark and worked at the computer on year end stuff. I had an eye physical, my last scheduled doctors appointment for this winter until February 2025. That happened starting at 2:45 PM and lasted until 3:40 PM. I was done work at home by 6:00 PM for the day.
On and off during the day I also had correspondence with angling customers paying their condolences to me with Captain Ian Keniston's life ending and their shock of his passing so suddenly. I still can't get over it. He did so many things that, every day, I'm surprised that something else pops up that I will have to deal with. As I said above; life.
I received three end of the year donations sponsoring me in this season's Pan-Mass Challenge, in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. The donors and their donations are as follows: Leslie "Lenne" Goulet (ME) for a seriously generous $500.00 donation, Dave & Rebecca Symes (ME) for a generous $200.00 donation with the note; "You know how I feel about this fundraising that you do. This is in memory of Ian and the others that I used to fish with on the Bunny Clark. Proud to have you as a friend." And Jason Ridolfi (NY) for a generous $100.00 with the note; "In memory of Capt.Ian. Not just a phenomenal captain, but a phenomenal person." All the people mentioned above have supported me in this project since I started in 2007. Because of them and many others, my grand total to this point comes in at $508,356.00 for, this, the eighteenth year I have been involved. I sincerely appreciate all the support over the years and the thoughtfulness and generosity displayed. I continue to think that it's very important. And it seems to tell me how caring so many people are.
The rain picked up again and continued through most of the morning and part of the early part of the afternoon. Sometime before or after 1:00 PM, the rain stopped. I never did see it rain again. The northeast wind, which started early in the morning, peaked at the time I took the morning air temperature. Wind speeds diminished as the morning progressed. By noon, the wind had backed out of the north and was blowing at fifteen to twenty knots. The wind kept backing until it was out of the west; that happened after sunset. The wind increased out of the west to twenty knots or more before I went to bed. The visibility went from good to excellent by mid afternoon. The sky remained overcast for the rest of the day. The highest air temperature that I observed was 45°F. After noon, the air temperature started to drop. After sunset, the air temperature was 39°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 47°F (with a low of 40°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 41°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 41°F (with a low of 33°F).
I didn't do much work today as our daughter's family and our son's family were here at the house for their children's version of Christmas. Gifts were handed out and Deb and our daughter prepared a wonderful meal for all of us.
The wind blew strongly out of the west all day, certainly the most salient weather feature today. Had the wind been out of the northwest, the air temperature would have been a significant feature. But it was westerly which had the high air temperature well above freezing, the high for a significant time, most of the afternoon, at 42°F. Wind speeds were thirty knots with some gusts over forty. The wind never diminished. The visibility was excellent. The sky was mostly overcast in the morning. Mostly sunny in the afternoon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 44°F (with a low of 34°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 40°F (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 39°F (with a low of 32°F).
The whole day was spent organizing and setting up dates for all kinds of things Bunny Clark and Barnacle Billy's. I spent a significant amount of time at the restaurant going over the projects going on there. But most of the time I spent on the phone and in the office. I have much more organizing and things to catch up on before the month of January is over. The number of things I have to get done are far more than I have had to do in previous years, due to the unusual circumstances I find myself in right now.
Two things worth mentioning. I had a meeting with Dave Simonelli (the manager at Safe Harbor, Eliot, Maine), my son (Micah) and boat techs there. This was concerning the Petrel and the new engine and associated ideas of making her into a viable fishing platform again. The lack of upkeep has forced me to either sell the boat or fix her up to be a viable entity. I chose the later route. The meeting took about an hour. I also have fire inspection at the Bunny Clark tomorrow in the afternoon. So I had to gather the fire extinguishers from the Petrel and bring them over to the Bunny Clark today, where Dave Pease was in the process of removing the Halon bottle from the engine room of the Bunny Clark. In order to certify a Halon bottle, it has to be removed so it can be weighed. The Halon is part of an automatic system in the engine room.
I received two donations today sponsoring me in this new season's Pan-Mass Challenge. Yes, I will be involved again this year. My sister, Meg, made the first donation, a huge donation of $2,000.00 to start me off on the right track. She is always the first person to donate to my cancer project while Lenne Goulet is always, or has always been, the last. I love it like that. Both have been very special people in my life. Of course, Meg has a special place in my life as she is my sister, I've known her all my life, she helps me continuously and supports whatever I do and more. I know I don't have to qualify this but I am proud of her, as I am of Lenne for other reasons, and no less special. And I do like to put this out there. The second donation was a generous $250.00 from Joe & Paula Amato (NH). Joe & Paula have supported me for years. They made the donation in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site with the note: "I hope this finds you well. Thanks for riding for those who are and have fought cancer." Of course, I can't tell you how much your support means to me. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is so very much appreciated.
I haven't built the new PMC site for this year yet. But I will do so. We don't officially sign up for the Pan-Mass Challenge until January 9th.
The wind was not as strong as it was yesterday. It did blow out of the west all day again today. But wind speeds maxed out at thirty-five knots in the occasional gust. The westerly wind was mostly around twenty-five knots, still windy but not as windy. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was mostly clear with some clouds. The air temperature reached a high of 37°F, that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 39°F (with a low of 30°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 36°F (with a low of 27°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 36°F (with a low of 26°F).
I spent the day doing a lot of running around. Most of my time was spent in the office at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. working on issues with our security system, planning with my sister, Cathy, and Sarah Yorke and insurance. To that last goal we had a meeting with two of the principles of Cole-Harrison Insurance Agency at 11:00 AM to go over our coverage, particularly in lieu of the fire at Oarweed restaurant across the street. That lasted about an hour. I sent them away with some homework. We have had tremendous service with Cole-Harrison over the years. Today's meeting just cemented my resolve to continue with them.
I had a fire equipment inspection with Interstate Fire at 3:00 PM. That took place at the Bunny Clark. This mostly because our automatic Halon system resides at the Bunny Clark. Afterward, I brought the newly inspected fire extinguishers to Safe Harbor in Eliot,Maine, where the Petrel resides and is being improved. The new engine was set in place today in the Petrel. I was going to take a look at it but I was so late with returning the fire equipment that the boat wasn't available to look at. But the engine did fit in the boat perfectly, I saw from digital images that Dave Simonelli (Safe Harbor's manager). I put one of his shots in this entry. The digital image appears on the left. The engine is a Cummins QSB6.7 (liter) SL, with 425 shaft horse power. I'm going away from Power Products on this engine due to the uncertainty of repairs in the future after losing two weeks of business with the Bunny Clark last August after a simple breakdown during our busiest time of the season.
I received two donations today sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge, the event ride starting at 5:30 AM from Sturbridge, Massachusetts on August 2, 2025. One donation was from Mary Ann Donovan & Gary Vincze (CT) for $50.00. Mary Ann & Gary have donated to my cancer project since I started in 2007. They left the note: "In memory of Ian [Keniston]." The other was $100.00 from Bill Devon (VT) for $100.00. He too has helped me with this project from the beginning. He lost his wife, Kathy, to cancer last spring. My heart certainly goes out to him. They both supported me in this. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and your thoughts in general. I really appreciate your support and the sacrifices one makes just to keep moving forward.
The wind continued out of the west northwest for the day, all day. Wind speeds were over twenty knots all day as well. Some gusts might have been up to thirty knots as we have a flap on an air vent in the kitchen that shudders with winds that strong. Quite often during the day that flap was chuddering. The sky was partly cloudy all day, clear in the early part of the morning, hazy above but with clouds here and there. At one point it looked overcast but wasn't. It was cold all day with the highest air temperature that I saw about 27°F. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 31°F (with a low of 27°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 27°F (with a low of 20°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 27°F (with a low of 17°F).
I spent the day on the computer and working with Central Maine Power on an issue at the restaurant. I started to design the new Pan-Mass Challenge page for this year. That should be completed tomorrow with any luck. I won't put it up right away as I like to see the names of so many who helped me last season. I also worked on the Guestletter.
My outside exercise was a 2.2 mile walk with Gill, our border collie, unleashed. I usually at least bring a leash with me. But today I did not. I stayed right close to him the whole time. The furthest that we were apart was, maybe, twenty feet. He appreciated being out. I would have appreciated another layer of clothing.
The day before I also walked Gill, mostly on the Marginal Way, a walk along the ocean from Perkins to where it ends at the Sparhawk Hotel, half way up the river side of Ogunquit Beach. People often admire Gill and make comments, all good. We came upon one couple who were intrigued with Gill, the woman standing close to the bushes on the side of the walk way. Gill was headed her way. I warned her that he was intent on marking his various spots along the path. Before she could move, Gill ended up marking her foot. She was a bit taken aback but, thankfully, understood the perils associated with a dog that hadn't been walked all day. C'est la vie.
The wind and the air temperature was, again, the salient feature of the weather today. The highest air temperature that I saw today was, again, 27°F. The wind blew too hard to make one optimistic to take a boat out lobstering today. The wind blew out of the west northwest at a minimum of twenty knots during the day. It was actually more west than west northwest. However, after noon, the wind increased from the west northwest with a lilt out of the northwest to thirty knots sustained. Near sunset, wind speeds were up to forty knots in gusts. This kept up into the night but seemed to drop off slightly before I went to bed at 8:00 PM. The visibility was excellent. The sky was mostly cloudy in the morning and mostly clear late morning and through the afternoon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 34°F (with a low of 21°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 26°F (with a low of 11°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 27°F (with a low of 11°F).
I spent most of the day working at the desk. I did complete this season's Pan-Mass Challenge website. I have already received donations for this season. But I don't want to put up the sight until I can sign up for the event on the 9th.
I had to go down to the restaurant to chase down a water leak around the fireplace chimney at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. I was there with two of the best carpenters who I know. Of course, with this weather, we won't find leaks. It was more for a closer look at the chimney and the flashing around it.
I worked a bit on the Guestletter. I haven't decided what my involvement will be on the Bunny Clark this season, yet. I am meeting with Danny DellaMonica tomorrow to talk things over to see if I can get information that I can use to start on a decision. And I have a meeting with our accountants on the 10th to see what I am able to do financially.
I took Gill for another walk today (Deb had already walked him earlier). This one even slower as we didn't walk the Marginal Way. And it was close to sunset. Gill will wander over people's property if he isn't confined to a path, most of which is fenced. So there was a lot of sniffing. The average air temperature was 22°F and I could have had warmer pants. We went half the distance for the same amount of time.
Another cool day was had by all again today. The wind was again front and center along with the air temperature, competing for the salient weather feature of the day. I'm not sure which one came on top. It could certainly be colder. The wind certainly could have been stronger today. Wind speeds actually dropped with the rising sun. The wind continued to blow out of the west northwest, west or northwest depending on where I seemed to be standing at a given point during the day. Wind speeds were ten to fifteen knots after blowing over twenty-five knots at times before dawn. The wind picked up again, with gusts to twenty knots, after sunset. The sky was clear enough at dawn. But the sky became less so as the day progressed, leaving us with overcast skies for part of the morning and all of the afternoon. After sunset, the sky cleared showing a half moon directly overhead. No precipitation was seen today. The visibility remained excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 23°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 25°F (with a low of 17°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 22°F (with a low of 10°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 27°F - there was no way the air temperature was as high as 27°F in Portland today - (with a low of 9°F).
I spent the morning organizing, running back and forth from the restaurants in Perkins Cove to my computer and phone at home. There wasn't much that related to the Bunny Clark except posting this update in the early part of the morning.
During the afternoon, I worked solely on the Guestletter.
I did take Gill, our border collie, for a walk after dark to close up the restaurants behind all who were working there today. Nothing special happened with Gill worth noting. But we did run across a systems repair guy working at the Oarweed restaurant, or what is left of it, with a flashlight. The Ogunquit Police were there questioning him. I don't have any idea why this guy was there when there is still an ongoing fire investigation. Or maybe the fire investigation was over? But then, why were the police there? I should think that they would know. It wasn't my business. And I couldn't help. So Gill and I moved on.
I received a generous $200.00 donation from Steve Clark (VT) for my fundraising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Steve has been a huge donor over the years. He expressed his regret and condolences on Ian Keniston's passing. And, although he didn't write this is the letter, I feel that the donation was also in memory of the man, Ian. Thank you, Steve. Hard times at the Bunny Clark ranch these days. But, as always, I do appreciate your generosity and your thoughtful donation and letter.
It continues to be cold with a lot of Canadian wind. The air temperature struggled to get to 26°F by late morning but I never saw the air temperature go any higher. By sunrise, the wind freshened a bit with gusts to twenty-five knots out of the west northwest. By early afternoon, the wind, although stable in direction, had increased to twenty-five and thirty knots. After sunset, the same wind blew up to twenty-five to thirty-five knots and remained that strong until I went to bed at 9:00 PM. If the wind were as strong as it has been out of the northwest, it would certainly be colder. So I'm just as happy with the west northwest wind. The visibility was excellent. The sky alternated between mostly cloudy to mostly sunny, in the afternoon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 27°F (with a low of 16°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 24°F (with a low of 11°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 28°F - there was no way the air temperature was as high as 28°F in Portland today - (with a low of 8°F).
I spent the majority of the day going between the home office to Barnacle Billy's, Etc. and back. At home I concentrated on writing the Guestletter. At this time in the Bunny Clark's maturity the writing of Guestletters has become a major project, a reflection of our past fishing history/achievements and, what is for me, a tome of sorts. It's certainly not necessary but it's something I like to do and a way to compare the fishing years and our fishing talent. There has been a lot of talented anglers on the Bunny Clark, I am proud to say. In turn, they have certainly taught us how to be better at it.
At 1:30 PM, Deb & I sat down with Danny DellaMonica and talked about moving forward with the Bunny Clark. He agreed to take Ian Keniston's place with getting the boat ready for the spring launching. Danny and I are tentatively thinking of some kind of fishing season with my wife's backing. But without a regular captain, the trips (if they go - I still need more planning and information) would mostly be marathons. However, we were discussing the possibility of doing a Saturday trip and entertaining charters? And there are certainly other ideas we were floating. It's all conjecture at this stage as I am still in a quandary about how I am going to do all this. Ian was such a big part of the Bunny Clark mechanics. I hate to think that I will leave working on the ocean and depart from the boat that is totally mine in design and function built specifically for taking anglers groundfishing. It's really a fishing machine. And, of course, it has always been the people that have made it so much fun for me. It's still a work/project in progress. We shall see.
Part of day was visiting Sonya Keniston, Ian's wife, at her work for a quick face to face with thoughts of retrieving my reels, rods and skiff from her house and property. I had a meeting with my son, Micah, about rebuilding reels at his home. I called David Pease about my meeting with Danny which he was very happy about. Danny is a force, a hard worker, and works well with Dave. I also had a lot of Tower Family financial work I had to do in the afternoon, restricting my work on the Guestletter to the morning only. I also got a copy of the Town's harbor ordinances to review before the Harbor Committee meeting I will be chairing at the end of the day on Friday. I also had a great call with Dan Kelley, who has agreed to help me with some electrical work at the Bunny Clark this winter. We went over the scope of his involvement over the phone. It was a busy day and one that went by way too fast.
The day was much the same as other days; I worked on writing more of the Guestletter, I posted the update after working on writing for an hour and a went back and forth between the Barnacle Billy's, Etc. and home, checking on the projects going on there.
Besides all the routine stuff, I held a Barnacle Billy's managers meeting at 9:30 AM that lasted until noon. We went over hiring, discussing employees, places for European J1 students to live, the H2B program and operational questions. It's the time we usually get together to start the process for opening the restaurants in the spring. This was a very good meeting with wonderful cooperation. I was very pleased with our crew and the way we participated as a team.
After the meeting I had run to the dentist to check on the tooth that had the root canal procedure. The crown over the tooth was sealed permanently. Or until other problems, associated with age, show up. :)
The afternoon was spent working on the Guestletter, completing the work order for the Bunny Clark projects and organizing for tomorrow's very busy day.
The day was again windy and cold. Wind speeds blew out of the west northwest at twenty-five to thirty knots all day long and into the night. The sky was overcast for most of the day. Every weather service was predicting a dusting of snow that didn't happen. I never did see a snowflake in the air or on the ground. But I wasn't outside all day either. They did see some snowfall to the north and east of us. The highest air temperature that I saw today was 27°F. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 28°F (with a low of 17°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 21°F (with a low of 13°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 27°F (with a low of 16°F).
Today was a busy day. I finished this update early and then worked on the Guestletter for a couple of hours. At 8:00 AM, I let the painters in to Barnacle Billy's, Etc. They are, pretty much, finishing today. There is still a bit of brightwork to finish. But there has been a lot of dust from sanding so they are going to wait a couple days before finishing that up. At 8:00 AM, I also met up with my flooring guy to go over a few things that have to happen to in order to put the new carpet in the lounge at Etc. I went over a few plumbing issues with our plumber that I will address with him in real time tomorrow morning. At the same time power was restored at Barnacle Billy's (original). We haven't had power there since the fire on December 21, 2024! It took Central Maine Power a while to find the equipment for a three phase system. Once they had it they found that the transformer on the pole was toast.
I spent a couple of hours with lawyers after 1:00 PM. This was followed by a meeting with our electrician to check the rotation of the three phase equipment at Billy's. The rest of the afternoon saw me working with the painters, working at the desk on a couple of issues and combining a Gill dog walk with closing up at Etc.
I also had a meeting today with my financial experts and how that plays in to keeping the Bunny Clark as a fishing entity for this summer. It was more a fact finding mission so we can use this data when we meet with our accountants late tomorrow morning.
Also, I am chairing a fairly contentious Harbor Committee meeting tomorrow concerning riparian rights, parking for passenger carrying vessels' vehicles, mooring rights, removing one of the two channel markers at the entrance of the Cove and some issues with how we want the new bait wharf to look and operate for commercial fishermen. This was my biggest focus when I got the time to work at the desk today.
The sky was clear all day, the wind was much less and the air temperature climbed above the freezing mark for the first time in six days. The wind blew out of the west northwest at about fifteen knots for the early part of the daylight morning. We had barely any wind at all before noon. The wind stayed light for the afternoon. I noticed that we had light northeast wind at 5:15 PM. The northeast wind was over ten knots at 8:00 PM with a bright moon overhead. The visibility was excellent all day. The highest air temperature that I saw was 38°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 43°F (with a low of 24°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 36°F (with a low of 20°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 36°F (with a low of 17°F).
Today was a day of decision making and tying up loose ends. I finally got Barnacle Billy's security system up and running in the afternoon after power was restored to the building yesterday. The electricity had been out since December 21st. I worked with the plumber and our flooring people to get into the Barnacle Billy's, Etc. so the plumbing could be completed before the carpet went was laid in the lounge. And I coordinated this with our carpenter who is placing new baseboards in there as well. I also worked on trying to get some electrical assistance where the Bunny Clark resides to no avail. There was a bit of phone tag there with no results.
The problem in the communication efforts stemmed from meetings I attended where I couldn't take calls. Deb and I met with our accountants between 11 AM through lunch. And I chaired a Harbor Committee meeting from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM. I did no work after 6:00 PM except take Gill for a walk to the restaurants to make sure all the lights were turned off and the buildings secure.
Snow started to fall at 7:30 AM. It was a very fine snow that fell straight down to ground with no wind to blow it around. Flakes got a bit bigger a half hour later. But it was the same steady, falling straight down snow as it was when it started. This lasted until a little after 1:00 PM. After, it looked like about two inches had fallen, no more than that. The wind picked up out of the north to about ten knots, more offshore, but picked up a bit more than that after sunset. The sky remained overcast until sunset. But it never fully cleared. By 5:00 PM, I could see the lume of a nearly full moon through the thin cloud cover but I couldn't discern any stars. Despite seeing the moon through the clouds later in the night we did get the slightest of snow flurries from sunset through the night. The visibility was excellent without the snow, good otherwise. The highest air temperature that I saw today was 32°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 33°F (with a low of 26°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 28°F (with a low of 22°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 28°F (with a low of 22°F).
After posting this missive, I worked on writing up the minutes of yesterday's Harbor Committee meeting. I am the Chairman but I'm also the secretary. That started years ago when I was the only one who knew how to use the computer at the time. Now everyone is on the same page. But I still do the writing and organize the meetings around what the other members desire or if the harbormaster needs direction. I got about ten percent done. We had just enough snow that I had to spend time cleaning up the trucks with some other things to do around the house. It also took me a bit of time to get ready to drive to York where the Bunny Clark resides. At 10:30 AM, I met Danny DellaMonica and David Pease there to go over the work order for this winter. This will be a shortened list this winter as Ian Keniston, the master of the winter work, isn't with us. It took us until noon to go over everything. Now I will take the revised list home, re-write it and bring it back so items, as they are completed, can be checked off and we can move on. We will probably have extra items after the USCG inspection next week. Much of the cosmetic work will not be completed this winter. Many of the painted surfaces that were completed last year look good. Things like painting the deck, the green enamel work and some of the hand holds will not be completed.
Deb, Danny and I made a decision to run the Bunny Clark this coming summer on a limited basis. We haven't got the full plan in motion yet. We need to work on logistics. But, generally, I will be running a couple of marathons a week and, maybe, taking on a charter or another trip during the week. I know I want to do the marathons; I can't give up the one thing that I love so much and the thing that I am best at doing. Luckily, Deb understands that.
So I have a lot of organizing ahead of me before the Bunny Clark gets dipped. My tentative plan is to start fishing on April 15, a Tuesday marathon. Again, this is tentative.
I took Gill, our border collie, for a walk in the snow starting at 5:30 PM. About a two mile round trip. He loved the walk. We completed the whole Marginal Way and never crossed paths with a single person, a first. It's getting so that he stays right next to me for most of the walk. Of course, I wait for him when he finds something important around a bush, a pole, rock or whatever. After you walk for a while with the dog at your side you start assuming he is right there always. My mind wanders and I'm constantly thinking of things I can improve, etc. In my mind I never stop working. It was one of these moments when I realized Gill was nowhere around. It was the ending path that has an impenetrable fence on one side and the rocks with a steep drop to the Ogunquit River on the other, right next to the Beachmere Resort. I looked up and down the Marginal Way. I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and noticed that Gill had ducked behind the fence a ways back and was running beside me on the snow covered lawn of the Beachmere. He had this look on his face that said; "Hey, Dad. Look at me!" On the border of the Sparhawk property there is a gate you can open that connects again to the Marginal Way, which I opened to let him back on the path with me. But that dog was proud. And he was, actually, happier than I have seen him this week. I guess it's the little things in life.
Today was a day of catch-up at the desk and, between times, watching different FA Cup football games that were streaming on ESPN plus. The FA Cup is a UK "soccer" competition that pits all the clubs who play the game, from the lowest clubs in the pyramid to the Premier League, until one club comes out on top. It's usually a Premier League team but not always. There is always the hope that some team from a league five or six tiers down makes it to the final. That, to me, is the excitement of the whole thing. And since 2017, when I first started watching English football, it's become more and more exciting to me. And now I know why they call it the "beautiful game". Before, I could care less about soccer or any form of it.
Other than sitting in front of the computer and the boob tube, I did take Gill for our nightly walk. And tonight was special. It was a, nearly, full moon. And it felt like walking in the day time. I had no problem keeping my eye on Gill. I let him out on the lawn of the Anchorage Motel property and we walked around in the snow, which he loves. At times he acted like a puppy. So I knew it was a great night for him. We completed two miles including the whole Marginal Way. Like last night, we never crossed paths with another soul.
We had a break from the weather today. The air temperature slowly rose past the freezing mark to reach a high, that I saw, of 37°F. I only looked at the thermometer a couple of times. So it could have been higher? The wind was a non-issue today. Most of the day the ocean was calm along the shore without a breath of wind. Flags were limp for once in a long while. We did get a bit of a southwest wind around sunset. When I went to bed, the wind was starting to blow out of the west over ten knots. The visibility was excellent all day. The sky was overcast all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 39°F (with a low of 28°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 34°F (with a low of 14°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 34°F (with a low of 18°F).
It was certainly a manic Monday with workers meeting me at the Cove at 7:00 AM, carpenters and plumbers at Barnacle Billy's, Etc., coordinating an electrician to be at the Bunny Clark when Danny DellaMonica and Dave were there, getting materials to Danny to bring to the barn, the dropping of the rudder so we could get some work done on it at H & H Propeller, switching insurance agencies for the Bunny Clark and Petrel (including the drive up there to make sure all the transferred information was correct), setting up a time for tomorrow to work on fishery management regulation models to be used at the Recreational Advisory Panel meeting on the 21st, on the phone most of the day (it seemed) and walking the dog down to the restaurants to close everything up for the day.
I took frequent trips down to the restaurant to look at the progress and to make some suggestions and ask questions. Mike Dumas, the best welder I have ever met, saw me at the Cove before lunch so we could go over the plans for the new polished stainless railing that is going on the deck and Barnacle Billy's (Original). I'm pretty excited about this.
I received another wonderful $100.00 donation sponsoring me in this year's Pan-Mass Challenge. This was from Don, Lisa & Bethanie Johnson (MA), long time friends, patrons of the Bunny Clark and huge supporters of the Pan-Mass Challenge since I started funding cancer research in 2007. The donation was made "in Memory of Captain Ian Keniston". Don & Bethanie made many trips fishing with Ian over the years. They were good friends with Ian. This is a very hard thing for me to get over, mentally. It is for many. Thank you, the Johnson Family, for all you have done for me and all the support you have given the researchers and for cancer research & care in general. It's so very much appreciated by all.
The salient weather feature again today, like so many other days this winter, was the wind. It wasn't bad at 5:00 AM but, only an hour later, we had gusts from the west to twenty plus knots. The westerly wind increased after noon to a sustained twenty knots with higher gusts, some as high as thirty knots. The sky was clear for most of the morning but clouded up before noon and became overcast for the rest of the day and into the night. I don't know when it cleared up or if it did. The visibility was excellent. I checked the air temperature a couple of times in the morning and saw that it was around 30°F. But I never did look after that. The high air temperature for Portsmouth, New Hampshire today came in at 35°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 34°F (with a low of 24°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 31°F (with a low of 20°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 38°F (with a low of 21°F).
Today I met the carpenters early at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. They were cleaning out their equipment to make way for the flooring people who were going to lay the new carpet for the lounge there. I spent the day running back and forth between the house and the restaurant.
I signed up for this year's Pan-Mass Challenge yesterday. Today I put up my new page for this coming season. It will be the last time that the long ride leaves from Sturbridge, Massachusetts. In 2026, the long ride will start in Worcester, Massachusetts, from the College of Holy Cross where there will be expanded space and resources. The first day ride will be nine miles shorter or about 100 miles. Putting my page up today I had problems with one of the digital images. Plus, I started to write the new page a couple of weeks ago when I didn't think we would be running the Bunny Clark this season. So I had to change some of the wording. This year's ride is dedicated to my best captain, Ian Keniston, who passed away on December 15, 2025. He helped me generate many donations for cancer research in the time he worked for me. I don't expect as many donations this season. But that doesn't mean I am going to try any less to get them. We shall see.
I never did finish the minutes for the Harbor Committee meeting that was held last Friday evening. So I spent about two hours on that writing and proofing the document until I got it to where I thought I could share it with the rest of the Committee members. After sharing, I had some more corrections to do. They were just minor things. I assume now that it's completely done but I will know more tomorrow.
Scott Steinback, an bio-economist with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NOAA Fisheries), did me a huge favor today and held a Zoom meeting with Kimberly Bastille (also with NOAA) to show me how to use a new modeling tool where you can plug in data to come up with regulations (in this case with recreational cod regulations) that will come under the sub-ACL (annual catch limit or quota) for this year. I never did get a chance to use the tool as I couldn't navigate my way through the Microsoft security app to get there. So I will work on this again tomorrow. But what I did learn is where I want to be when the new regulations will be discussed at our next Recreational Advisory Panel meeting on the 21st. A shocker for me was hearing that our cod quota or sub-ACL is going up for the 2025 season. In other words the recreational angler will be able to take more cod after May 1, 2025, when fiscal 2025 starts. This happened once before in my tenure on the RAP. We saw the increased sub-ACL and gave ourselves more fish for the season. We ended up paying for this with much stricter regulations the following season. The temptation will be for adding more cod to the bag limit, increasing our season for keeping cod and changing the minimum size for a legal fish. I am tempted to stay with what we have for regulations after today's meeting. Plus, I think the figures in the sub-ACL are inflated because of a catch rise in the Great South Channel which, they say, is part of the Gulf of Maine regulatory area. So I really don't think these figures are real. At the same time, the Southern New England regulatory area will not be able to keep a single cod despite the fact they have been landing the spawning stock biomass every year. It doesn't make sense. And I have always felt the New England Fishery Management Council goes to great lengths to make the regulatory system more complicated every year. I'm sure if I were working on the Planning and Development Team there I might feel differently. But there is much I have learned from living with the process and as an active fisherman since 1961.
I tried to take our dog, Gill, for a walk tonight. From the beginning he was wandering and moping. Slow. I constantly had to keep calling him as he would wander on to people's properties and disappear from sight. After almost a half hour we had still only gone a mile. Plus, he stopped; stood in the middle of the road and just looked at me. So I asked him if he wanted to go home. Whereupon, he turned around and headed back. When we got to Cherry Lane, where we could take a left and go home or take a right to head to the Cove, he disappeared. I called and called his name several times. Nothing. Finally, I went into the bushes and there, on the lawn in front of an adjacent property to ours, was Gill, just laying down and looking me. He never made a move to come when I called. And had I not seen him, he probably would have stayed there for another hour. So I walked up to him, whereupon he got up, and we headed back home with Gill, a smug look on his face, trotting along beside me. I left him at home and walked to the Cove by myself to lock up the restaurants. Deb said he made a half hearted attempt to look like he wanted to go with me but, then, I assume, completely forgot about me as I headed down the street. Who knew?
The salient weather feature, again, was the wind. It blew out of the west northwest at twenty to twenty-five knots all day with a few higher gusts. The sky was mostly clear all day with a few clouds but no overcast conditions at any time, that I saw. The visibility remained excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 28°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 31°F (with a low of 22°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 28°F (with a low of 9°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 28°F (with a low of 12°F).
Today was another day of finishing up with the new carpet in the lounge area of Barnacle Billy's, Etc. It was perfectly completed around by 6:30 PM. I went down several tiimes to see the progress that they were making. It's certainly an art.
This week I've been working on getting power to the barn where the Bunny Clark resides. I was lucky enough to get our eletrician who we use from Barnacle Billy's to come down on Monday to look at it. Today he hooked everything up to Central Maine Power specifications. Later in the day, CMP came and hooked up power from the closest pole.
I finished up the work order for items that need to be addressed before we splash the Bunny Clark in April. At the same time, Dave Pease and Danny DellaMonica were able to drop the rudder out of the Bunny Clark so I can take it to Salem, Massachusetts (H. & H. Propeller) to get the rudder shaft straightened. Somehow it went out of alignment and was "ovaling" the port in the stuffing box. How could we bend the rudder shaft without knowing it? At any rate, it appears to be out a quarter of an inch. I planned to pick up the rudder late this afternoon, which I did. At the same time I was going to drop off the printed work orders, which I forgot to do. It's not like this will prevent Dave and Danny from moving forward. But it's just another thing that will take time.
I spent some time on the Guestletter and got four more paragraphs written. This has been the hardest Guestletter I have ever had to write due to Ian's passing. I can't seem to get over it. At the same time, it has been fun to write as we had many successes last season. I think the hardest part is getting up the courage to write the opening paragraph.
The Pan-Mass Challenge received an $100.00 donation from Ed Setzer today. Ed has been fishing with us for a few years now. He made it through Venmo directly to the Needham, Massachusetts office. The donation was made "in memory of Ian Keniston". The only problem is that I'm not sure that this is made through my fundraising efforts. Until I do know, I can't add it to the list of donors who have made donations through me. It's still a very thoughtful and generous act. And I still appreciate Ed doing this. But I'm not sure the funds will go directly to my research group. We will see. Thanks, Ed. Very kind of you, however it goes.
The Gill walk tonight was one of our better ones. It wasn't fast, by any means. But the dog didn't slink off into the woods or around people's vacant summer homes like he did last night. And he came when I called him, a big departure from last night. I did bring a leash with me this time. And he saw me put this in my pocket. He knows when I bring the leash that if he doesn't respond to my calls, on the leash is the way we will get back home. And I know that freedom is very important to him on our walks. Gill seemed very happy and active the whole way.
The morning saw mostly clear skies until later. After noon, we had clouds creep in but it never became fully overcast. The sky was clear in the evening. The wind was light from the northwest, west and then southwest, in that order. I don't think I saw a wind gust of ten knots all day. The ocean along the shore was calm with wind streaks. The visibility remained excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was just 30°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 31°F (with a low of 21°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 28°F (with a low of 1°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 28°F (with a low of 4°F).
I had to let carpenters in Barnacle Billy's to bring lumber to start the process of rebuilding the deck over Perkins Cove. That was just before 8:00 AM. A little after that, I let the painters in to Barnacle Billy's, Etc. The carpet has been laid and finalized. I needed to have someone come in a stain the baseboards and other bare wood parts.
Once I had everyone going at the restaurants, I headed to Salem, Massachusetts to H. & H. Propeller to drop off the damaged rudder, the old stuffing box and associated ports and shoe. I need to have bushings, made, a new stuffing box and a new top rudder shaft replaced. More expenses.
After I got home, I spent the rest of the day working on the computer between emails, the Guestletter, working on the model making tool (fishery management) and other odds and ends.
I confirmed two donations toward my fundraising efforts with the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Ed Setzer's $100.00 donation through Venmo came through today. I mentioned Ed's contribution in yesterday's entry. Having never had a Venmo donation, I didn't know what to expect. Thank you again, Ed! The other was a very generous $200.00 from Fred Kunz (NH) and Jim Feeney (MA) together. The donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site with the note: "[From] Fred and Jim in Memory of Ian [Keniston]". Thank you, Fred and Jim for the generous donation but also for the support you have given me through all this. This isn't a surprise to me as you both have been so supportive over the years. It's something I truly appreciate, as I appreciate the help with fighting cancer. It makes me realize how lucky I am.
When 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM arrives, I get the look from Gill, our border collie, to go for a walk. It has been routine this winter. We walk between a mile and two miles around the neighborhood. I didn't feel like going tonight but the dog was watching me like a hawk so I decided to go. When I asked the dog, he jumped up like he just realized that his tail was on fire. This time, he lead me around. I just walked around him letting him dictate the next move at every stop. I saw some places where I played as a kid growing up that are so different now. One was a field that is now full of homes, fences, trees and brush. I can remember setting off Estes rockets in that, what used to be a, field. I also remember walking through that field in the summer and getting into some golden garden spiders. I hate spiders. I doubt that species of spider is anywhere near those properties now. Change, the only constant in this world.
The sky must have only been partly overcast as, after sunrise, the sky was mostly clear. The sky stayed mostly clear all night and it was a very clear early evening sky with the constellation Orion making it's way from the eastern horizon. The visibility was excellent all day. The wind blew out of the north at about ten knots for most of the morning then died altogether. The ocean along the shore was dead calm between around 10:00 AM or so to almost sunset. I noticed that the wind was out of the southwest at ten knots right around 8:00 PM. We broke out of the below freezing weather we have been having for the last couple of days with a high temperature, that I saw, of 35°F. The air temperature was 25°F at 5:30 PM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 38°F (with a low of 22°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 37°F (with a low of 6°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 33°F (with a low of 16°F).
I spent just about all morning getting ready for a Barnacle Billy's manager's meeting or being involved in the managers meeting. It was a day of organizing and updating employee rules and regulations. It was also about what we hope to see in our employees as far as attitude and the relationship between our employees and our patrons. This has been needed for a while along with follow-up and results. We need to improve on how we manage and how we can get the best out of our staff. We took a big step forward today.
The rest of the day was focused on the Bunny Clark. I have reels that need to be rebuilt without my best reel guy, Ian Keniston, to complete them. I took a ride up to his house to meet his wife, Sonya, and look over the area where all my rods and reels were being repaired. Fortunately, he completed repairing thirty of our bait reels. They need new line. But that's it, except for placing them on a rod. We still have quite a bit of work to do in that arena.
The rest of the day was spent organizing the Bunny Clark boat repairs, getting ready for the hull inspection, ordering a new propeller for the BC and various other things.
I also spent some time working on recreational fishery regulation models. I called Phil Eastman for his input on what he feels would benefit the party/charter industry. His feelings are closely aligned with mine. But I appreciate his common sense view on all of this. I went back and forth on adjusting the model with a bio-economist out of California who was very patient with me in working the model tool. The result I liked the most was when I kept all the regulations the same as they were last year except for the minimum retention length. So we would still have the two month cod season at the end of the year and the fifteen haddock bag limit with a one cod bag limit. But the minimum size for haddock would go from 18" to 17" and cod would go from 23" to 22". At 22", that's still a cod of about 5 pounds. We still would come well within the sub-ACL according to the data but we wouldn't be throwing back so many small haddock and cod. It should be a savings as I would think that most private anglers would be going after a different species once they reached the bag limit and would be doing this a lot sooner than under the regulations we had last year. Of course, that same thought also applies to charter boats but probably less so with party boats. I still have quite a lot more work to do on these models. I want to be completely ready when we have the Recreational Advisory Panel meeting on the 21st.
My biggest fear about changing the regulations is the some on the RAP will adjust the model to increase the bag limit or the season. The last time we were greedy like that, we paid for it with very strict regulations the year after. I can remember begging one of the bio-economists for a two or three haddock bag limit when the best model showed that zero possession was the way to go. I think we ended up getting a bag limit of two haddock, as I recall. But it felt like I had won the lottery. Now I look back and I think, "Please, let's not make that mistake again."
Also, Captain Bruce Andersen sent $100.00 to my Venmo account, which I don't have, as to donate to my Pan-Mass Challenge account "in memory of Capt. Ian Keniston". Unfortunately, I don't know how to get that money out of there without creating an account, which I do not want to do. So I have contacted the PMC managers at the head office in Needham, Massachusetts for help. So, please, don't use Venmo if you want to donate to my cancer project. The Venmo donation that Ed made the other day was made directly to the PMC office under my name. That's a little bit different. It takes at least two days to process those but, eventually, they come through.
I had might nightly dog walk with Gill tonight. I'm happy to say that he enjoyed himself very much.
The wind continued out of the south and blew up to thirty knots or more. Twenty-five to thirty knots was the velocity all day. At dawn, the sky was mostly cloudy with thin cover. You could see the sun shining through when it climbed higher in the sky. By noon, the sky was fully overcast. It started to rain before sunset. The rain continued into the night. After sunset, the wind started to drop. It was just barely ten knots when I went to bed. The visibility was excellent all morning, very good in the afternoon and good to very good in precipitation; it didn't rain very hard at all. The air temperature started to rise. By noon, the air temperature was 40°F. I didn't look at the thermometer again today. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the high air temperature today was 42°F at noon and again at 3:00 PM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 44°F (with a low of 26°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 40°F (with a low of 28°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 41°F (with a low of 26°F).
I didn't do much of anything today except post this update and work on the Guestletter. The Guestletter has been challenging due to the unusual circumstances I find myself in at this time in my life. It was hard to concentrate on it. So I really didn't get much done.
I did look at a few model runs for recreational regulations. Having the same regulations as last year with drop in minimum size of an inch (on both cod and haddock) and extending the cod season still got us within the boundary of the sub-ACL (quota). I have no judgment here yet. I want to look at more runs. But I am getting more familiar with the tool even though I can't do my own runs from my computer; my runs are being made by NOAA staff who can't understand why I'm not able to do them myself. It's a very simple tool to use. And they say that I am running it correctly. Go figure.
The Ogunquit Heritage Museum is doing a display on the harbormasters of Perkins Cove. My father was the first and youngest (15 years old). So I enjoyed a meeting with one of the principles of the project but couldn't provide what I wanted. And I couldn't answer many of the questions about the harbormasters after my father. I have his diary where he was appointed by the Ogunquit Overseers at the time with the badge. And there is a photograph of him with all the fishermen of Perkins Cove. I can't remember where I put all that stuff after my parents died. I'll find it when they don't need it anymore.
Around 2:00 PM, I gave up for the day and laid down on the bed, on my back, fully clothed with an old Vince Flynn novel and the smallest of our two cats curled up sleeping on my legs. I slept for most of it. When I did get up it was raining so I didn't take the dog for a walk.
The sky started off mostly clear with definite cloud cover and the potential for overcast skies later. This did eventually happen but it didn't start until after noon. By 2:30 PM, I noticed, it was fully overcast. We started to see drizzling rain at 5:00 PM with an ambient air temperature of 37°F. By 6:10 PM, the snow was starting to fall in big flakes. The air temperature at that time was 35°F. Actually, today's high temperature in Ogunquit was 43°F. I made a point of looking as the temperature is due to go down into the single digits for the next four days. The visibility was from very good to excellent before the mist, good to very good in the misty stuff and poor in the snow. Anyone who has ever tried to get into Perkins Cove in a snowstorm at night will understand how poor the visibility can be. And scary. The wind blew out of the west and northwest in the morning at less than ten knots, about eight knots out of the northeast at 5:00 PM and about twenty-five knots out of the northeast when I went to bed after 8:00 PM. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 46°F (with a low of 29°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 40°F (with a low of 21°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 42°F (with a low of 25°F).
I spent the whole day working on the Guestletter. I got to a point just before I start writing concentrating on our angling guests. All the writing about fish is essentially over except where it concerns anglers. I've had to revamp the whole direction I was headed since Ian passed. I worked a solid eight hours on the Guestletter and a couple hours on everything else. I was in the office all day.
At 5:00 PM, I took Gill for a two mile walk. It thought it would raining by that time. But it wasn't. It was misting but only barely. As I said above, the first flakes started falling at 6:09 PM exactly. Gill enjoyed himself or he seemed to. If dogs could talk!
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