Bunny Clark Fishing Update

Tim Tuesday, October 22, 2024

At 3:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 61°F, the sky was clear with a moon that was just shy of being half, overhead, the wind was blowing lightly out of the west and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

We had the easiest ride to the fishing grounds. Once we got a couple of miles offshore, the wind left us. We had zero wind for the whole ride out. The ocean was flat calm with no discernable swell. The sky was cloudless. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature at the helm stayed at 61°F the whole ride out.

On the fishing grounds, the ocean stayed flat glassy calm until almost 10:00 AM. Just before 10:00 AM, the wind started to breeze up lightly from the northeast. The northeast wind never let go after that. Very gradually the wind increased all day. By closing time, we had eight knots of northeast wind and a one foot chop. [We saw northeast wind a bit more than ten knots on the ride home with two foot chops.] The highest air temperature that I saw was 62°F. The visibility ranged to over fifteen miles in haze. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The sky was cloudless all day. The surface water temperature reached a high and an average of 55°F.

. Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 71°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 55°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 77°F (with a low of 42°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 47°F).

The fishing was nearly excellent. I say "nearly" because we did have a few more dogfish than expected. They weren't horrible by any means. Every other fishing factor was perfect. The catching was excellent. Landings were very good to excellent. Most legal fish landed were pollock, by far, of all sizes, to an upper limit of 15.5 pounds. Legal landings also included eighteen cod, a monkfish, thirty-seven cusk, six haddock, forty-seven white hake and a mackerel. Released fish included thirty-five dogfish, nine sub-legal cod, five sub-legal haddock and seventy-three sub-legal pollock, maybe more. We weren't bothered by any species of big shark. We drift fished for the whole trip. All terminal gear worked well but bait caught the most dogfish.

Shawn Rosenberger (PA) was high hook with the most legal fish. He also won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the third largest fish, a 30.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. He caught this as part of a double which also included a 21.5 pound white hake, both fish caught on the same line at the same time! This is the Bunny Clark's largest double of the fishing season with two more trips to go. I took a picture of Shawn holding his big double. This digital image appears on the left. Shawn also caught two other hake doubles. Those doubles included a 12.5 pound white hake with a 19 pound white hake and a 19 pound white hake with an 11 pound white hake. Some of Shawn's other fish included a 26 pound Maine state trophy white hake, a 13 pound pollock, a 23 pound white hake, a 17 pound cod and a 21 pound cod. The bigger cod was the largest cod of the trip and the Bunny Clark's second largest cod of the fishing season to date. It was a good day to be Shawn.

Dave Burton (MA) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 36 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is the largest hake that Dave has ever caught. It's also the Bunny Clark's fifth largest hake of the fishing season so far. I took a picture of this fifty inch long fish with Dave holding it for the iPhone. This digital image appears on the right. Dave caught the only monkfish, about a 4 pounder; I didn't weigh it. He also caught a 12.5 pound Maine state trophy cusk, his first ever trophy cusk. Some of his other fish included a 21 pound white hake, a 16.25 pound white hake and a 13 pound cod. He also caught pollock in the 10 pound range.

The second largest fish was a 33 pound Maine state trophy white hake caught by Steve Brown (ME). He did not get into the boat pool. He also caught the second largest cusk at 10 pounds. He landed many pollock between 5 and 11 pounds. And, he landed the hard luck award t-shirt for not getting in the boat pool knowing full well that he had the expertise to get the big one today.

Matt Tingos (NH) won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the fourth largest fish, a 28 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Matt caught a double today that included an 8 pound white hake and a 14.5 pound white hake. Some of his other notable fish included a 13 pound cod, a 22 pound white hake, a 12 pound pollock, a 24.5 pound white hake and a 24.75 pound white hake.

Mark LaRocca (NY) caught the fifth largest fish today, a 27 pound Maine state trophy white hake, his largest hake this season. He also caught a 24 pound white hake, a 17.5 pound white hake, a 17 pound white hake and a 22.5 pound white hake. Mark, Dave Burton, Shawn and Matt caught three quarters of all the hake caught today.

Other Angler Highlights: Bruce Randall (NY) caught a 20 pound white hake, his largest fish. Charles Wallace (NY) caught a 20 pound white hake, a 19.5 pound white hake, a 17 pound white hake and a pollock that weighed 10 pounds. He probably caught bigger pollock that I didn't weigh. Bill Harding (ME) caught a 17.5 pound white hake and a 17.5 pound cod, the Bunny Clark's sixth largest cod of the season to date and the second largest cod caught today. Terry Lernihan landed a 17 pound white hake and an 11 pound pollock, his two best. John Tanguay (MA) boated a 15 pound white hake, a 10 pound pollock an, 11.5 pound pollock and a 12.5 pound cod, his four best. Dave Grasso (ME) caught a 19 pound white hake and the largest pollock of the trip at 15.5 pounds. Erik Grove (ME) caught a 19 pound white hake and a 17.5 pound white hake, his two biggest fish. Barry Ano (NY) caught a 15 pound cod and a 15 pound pollock, the second largest pollock of the trip. Peter Atwood (VT) caught a 16 pound white hake, his biggest fish. His wife, Karen Atwood (VT), out-fished Pete but her largest was an 11.5 pound white hake. Neil Feldman (NJ) caught a 21 pound white hake and a 16 pound cod, his two best fish. He caught a lot of pollock to 11 pounds.

I received three donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Those wonderful people and their donations included: Dave Burton for a very generous $180.00 [So far, Dave has donated over $2,000 the season alone!], Matt Tingos for $50.00 and Barry Ano for $50.00 [I haven't added up all the donations that Barry has passed my way this season!]. Thank you all so very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. It means so very much to me but, as I say, so much more to provide for top end researchers and the research tools that are required to keep up with the new breakthroughs and modern technology used to make improvements in cancer care and cure. It's important to all of us. And I certainly do appreciate the support in this arena!

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

At 4:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 51°F, the half moon was directly overhead sailing through the thin cloud cover, there wasn't enough wind to write about and the visibility over the ocean was poor in black thick fog. By 7:00 AM, the fog had moved inland and was so thick as to make it look like the sky was overcast.

Ashore, before 10:00 AM, the fog backed off and the sky became cloudless. The sky remained cloudless for the rest of the day. There was no wind for most of the morning. By noon, the wind was starting to blow out of the south. By 4:00 PM, the southerly wind was ten knots or more. Twenty knots of southerly wind was the scene at 7:00 PM. The visibility was excellent after the fog left. The air temperature reached a high of 76°F. It was much warmer inland, away from the wind, I was told. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 78°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 50°F).

On the fishing grounds, the wind blew out of the southwest and, then, south at ten to fifteen knots. Seas were swells of two to three feet under a one to two foot chop. The air temperature reached a balmy 61°F, warm for this time of year. The visibility was poor to start. They had fog. By noon, the fog was gone and the visibility ranged to over twenty miles. The tide (current) was moderate to strong. The sky was cloudless after the fog left. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F.

The fishing was nearly excellent. There were few dogfish, no sharks and the sea state was very good. The catching was excellent but the fish were mostly small, sub-legal and mackerel. Landings were good. Legal landings included eight cod, ten haddock, twenty-two pollock, a cusk, twenty-two whiting, a monkfish and over a hundred and twenty mackerel. Released fish included twenty dogfish, one legal cod, six sub-legal cod, forty-two sub-legal haddock, twenty-one sub-legal pollock and a lot of mackerel. They drift fished and anchored. Jigs and cod flies worked best.

Fred Kunz (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. He never got a single tangled line and was unusually quiet all day today. Marty Buskey (NY) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 16 pound (what he called; "small") pollock. The second largest fish was a 12.5 pound cod caught by John Stotz (ME). Mark Girard (NH) caught the third largest fish, an 11 pound pollock.

Other Angler Highlights: Jeff Larson (NH) caught a 10.5 pound pollock, his biggest fish. Jack Cadigan (MA) caught the second largest cod at 9 pounds. Barry Ano (NY) landed the hard luck award for cutting his finger.

I received a generous $100.00 donation at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. restaurant from Peter & Patti Vangsness (MA), while they were eating lunch, sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge today. Peter & Patti have been overly generous over the years and, certainly, a refreshing part of what I try to do to raise money for cancer research. Like so many, they have been very thoughtful, generous and concerned. I so appreciate them for who they are and how they support my efforts. Thank you so very much, both of you!

Thursday, October 24, 2024

At 3:30 AM EDT the air temperature was 57°F, the sky was a mosaic of high clouds and clear patches, a half moon was making its way to the top of the sky, the wind was light out of the west and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

It had been blowing out of the southwest offshore all night, dropping in velocity while I was getting the Bunny Clark ready to complete our last fishing trip of the season. By the time I broached the gate to head out, there was no wind. We had no wind all the way to our first fishing spot. But we did have a two to three foot left over chop from the southwest wind that was. The air temperature was mild, not a typical October day. We carried 62°F at the helm all the way to the fishing grounds. The sky was a mix of clear sky and clouds. The visibility was excellent.

On the fishing grounds, the ocean was calm for the first, almost, two hours. Then the wind showed up out of the north. This northerly wind gradually increased for the next two or three hours. The wind speed got as high as thirteen knots with seas in chops of two to three feet. Then the wind backed off. By the time we were done fishing for the day, the northerly wind was about four knots, at most, with a one foot chops. We had a long two to three foot ocean swell all day. The air temperature started at 61°F but dropped to 58°F when the wind showed up. The visibility ranged to over twenty-five miles. The tide (current) was light to moderate. The sky was mostly cloudy all day. It seemed to clear and cloud up quite often. The surface water temperature reached a high of 54°F.

Ashore, these were the air temperatures in selected New England cities: In Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine the high air temperature was 71°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 51°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 36°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 69°F (with a low of 46°F).

The fishing was excellent. There were no dogfish, one porbeagle shark and one tuna to disrupt things. It was perfect other than those items. The catching was good overall. Landings were just fair. Most legal fish landed were white hake. We could not find the pollock in any quantity today. I would like to blame it on some factor but I think I only had myself to blame. Legal landings also included a single haddock, fourteen pollock, eight redfish and nineteen whiting. Released fish included the porbeagle shark (about an 150 pounder), two dogfish, four sub-legal haddock, one sub-legal cod, thirty-five sub-legal pollock, the bluefin tuna and a handful of sub-legal redfish. We drift fished and anchored. Drifting seemed to work the best. All terminal gear seemed to work about the same.

I believe that Fred Kunz (NH) was high hook with the most legal fish. Fred won the boat pool for the third largest fish with the third largest fish, a 30 pound Maine state torphy white hake. This is a half pound shy of his largest hake this season. I took a picture of Fred holding his big hake. This digital image appears on the right. He also caught a 17.5 pound white hake and a couple of smaller ones I didn't weigh. He caught the two largest pollock of the trip, an 11 pounder and an 11.5 pounder. He caught the two fish as a double, both fish on the same line at the same time.

Chris Cichon (NJ) won the boat pool for the largest fish with the largest fish, a 42 pound Maine state trophy white hake. This is Chris' largest hake and the second largest hake of the Bunny Clark fishing season. I took a picture of Chris holding his monster hake. This digital image appears on the left. The picture doesn't do the hake justice as Chris is a big guy, making the fish look smaller than it was! Chris also won the boat pool for the second largest fish with the second largest fish, a 31.5 pound Maine state trophy white hake. The only other fish that I weighed from Chris was a 22.5 pound white hake.

Other Angler Highlights: Buzz Leonard (ME) caught the first fish that I could weigh today, a 15.5 pound white hake. Dave Burton (MA) caught a 25 pound Maine state trophy white hake. He also caught a 16 pound white hake. Jonathan "Griff" Griffin (MA) caught the best double of the day. His catch included a 22.5 pound white hake and a 19 pound white hake. This is the Bunny Clark's third largest double of the fishing season! He lost a big hake and he boated another white hake that weighed 21 pounds. Jay O'Connor (ME) lost two big hake that we never saw. Jay boated a 24.75 pound white hake and a 15.5 pound white hake. Mike Morin (NH) landed a 19 pound white hake. Shawn Rosenberger (PA) could only muster an 18 pound white hake and a 16 pound white hake today. However, had he landed the bluefin tuna today, things would have been much different. Bob Cross (MA) caught a 16 pound white hake, his biggest fish.

Eric Charbonneau (MA) Landed an 18 pound white hake. Neil Chamberlin (NH) caught the fourth largest fish of the trip, a 27 pound Maine state trophy white hake. Greg Felter (NY) landed the hard luck award t-shirt for spending most of the day leaning over the rail and calling the fish. I am not going to reveal what he called them.

I received a four donations today sponsoring me in my cancer fundraising drive with the Pan-Mass Challenge. Fred Kunz donated $40.00 for, yet, another donation of the many has bestowed upon me, Barry Ano (NY) for $50.00, also a regular donor every time he fishes with us, Dave Burton for $40.00, having passed on over $2,000.00 in donations this year alone, and Shawn Rosenberger for $50.00. Thank you all so very much for your support, generosity and for trying to make the world a safer place for all. It means so much to me on a personal level but it means more for researchers who need the funding and those who will benefit by the advances made in this research!

Friday, October 25, 2024

At 5:00 AM EDT the air temperature was 44°F, the sky was cloudless, a crescent moon climbing to the apex of the sky, the wind was blowing out of the north at ten knots (more offshore) and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

Ashore, where I will be for quite some time now, it was a beautiful fall day. The sky was cloudless for the morning. Indeed, for most of the day. The visibility remained excellent. The wind blew out of the north at ten to fifteen knots, dropping out before the end of the morning, calm at noon and then southerly for the rest of the day. Wind speeds out of the south were light at first, up to fifteen knots after sunset. The highest air temperature that I saw was 60°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 56°F (with a low of 45°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 61°F (with a low of 29°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 40°F).

I spent my day wrapping my head around stopping our season so early and not being able to fish anymore this season. I've been suffering with a cold/flu that came on Wednesday and peaked (I hope) during yesterday's trip. I didn't feel good today either. But I was able to take something to make myself feel better. And I wasn't so physically challenged today as I was yesterday. But being sick might have enhanced mooning over not being able to go fishing. The end always stops too abruptly for me. It seems that there are always more places to go, more and bigger fish to catch.

Our closing weekend at Barnacle Billy's (Original) starts tomorrow. Sunday night we will close there for the season, at 8:00 PM. It has been a much better season this year than last. There was too much rain to draw in the business I would have liked to have seen in the 2023 season. Not so much, this season. The spring was not great for weather. But the weather was super after July 1 through until today and, as expected, through the weekend. Oddly, the best weather season we ever had was in 2020, the year of Covid, where we really couldn't take advantage of it. But where we really did as we couldn't sit patrons inside and the outside weather was perfect, except for one day. So we are ending another season. Deb says that I am ready for it to end. My mind tells me that I would like to go another month - but only if the weather was good. And that, of course, will not be the case.

Next weekend, Barnacle Billy's, Etc. will close on Sunday, November 3rd at 8:00 PM. After that, I will be able to start the winter projects I have planned for both the restaurants and the Bunny Clark. I'm not crazy about the off season. I have to organize every day. In the summer, I know where I will be at any given moment. Not so the winter. By the time I get used to the change, the season will be upon us again. Then I can get back into my comfort zone.

The dredging of Perkins Cove is supposed to commence on November 1. All the mooring chains have been removed. Almost all the boats are gone. There are a few of us left, including the Bunny Clark. But the Bunny Clark is ready to leave at any time that the Harbormaster wants the boat to leave. I have already set this up with Safe Harbor in Eliot, Maine. The plan is to start taking the Bunny Clark apart on Monday, after Barnacle Billy's is closed. Then the boat will leave when we are told that we have to leave.

Saturday, October 26, 2024

Ashore, the wind blew out of the west with wind speeds up to fifteen knots or more. By noon, the wind had come around out of the northwest. Wind speeds were a little stronger. We also had some cloud cover move in that made it chilly outside and forced people from the deck, at Barnacle Billy's, inside. The sky cleared a bit later but the deck never filled up again. The air temperature rose to 64°F around noon but dropped back down around 60°F for the rest of the early afternoon, dropping further as the sun set. The visibility was excellent. The sky was a mix of sun and clouds. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 67°F (with a low of 48°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 63°F (with a low of 29°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 63°F (with a low of 37°F).

I spent the whole day at the Barnacle Billy's restaurants, at both Etc and Original. It was a fairly busy day with Ogunquitfest in full swing and the weather to propel it to new levels. Tomorrow will be the high heel race around the Cove. We had the Trick or Treat kids part of Ogunquitfest in the Cove at 10:45 AM today. We posted employees outside with candy to give out at Original. The same was done at Barnacle Billy's, Etc at the front door entrance, open an hour before Etc was supposed to be open. There were a lot of happy people around.

I went home for an hour nap to straighten out my back. Then went back down and stayed until 8:30 PM or so.

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Ashore, it was a beautiful fall day today, albeit, a bit cooler than I was hoping it would be. The sky was clear in the morning, nearly cloudless, and it stayed that way for the day. The visibility was excellent and stayed excellent. The wind blew out of the west at fifteen to almost twenty knots all day. The ocean along the shore was very calm with wavelets and, further out, white caps, moving to the east. The air temperature dropped to 35°F by 7:00 AM but rose to nearly 40°F by 9:00 AM. The highest air temperature that I saw today was 55°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 55°F (with a low of 41°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 27°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 32°F).

I spent my time, exclusively, at the restaurants today, mostly at Barnacle Billy's (Original). It was our last day of the season today, the last day of Ogunquitfest, as well. Closing day is not as busy as opening day in April. But it's still very busy. And like all closing days, it's like old home week with many regular patrons who I see periodically throughout the season. It's a bit sad for me; I hate to see the season end. But everything has it's time. This was our time to close today. We have been very fortunate to have such wonderful weather for as long as we have had it this fall. It would be hard to imagine a better weather September and October. It certainly helped Ogunquit's businesses. Thank you all for making it such a wonderful restaurant season. It's so nice to come to work and see so many wonderful people. As my father would have said; "Winter Well!"

Monday, October 28, 2024

The sky was clear to the east before sunrise. An hour or so later, that clear section of sky moved over us. The sky remained clear for the rest of the day. The day was cool with the air temperature dropping to 35°F before climbing up to 50°F, the highest value that I saw. And, actually, the air temperature didn't get out of the 40s until the southerly wind started blowing off the water. The wind only blew over ten knots before sunrise. The wind speeds were dropping as the daylight morning came on. By 9:00 AM, there was barely any wind at all. By the afternoon, the wind was light out of the south. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 49°F (with a low of 38°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 50°F (with a low of 25°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 48°F (with a low of 25°F).

I spent the morning at the restaurant and at the desk at home. I also voted this morning in an absentee ballot. Ian Keniston and Danny DellaMonica arrived at the Bunny Clark to start breaking her down at 8:30 AM. We talked over our strategy for the time spent from now until we haul the Bunny Clark out of water.

By 11:30 AM, I was back in the restaurant ready to go. But I left at 12:20 PM to join a combined Recreational Advisory Panel/Groundfish Advisory Panel meeting. There we discussed the cod situation and how to manage the cod for recreational anglers and commercial fishermen. Regardless of what was said, both groups are going to take a hit next year on cod landings. And, since cod is a trigger species, the chance of catching cod will diminish the scope of fishing participation in the fishery. How this shakes out as far as we are concerned we will know later, maybe as early as the end of November? We shall see. I didn't get out of the meeting until 5:45 PM.

After the meeting, I went directly back to Barnacle Billy's, Etc. to work until 7:15 PM before coming back home to eat and get to bed early.

Not so much a Tim Tuesday, October 29, 2024

The morning was filled with much year end stuff that I have been trying to widdle away at, a little bit every day along with the current restaurant work. At the same time, Captain Ian Keniston and Danny DellaMonica were working on getting everything off the Bunny Clark and cleaning it all as they did. I met them at lunch to go over the plans for hauling the boat out and the time for leaving Perkins Cove.

The rest of the day was spent in the restaurant. It was nice to talk to our patrons. It certainly wasn't a very busy day. But it was busy enough and slow enough to allow me to get to talk to almost everyone.

We have been having problems with the Barnacle Billy's webcam going out periodically. We found the problem today. But we won't be able to fix it conclusively until tomorrow. Stand by!

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Ashore, it rained all morning and either drizzled or rained lightly for the rest of the afternoon into the night. The visibility over the ocean was hampered by fog. In fact, the fog rolled in after sunset and created a damp atmosphere on into the night. The Cove was never mired in fog. The wind blew out of the south up to twenty knots all morning. The wind started to back off after noon. By 3:00 PM, there was very little wind. It was still blowing out of the south but wind speeds were less than five knots. The sky remained overcast all day and night. The highest air temperature that I saw was 58°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 66°F (with a low of 50°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F (with a low of 45°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 48°F).

There was much end of year stuff to complete again today. There was also one big meeting in that regard during the late morning. The rest of the day was spent in and around the restaurant.

Ian Keniston and Danny DellaMonica didn't do much on the Bunny Clark today. Tomorrow, I plan to take the boat to Safe Harbor (formerly Kittery Point Yacht Yard), Eliot. There we will finish getting the Bunny Clark ready for winter and haul her out there as well.

I received a generous $100.00 donation sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge a couple of days ago from Lynn Welsch (NM). Lynn has sponsored me for many years now. It was made in memory of Jo Diggs in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. Thank you very much, Lynn. You never forget to donate every year. I do very much appreciate this!

Halloween, Thursday, October 31, 2024

It was an excellent day today, the salient feature of which was the warmer than normal air temperatures. Here, in Ogunquit, most people said that they saw the air temperature as high as 80°F. I didn't pay attention enough to see this. I did see a value of 78°F. The wind was light from the west southwest to west most of the day. Stronger out of the west in the evening. The sky was clear and sunny all day. The visibility as a bit hazy over the ocean after 9:00 AM but it was still good to very good. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 78°F (with a low of 56°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 79°F (with a low of 43°F). The high temperature of 79°F, recorded today, is the highest air temperature recorded in Concord for this date since they have been keeping records (since the mid 1800s). The previous record high for this date was 78°F, set in 1946. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 77°F (with a low of 48°F).

I started the day getting the Bunny Clark ready to move the boat to Safe Harbor, Eliot, Maine. However, after checking the engine hours, I realized that the engine oil needed to be changed. So instead of leaving the Barnacle Billy's float at 8:00 AM, it was after 9:00 AM by the time I got all the materials together and finished the job with both Ian Keniston and Danny DellaMonica helping me. Danny and I ended up taking the boat across and up the Piscataqua River to our intended destination. It was a beautiful ride on the ocean with the warmest air temperatures I have ever experienced when making this journey year after year. Danny had never made the trip with me. For him it was fun going under the bridges linking Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Kittery, Maine. Once there, we linked up with Ian, who had driven over to the Yard to meet us. I left them working on the boat, meeting Deb up by the office and getting a ride with her back home.

The rest of the day was spent dividing my time between working in the office on year end stuff and working at the restaurant. It was such a beautiful day, I expected it to be busier than it was. It was busy enough, just not enough to my expectations.

Deb had to be away from the house all day. So I found the time to take Gill, our border collie, for a walk along the Marginal Way to the restaurant and back home. He was a very happy dog.

Friday, November 1, 2024

Today I spent the whole morning in Portsmouth Hospital. I have always had an arrhythmic heart, ever since I was a kid. These spells of arrhythmia would last for a short while, periodically. It was something I got used to all through sports in high school and college. After the big cycling accident on June 5, 2023, these arrhythmias started to last longer and were different. This spring, I had two spells that lasted an hour a piece. Normally, I could drink a glass of orange juice and these arrhythmias would go away (potassium). I couldn't control these hour long episodes that way. As you know, I'm an endurance sports guy through running (now, more so, after the accident and cycling after the run on a trainer inside at home). I used to ride a minimum of 10,000 miles on my racing bike every year. I try to keep my resting heart rate down around 44 beats per minute. I have been monitoring my heart rate for years, twenty-four hours a day. With these hour long episodes my heart rate increased to 90 bpm, coming back down at the tail end of the episode. It scared me. So I went to my cardiologist a couple times and he couldn't find anything. On my third visit (I am persistent about some things) he told me that I should wear a special monitor, he could obtain for me, that would detect atrial fibrillation (which is what he suspected was happening) and record the dates, times and duration of the episode. So I wore that for two weeks, being careful not to get it wet while showering. In the two weeks that I wore it, I tried everything to put my heart into that annoying rhythm. I pushed hard on the bike, I ran a 7:30 mile pace on Ogunquit Beach and I drank lots of coffee (I stayed away from the alcohol that also promotes "afib".). During that time, three episodes were detected, not for as long as an hour but long enough for the monitor to detect it but not really so that I would notice it. Of course, I imagined all kinds of things that, it turned out, really were not happening during exercise. So I was found to have a very mild case of afib. On a scale of 1 to 9, according to my cardiologist, where 9 is the worst afib case, I was less than a 1. According to him, who I trust with my life (a great doctor), afib is progressive. It gets worse the older you get unless it is taken care of. The long and the short of it is that he set me up to have a cryoballoon ablation with the Lahey Clinic through Portsmouth Hospital.

So that's what I did today. It was a three hour procedure with a female electrophysiologist doctor who looked like she just finished a shoot for some fashion magazine. She is a beautiful woman. Stunning, really. And I did have my doubts at my first meeting with this woman; how could a woman be that good looking and also be so good at her profession. But I checked her out extensively and she is really good with a team of doctors out of Layhe Clinic who have been noted for their expertise in this arena for many years. And it turned out very well. Maybe she was trying to make me feel the best but she told me after the operation that it was one of the smoothest, most successful operations she has ever performed. My wife, Deb, suggested that maybe it was her first one! But, no, believe it or not, at 34 years old she had done many. Her words had the desired affect; I felt great about everything afterward. Maybe it was the drugs?

The procedure calls for running tubes up the femoral artery on both sides of the groin area leading to your heart, the atrium in fact. I'm not going into the nitty gritty of the operation because I probably wouldn't get it right. Afterward, there are two puncture wounds where the tubes entered the groin that you have to watch closely for 48 hours, and less closely for a week and checked by a nurse two weeks later. I have to be on blood thinners for three months and have a check of the heart at the three month mark. After that, I'm back to normal with a better heart and no blood thinners. My condition never caused me shortness of breath while it was happening, it never made me feel I had to run slower or bike less. It was just something I wanted to prevent from going further. I guess we well see. I think I'm lucky in that I keep myself in good enough physical shape to be able to detect these physical abnormalities before they become problematic. I'm going with that until proven wrong.

I'm supposed to lay low for 48 hours. So I won't be going into the restaurant tomorrow. Nor did I even call down to the restaurant today. I will be good for closing day on Sunday at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. See you then!

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Ashore, the sky was mostly sunny all day. The wind blew out of the northeast all morning. Wind speeds were about ten knots to start, dropping just about nothing at noon and blowing out of the northwest sometime around sunset. We had northerly winds around 7:00 PM. The visibility was excellent all day. The air temperature reached a high of 54°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 56°F (with a low of ?°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 53°F (with a low of 27°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 53°F (with a low of 29°F).

I didn't do much of anything today, following doctor's orders. I either worked on the computer, read a novel, watched a streaming service or just walked slowly around the house. I was cognizant of the wounds at my groin where the catheters entered my femoral arteries. I was supposed to watch the wounds periodically to check for excessive swelling, bleeding, etc. Fortunately, I experienced none of the things they told me to look out for. I wasn't supposed to lift anything heavier than ten pounds. So I didn't. I spent a quiet night with Deb.

I received a wonderful $150.00 donation sponsoring my ride in the Pan-Mass Challenge from Linda & Mark Hamel (NH). They have donated, through me specifically for cancer research, for many years now, probably since I started being involved with this event in 2007. At any rate, they have been very helpful, supporting me in this endeavor. Thank you so much, Linda & Mark. I appreciate this very much! As my father would have said; "Winter Well!"

Sunday, November 3, 2024

It was a cold day today, the coldest day we have seen since the spring. It wasn't until after 9:00 AM that the air temperature got up over 40°F. The highest air temperature that I saw was 48°F. It could have been warmer than that but I didn't see it or feel it. The wind blew out of the north all morning. Wind speeds were light, to eight knots, maybe. The afternoon saw light and variable winds but mostly winds from some southern component. The ocean along the shore was calm all afternoon. The visibility was excellent. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 47°F (with a low of 36°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 50°F (with a low of 22°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 48°F (with a low of 24°F).

I laid low in the morning. I could have worked on the computer more than I did. But excessive sitting around is not recommended after this ablation procedure I had. That's what I told myself anyway. Instead, I stood and watched some EPL games in the UK on the USA channel on TV.

By 11:00 AM, I was at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. The restaurant didn't open until noon. But I had plenty of desk work to catch up on before we opened. I'm not crazy about the last day of the season. It comes too fast for me. I am never ready for it to end. This mostly because I love the routine. Once tomorrow starts, I will have to organize every working day. This is not something I enjoy. And this may be because I'm just not used to it. By the time I am, the season is ready to start again.

I went home at 5:30 PM to grab Deb and meet Paul (Hez) and Johanna Haseltine for dinner. This is tradition. It was a good end to the season. It was a good season overall and so much better than last year's restaurant season. I have a great crew of employees. I am very lucky.

Monday, November 4, 2024

It seemed cool all day today. I am definitely not used to the colder weather yet. Normally, of course, it is colder in the fall than it has been this fall. Maybe I'm not used to it because it hasn't become gradually colder as it normally does. And, yet, I did see a high temperature later in the afternoon of 48°F. Before 9:00 AM, the air temperature was still in the 30s. The sky cleared somewhat and then clouded over again after noon. The sky was overcast all afternoon with rain showing up around 7:00 PM. It rained on into the night. The visibility was excellent all day until the rain. The wind blew out of the northeast in the morning until after sunrise. Wind speeds were about ten knots. The wind dropped, it became calm and started blowing out of the south. We had light southerly winds for most of the rest of the daylight hours. By 5:00 PM, the southerly wind started to increase. By the time the rain came, the wind was starting to blow over ten knots again. By 8:00 PM, the wind was fifteen knots sustained with higher gusts. Later, I saw gusts over twenty knots. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 50°F (with a low of 35°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 46°F (with a low of 22°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 49°F - at 11:59 PM (with a low of 26°F).

I spent the day running around, moving product out of the building at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. and finalizing things. I had our border collie, Gill, with me most of the morning. By the time I brought the dog home, the fur of his face was covered in stuff that he got into when I was involved in other things around the building.

The Bunny Clark got hauled out of the water at Safe Harbor, Eliot, Maine today. Ian Keniston took the lead on that with Danny DellaMonica helping. This is the first time that I haven't been present when the Bunny Clark has been hauled out in the fall. Ian and Danny were able to get the whole bottom cleaned and the life raft taken off the canopy top. Now she sets, waiting for the next move to her winter home. We have a good weather week coming up to get everything finished on the Bunny Clark if we can get her moved.

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

It had rained through the early morning with misting until about 5:00 AM. When daylight arrived, the sky was overcast. The sky remained overcast for most of the rest of the morning, clearing in the afternoon. We had a clear sunset with much pink and red highlighting the sky. The visibility remained excellent all day. The wind blew out of the southwest starting at 5:00 AM and continued throughout the morning, hauling out of the south after noon. Wind speeds varied from ten to fifteen knots during the day to nothing around sunset. The ocean along the shore was calm at that time. The wind picked up again, out of the southwest, after 7:00 PM. When I went to bed, the velocity was over fifteen knots. It was warm today, the best weather feature. The highest air temperature that I saw was 72°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 75°F (with a low of 49°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 71°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 49°F).

This was another day of running around for me. I bounced between the restaurant and the office here at home all day. Plus, I had two meetings I had to attend, one from 11 AM until noon, the other from 3 PM until 4 PM. I got a good start on the Guestletter today. This is earlier than I normally start. It was a very busy day.

My son, Micah, hauled our skiff out of water, cleaned the bottom and put it in the Bunny Clark truck. Later, Ian Keniston came by and brought the truck to his house, dropped the skiff off and brought the Bunny Clark truck back to the house. He will re-paint the skiff this winter. He worked alone on the Bunny Clark today, cleaning the topsides along with other things. Danny DellaMonica took this day off.

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

The salient weather feature today was the air temperature. The highest air temperature that I saw was 78°F but it certainly could have been higher away from the coast. The wind blew out of the southwest during all the daylight hours. Until noon, we had gusts up over twenty knots. After noon, the wind started diminishing. Wind speeds of ten to twelve knots were prevalent for most of the afternoon. The wind backed out of the west at sunset. The wind was light out of the west through my night. The visibility was very good in some haze over the ocean. The sky was clear all morning, overcast in the afternoon. There was no hint of rain. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 82°F (with a low of 61°F). The high air temperature of 82°F, recorded today, is the highest air temperature recorded in Boston for this date since they have been keeping records (the mid 1800s). The previous record high for this date was 76°F, set in 2022. The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 80°F (with a low of 50°F). The high temperature of 80°F, recorded today, is the highest air temperature recorded in Concord for this date since they have been keeping records (since the mid 1800s). The previous record high for this date was 75°F, set in 1948 and 2022. The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 79°F (with a low of 60°F). The high air temperature of 79°F, recorded today, breaks the record high air temperature recorded in Portland on this date since they have been keeping records (about 80 years). The previous record high for the date was 71°F set in 2020.

The situation of note today was the death of the computer I use in my daily updates here with all the information I use to figure out all my fishing statistics, people of angling prowess and where I housed all my spread sheets and databases. Fortunately, I keep a laptop to use in case this happened, which I am typing on now. And, I also back up all my important stuff every hour. I will hate to see the old girl go. She has been so user friendly over the years. Now I will have to learn a new way with a new computer. I'm not looking forward to it. I have loved using the XP Windows operating system; so easy and such a stable platform. As far as my social media/Internet computer, that's a Mac. I like the Mac but it's harder to use for me than a PC. Although, Deb's computer, using a Windows 11 platform, is not very Tim friendly, I have to say.

So it took a bit of time to get set up to post this update today. I went from that to working on reconditioning our lobster/tuna boats, the Petrel. She is out of the water waiting for a company to sand blast the bottom so I can get the old paint that has accumulated over the years off her and bring the bottom back to the smooth bottom it was before I owned the boat. We are also repowering the Petrel. I've got my decision down to two engines, a Cummins and a Volvo. The other engine manufacturers don't make an engine small enough with enough horsepower to make the switch.

I did a fair amount of work on restaurant stuff, mostly off premises. We have a gang of employees there cleaning and restoring.

I also had some family matters I had to finalize after my mother's passing in 2022. This stuff seems to take forever. Luckily, my siblings are very helpful in all this, particularly my sister, Meg. Although, they are all helpful in their own way.

Ian Keniston and Danny DellaMonica worked on the Bunny Clark all day. And what a day to do it! They removed all the electronics and lots of other stuff in the warm weather. They ended up at my house at the end of the day where we talked about future strategies including winterizing the Bunny's engine, which I need to do tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the dredging of Perkins Cove is on-going, working on dredging the channel first before they do the work inside the bridge. The Army Corps will have to sign off on this project before they can say that they are finished with the dredging. I have a good feeling about their accomplishments. I am not so confident about whether they will finish on time. We shall see.

Thursday, November 7, 2024

The wind blew out of the west at speeds less than ten knots until noon, or around that time. After noon, the wind backed out of the west northwest and blew up to fifteen knots or more. Wind speeds were slightly less going into the night and through it. But the wind direction was the same. The sky was clear all day, the sky almost devoid of clouds at times. The visibility remained excellent. It was another mild day with air temperatures in the 60s early and staying that way throughout the day. It was particularly nice around 11:00 AM with the warmer air temperatures and the lack of wind. The highest air temperature that I saw was 68°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 72°F (with a low of 52°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 64°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 65°F (with a low of 36°F).

After getting all my morning work done, including posting this missive, I had to be in Portsmouth for a laser procedure on my left eye. This eye had cataract surgery a couple of years ago where they took out my original lens and put in a plastic one. About a month ago, my left eye started getting cloudy and unfocused. The long and the short is that the membrane under this plastic lens was preventing me from seeing clearly. The laser cuts a hole in this membrane releases this circular piece of tissue into the fluid of the eye. I was told that it might appear as a "floater" in the future. It was a thirty second procedure that really did improve the sight in that eye. The down side it that replacing that plastic lens will be damn near impossible if that needs to happen in the future.

From the doctor's office in Portsmouth I went straight to the Bunny Clark at Safe Harbor. I had to winterize the engine for winter storage. This requires four gallons of non-toxic antifreeze, an impeller puller, some cleaning brushes and all my tools. The stuff I didn't have I picked up before my doctor's appointment scheduled for 8:00 AM. I couldn't have picked a better day to work on the engine. The air temperature was mild to warm which made it easy to take my time and get the job done. I always pull the raw water impeller while it's still easy to do so. If it sets in the pump all winter, it's harder to do. And, of course, it's colder if I wait. Cleaning the sea strainer is a bit harder. This entails taking the mesh screen tube out of the body of the strainer and cleaning the clear walls of the strainer so you can get a visual of what might be in there during a season. It's one of the first things I check when the flow of salt water is being impended through the engine. And, of course, it has to be cleaned periodically to insure good flow. Invariably, muscles start to grow inside the housing. Growth is slight as it's only a summer season of time for this to happen. I did find a few small ones. It's normally a three hour job. But today it took about four and a half because l lost a machine screw in the bilge when I was taking the back plate off the raw water pump. This meant I had to go to a hardware store to replace the screw. Since the screw was stainless, I couldn't put a magnet in the bilge to retrieve it.

All in all, it went well. I was able to unload and store some other items that we take off the Bunny Clark before she goes into winter storage. By the time my work on the Bunny Clark was completed, it was after 1:00 PM. After lunch, I went down Perkins Cove to check on the cleanup that was being completed at the restaurants. I ended the day at the restaurants.

Meanwhile, the dredging continues at the channel leading out of Perkins Cove proper. Just before sunset, I went over and took a look at the operation as it was happening. I don't know anything about the process of dredging. But it seemed an inefficient way of digging up the channel with a clam shell. But I don't know the whole process. Indeed, I don't know anything at all about it or the methods that could be used.

Friday, November 8, 2024

It was another beautiful fall day in southern Maine. The weather does not owe us anything at this point. Of course, I used to say that about the Red Sox but, I'll admit, I'm getting a little antsey. The sky was mostly clear all day with some clouds in the afternoon. Air temperatures were seasonal with a high of 62°F that I saw. The visibility was excellent. The wind blew out of the west southwest for most of the morning. Wind speeds were about fifteen knots. Before noon, the wind backed out of the west northwest and blew up to twenty-five knots or more. This kept up throughout the day and on into the night. Some gusts were up over thirty knots with leaves blowing everywhere. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 65°F (with a low of 45°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 60°F (with a low of 28°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 33°F).

I spent the day working in the home office working on a mixture of things including restaurant stuff and Bunny Clark stuff. Plus, I concentrated on getting a new engine for the Petrel, renovating the deck at Barnacle Billy's and getting a new bait freezer up and running here at the house.

Ian Keniston worked at the Bunny Clark, getting her ready to move over the road and into the barn. He stopped off here at the house to go over a few things before going home.

I was down at the restaurant for a while.

The dredging continues in the channel leading out of Perkins Cove. Below is a shot from the back of the Cove, by Barnacle Billy's, Etc, showing the bridge, the dredging barge and tug and the lack of boats on moorings. This is a strange sight at this time of year. I thought you might appreciate the different view. Of course, there is always the Barnacle Billy's webcam if you want to go to www.barnbilly.com.

Saturday, November 9, 2024

It seemed like a typical clear fall day today. The wind was out of the northwest with armies of white caps marching off to the southeast. Wind speeds were strong or about twenty to thirty knots, on average, all day. Leaves blew around the yard in accordance with the wind. The visibility was excellent. I'm sure we could have seen Mt. Washington had we been offshore. The sky was mostly cloudless all morning and mostly sunny in the afternoon. The air temperature got up to 52°F, that I saw. Because of the wind direction, we had no ocean influence on the air temperature. The water is getting colder as we lead into winter. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 52°F (with a low of 40°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 50°F (with a low of 25°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 49°F (with a low of 29°F).

I worked in the office here at home until I had to meet with Jayson Lessard (our carpenter) and Mike Dumas (New England's best welder - custom railing producer) at Barnacle Billy's at 7:30 AM. We have to re-plank the deck at Original. On top of that, I am considering putting up a stainless railing with horizontal tubing so that our customers have a better view of Perkins Cove while eating/drinking. We met for about an hour and went over all the possibilities. We left with measurements and ideas so that we can get together in the near future to make some decisions and start the project. This, of course, needs to be completed before the season starts on April 4, 2025.

I did a little more work trying to decide on the new engine that I want to put in the Petrel.

The rest of the day I worked on the Guestletter. In so doing, I completed the task of figuring out who the Fisherman of the Year for 2024 is. I also figured out how to bring my old computer back to life. As I wrote, it died two days ago. Or, I thought it did. I'm hoping I have extended it's life further into the future. I had given up hope until I had renewed interest today. In the process of bringing the old girl back, I realized that I hadn't copied some of the files that I had needed to continue with the Guestletter. Yikes! I could have gotten by without them but it would have meant more time, much of which I do not have.

The dredging in the channel continued today. At one point the tug and barge came in the Cove to turn around. That was quite a sight. I was hoping they weren't going to take out the restaurant in the process. But it was a well controlled 180° turn. I did take some pictures of the actual channel dredging. One of these appears below.

Sunday, November 10, 2024

It was another nice day after a cold start in the morning. The visibility stayed excellent all day. The sky was mostly clear and sunny. The air temperature rose to 56°F and stayed around that air temperature for a couple hours after and around noon. The wind blew out of the southwest in the morning and out of the west in the afternoon. Morning wind speeds were light most of the morning, picking up steam before noon. We had barely ten knots of wind before 11:00 AM. Winds picked up out of the west to almost twenty knots at 2:30 PM. Mostly, wind speeds were about fifteen knots. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 58°F (with a low of 36°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 22°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 24°F).

I hung around the home office all day, pretty much. Most of my time was spent on designing the new Guestletter on a day where vendors weren't calling and very few phones were ringing. I'm actually a little bit further ahead on the Guestletter than I normally am. I would probably be even further ahead if it were not for dealing with this dying computer that I have come to love over the years. Also, this time of year, anything can slow me down in the completion of this yearly project.

I took Gill, our border collie, for a walk on the beach today. I figured it would help us both. A fast walk to the first house in Moody on leash, off leash for a slower walk back and back on the leash to get to the truck. He did okay on the fast walk up. But, afterward, I thought that it wasn't as much fun for Gill. That, maybe, I should go a bit slower and stop here and there so he can smell things. The walk back seemed a bit boring to him. He moped along as I walked ahead and kept gaining on him, coming back periodically to coax him on. When we got home, Gill was content in lying among the oak leaves that seem to be everywhere on our property now.

Monday, November 11, 2024

It was another warm fall day across Maine today. The wind blew out of the southwest all morning. Wind speeds of thirteen to fifteen knots were the rule. Offshore, I noticed, seas were over three feet in chops for most of the day. After noon, the wind, on land, backed out of the west. The wind blew out of the west at ten to fifteen knots, or so, on into the night. The air temperature climbed into the 60s with the highest that I saw, a value of 66°F. I wouldn't be surprised if it rose a couple of degrees higher. The visibility was very good in some haze. The sky remained mostly clear all day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 68°F (with a low of 52°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 65°F (with a low of 43°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 67°F (with a low of 47°F).

After completing this missive, I worked on the Guestletter a bit more. By 8:00 AM, I was down at the restaurant to greet the hood cleaners. They were there to get all the grease that has accumulated high of the hood fans over the grill and the lobster cooker tanks. This is imperative to complete after every season. I had made a reservation to have them down there a year in advance. This particular company out of Lewiston is very good at what they do.

I had a meeting, afterward, with my two managers at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. (Micah Tower & Sarah Cannon) about changing opening and closing times at Etc. We do very little business from 8 to 9 PM in the spring and the fall. So we are thinking of making our closing time at 8 PM during those parts of the season. We can always stay open if the business is good enough. But having all that staff on when we aren't taking in new customers is expensive. We are also going to be opening an hour earlier; at 11 AM instead of noon. When we come to some salient decisions, I will put it on the website at barnbilly.com.

At 11:00 AM, I was racing to Safe Harbor to meet Independant Boat Haulers, who were moving the Bunny Clark to her winter resting place. I got there just as they were moving the boat up the hill and out to the open road. IBH has always been very good to me. I have always enjoyed doing business with them. I took my time, got a coffee and landed at the Barn just as the Bunny Clark was being placed inside. Ian Keniston was already there. It took about a half an hour to get everything completed. I took a picture of the Bunny Clark a couple days before as she was setting on stands at Safe Harbor. This digital image appears below.

After I was done for the day I went for a walk/run for a little over six and a half miles. When I got home, I grabbed Gill and took him for a private walk unleashed on the Marginal Way under the half moon. It was a perfect night for a dog walk. It took twenty-five minutes to cover three quarters of a mile. There is a lot of sniffing to do on the Marginal Way.

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

The salient weather feature today was the wind. By sunrise, the wind had backed out of the northwest and was blowing at fifteen to twenty knots or more. By noon, the northwest wind had increased to twenty-five or more knots with gusts to thirty-five knots. The wind stayed strong all day and long into the night. But after mid afternoon, the wind was mostly out of the north. The sky was mostly clear all day with some clouds. The visibility over the ocean was excellent. The ocean along the shore went from an army of white caps headed offshore to that same army headed back at us from the north. The highest air temperature that I observed was 53°F around noon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 58°F at 1:05 AM (with a low of 37°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 54°F at 12:14 AM (with a low of 32°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 52°F at 12:32 AM (with a low of 33°F).

I worked at the desk here at home until I had to leave at 9:00 to meet an appointment in Exeter with my dermatologist. I spent the rest of the day working on restaurant stuff in preparation for the following Barnacle Billy's season.

The plan for the restaurants next season is for Barnacle Billy's, Etc. to open on May 2nd (instead of the May 1 date that I now have posted on the Barnacle Billy's website) at 11:00 AM and continue the 11:00 AM opening time for the whole season. In the past, we have had week days during the spring where we opened at 5:00 PM. That will not happen next season. When we are open, we will open at 11:00 AM. In the past, Barnacle Billy's, Etc. stayed open until 9:00 PM. Next season, we will stay open until 9:00 PM only during the months of July and August. The rest of the season, spring and fall, we will close at 8:00 PM. If the business warrants it on busy days, we can always stay open later. But, for us, it has been a waste of time and money to stay open that extra hour for the amount of interest it generates.

Ian Keniston and Danny DellaMonica worked at framing up the outside of the barn where the bow of the Bunny Clark sticks out. This has been a thing for forty-two years. They were not able to compete the job of putting the plastic around the framing as it was much too windy. They will tackle that later.

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

The wind was the salient feature of the today's weather again. It wasn't horrible but it did blow out of the north at twenty knots or more all morning. By afternoon, it had dropped a bit but it was still blowing out of the north at fifteen to twenty knots. After sunset, it increased again with as easterly lilt to it. At 8:00 PM, the wind was blowing out of the north northeast at almost twenty-five knots. The sky was clear all day with few clouds. The visibility was excellent. The highest air temperature that I saw was 46°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 46°F (with a low of 32°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 46°F (with a low of 21°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 43°F (with a low of 28°F).

After posting this update, I met the two individuals who delivered fuel to the Bunny Clark and fuel and gas to both restaurants. I wanted to go over the game plan for next season and to thank them for all the help they gave me this last season. We leave the dock at such odd hours on the boat during a season and they are always there for me. I can call them at any time of day without having to go through the office at Estes, the company I have dealt with for many years. Mike Estes and his daughter, Kate, own the business. I grew up right across the street from where Mike's wife, Terry, grew up. And Mike has been a good friend for a long time.

I had a dentist appointment at 8:00 AM.

By 9:30 AM, I was involved in meetings with the kitchen staff at Barnacle Billy's, Etc. Managers Micah Tower and Sarah Cannon ran the meeting while I chimed in here and there. That lasted all morning. After lunch, I went back to Barnacle Billy's, Etc where I met with Micah and Sarah again to go over the work order repair list so I can draw up a proper list and start on the projects. The main project for Billy's will be the re-planking of the deck and installing a new stainless steel railing.

I was done with the restaurants at 4:00 PM. After I got home, I started to pack for Recreational Advisory Panel meeting to take place in Providence, RI at 9:00 AM tomorrow morning. Initially, I was going to drive down tonight. But, after thinking about it, I didn't want to get into a mess at night after getting up at 3:00 AM today and fighting through being too tired as I drove down there. It certainly would be along night if I broke down trying to get there. So I decided to go down early tomorrow morning, stay the night tomorrow night and drive home early the next morning.

Thursday, November 14, 2024

The sky stayed clear all day, cloudless at some points, I was told. The wind blew out of the north or north northeast all morning. Wind speeds were fifteen to twenty knots. After noon, the wind was directly out of the north at ten to fifteen knots. This wind remained through most of the night. The visibility remained excellent. The air temperature reached a high of 46°F again today, I was told. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 44°F (with a low of 31°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 47°F (with a low of 17°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 45°F (with a low of 24°F).

I left the house at 4:45 AM to drive to Providence for the Recreational Advisory Panel meeting to take place at 9:00 AM. The RAP is a committee that advises the New England Fishery Management Council on recreational fishing issues. Most of the what the RAP suggests the Council accepts, or has in the past. But not always. Our decisions are based on the best science available from other factions in New England including the Northeast Fisheries Center. But we also bring new ideas to the table and we help form the fishing regulations every year. On the regulation front, we rarely stray too far from what our advisors say according to the bio-economic models. This meeting today was held by Council staff. They do such a good job setting all this up. Robin Frede, a fishery analyst for groundfish, took the lead today. She's excellent.

Today the meeting was set around gearing up for the meeting in January where we make suggestions for the upcoming regulations for recreational fishing year 2025, which starts on May 1, 2025 and ends on April 30, 2026. The areas of concern are the Gulf of Maine (GOM) regulations and the Georges Bank (GB) regulatory areas. That's generally the areas we cover. More specifically, we are concerned with the southern New England cod stocks. Most of the groundfish we catch will remain with the same regulations that we have had for the last two years. This includes pollock, cusk, wolffish, red hake, mackerel, shark species, white hake, halibut, whiting, etc. Of major concern, as I just mentioned, are the cod stocks. The haddock stocks are also a big concern but not as concerning as the cod stocks. The cod stocks are in trouble according to the best available science and according to me. Although, most don't agree with me. [I think that a lot of the reason most don't agree with my views on cod is that they haven't been in the fishery as long as I have and their idea of a healthy cod stock is very different from mine. But this is my opinion. My view is that I care more about the fish than most anyone I talk to. I realize that some of these regulations are onerous enough to put people out of business. But, sometimes, you have to make hard choices to get the desired outcome. Basically, if you save the fish you save the fishermen and the fishery. Like I said, my view.]

The long and short is that the cod, or lack thereof, are driving the regulations. Every year a cod quota (in layman terms), called a sub-ACL (Annual Catch Limit) is set for both the GOM and the GB. Last year the GOM's sub-ACL was set at 179 metric tons. This coming season, I learned, the sub-ACL will be set at 99 metric tons. This may still give us some cod to keep in the fall. But it may not. A lot depends on how close we got to this season's sub-ACL after all the landings are tallied up. If we caught more that 100 metric tons this season (and discards are included in this assessment), we will be seeing further restrictions. It will be close. The good thing is that there is very little recreational fishing for cod in December, January, Feburary and March. There is some recreational fishing that catches cod in April. Of course, projections will have to be assumed as we won't have the numbers at our January RAP meeting. There will certainly be some debate.

As far as the GB stocks, southern New England cod stocks, their sub-ACL was 77 metric tons last year. According to the "best available science", the spawning stock biomass - cod of 17" or over - has been caught every year for the last few years. This is hard to imagine since we keep catching it. What is hard for most fishermen to swallow is that why, if we are catching the SSB every year, are there still a good amount of cod to catch every year? It's a good question. But it's also a question that can't be answered, much to the chagrin of fishery managers, fishermen and stakeholders. The powers that be are setting the sub-ACL for southern New England cod at 11 metric tons. Unfortunately, the discarded cod alone will probably get you to that figure. So, assuming they stay with that yearly quota, no angler will be able to keep cod in southern New England during fishing year 2025.

Needless to say, there was much debate about the potential for very restrictive regulations for this coming fishing season in both the GOM and SNE. No decisions were made today, of course. So it wasn't heated in the debate arena. But I can see some potential for that in the future. By the way, this also means that commercial fishermen won't be able to keep cod either in SNE, if this sub-ACL is set in stone. There is very little chance that the course that fishery management is steering will stray from very restrictive regulations.

After lunch, there was a recreational fishery roundtable discussion about how data is being collected to regulate the saltwater angling fishery, new approaches to management and future ideas for gathering information and for changing the way we regulate ourselves. This was hosted by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials including our Regional Administer in Gloucester, Michael Pentony. There was a question and information gathering period for over an hour afterward.

I would say that the hot button topic of the last part of the day was the idea of having "recreational sector separation". In other words, making regulations that better fit certain user groups. Generally, this could mean different regulations for party/charter vessels as opposed to private boat anglers. This idea has the RAP divided and has divided the RAP in previous meetings over the years. Also, most fishermen in the room were not happy with current regulations due to a large gap between what the government is seeing for landings and what the fishermen see first hand. I'm not going to go into this here.

I had a quick dinner and went to bed in a room provided for me by the Council at the Hilton, where the meeting was held.

Friday, November 15, 2024

At 6:00 AM EST the air temperature was 29°F, the sky was cloudless, the wind was blowing out of the northwest at ten knots and the visibility over the ocean was excellent.

It seemed to take a long time before the air temperature rose out of the 30s this morning. In fact, after noon, I had assumed it was still cold when I went outside but was pleasantly surprised that air temperature was over 50°F. The highest air temperature that I saw was a wopping 58°F after not even reaching 40°F by 9:00 AM. On the flip side, the air temperature stayed above 50°F until at least 6:30 PM, making it a good evening to walk Gill, our border collie. The wind blew out of the northwest all day. But it wasn't strong. I know that some of the offshore readings were over fifteen knots at times. But it was never that strong ashore. Eleven knots, maybe? The visibility remained excellent all day. The sky was clear most of the day with some higher thin clouds around noon. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 60°F (with a low of 34°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 56°F (with a low of 16°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 57°F (with a low of 22°F).

After getting home, I went right to writing up about the last two days and posting this as soon as I could. For the rest of the day I was running around working on ideas for the railing at Billy's, talking about re-powering the Petrel, arranging a family meeting, registering two vehicles, etc., etc. After walking the dog from 6:30 PM to 7:00 PM, Deb & I ate dinner and I planned to watch the Mike Tyson/Jake Paul fight on Netflix. That didn't happen. I'm a fan of Katie Taylor from Ireland, which was supposed on before the main event, at 8:00 PM. But that wasn't available. By 8:45 PM, after playing around watching other things to take up time, I decided it all wasn't worth it and that I just wouldn't make it, being just too tired. I heard, later, that the Tyson/Paul fight was unremarkable anyway.

I was in Portsmouth Hospital in the diagnostic cardio section getting my two week appraisal of the heart ablation that I had on November 1. I was hooked up to an EKG, had my blood pressure taken, asked quite a few questions and looked over physically. They were pleased with the way I had progressed and gave me clearance to work out in any manner I chose until they see me again in February. With that news, I fast walked/ran (all the ascents & Ogunquit beach) 6.5 miles starting at 5:10 PM and ending with the walk on the Marginal Way with Gill. My heart performed better than it has for years. I've always had an arrhythmic heart, since before high school. And that's a long long time ago!

As a side note, I heard two days ago that the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, through genetic profiling, is taking the lead in Melanoma skin cancer in these United States. As most know, this is more than simple skin cancer and is one of the deadliest cancers known, some forms of it, that is. There are three genes responsible for it. And that makes it tricky because the gene interaction is one that has been hard to figure out. It was only a couple years ago that they found the genes responsible. It was thought that it was genetic - and I'm not sure how many melanomas have their origins in the genes - for years. The research group I support has stopped genetically originated cancers, three of them, thus bypassing chemo and radiation therapy. They are involved in melanoma but I'm not sure what part they play. But solving a gene interaction problem would be huge. I am still taking donations, if solving these types of issues is important to you. I had a good friend in St. Thomas, USVI, when I was running sailboats down there, who was admitted to the hospital with melanoma, in 1975, who never made it out and passed ten days later. I'll never forget the horror of that. Things like this drive me to fund anyone who is helping to solve the cancer riddle. I know that many things are important to work on. Cancer just seems to be my thing.

Saturday, November 16, 2024

It was a relatively mild weatherless impact day today. Winds blew lightly out of the northwest all morning, started blowing out of the east at eight knots around noon, petered out to nothing by mid-afternoon and then came up out of the northwest at about ten knots, tops, from sunset into the night. The sky went from clear to cloudy around noon and then back to clear again. The visibility was excellent. The air temperature got boosted up into the "warmer than mild" category, warm for this time of year. The highest air temperature that I saw was 57°F. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 62°F (with a low of 45°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 57°F (with a low of 39°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 54°F (with a low of 35°F).

I didn't do very much today. The focus of the morning was a very enjoyable family meeting at our parents house or Tower Central, North. Other than that, I did not very much except a bit of reading, trying to finish up a novel I have had the luxury of spending time with.

Sunday, November 17, 2024

The wind had no teeth today. And, on top of that, it was another mild day with plenty of sunshine. We will probably end up paying for this great weather. Most probably want payback to be a lot of rain; we haven't had much lately.

The wind started off light out of the northwest. Wind speeds were, at most, eight knots. There was no wind around noon. The ocean was flat and glassy along the shore. I looked at the buoy reports for wind at sunset. They showed light winds from the south. But there was no wind evident on the surface of the ocean close to shore. The wind came up out of the northwest after sunset. Wind speeds were about five to eight knots, at most. The sky was mostly clear all day. The visibility was excellent. I went for a walk around mid morning with a starting temperature of 50°F. At the end of the walk, I noticed that the air temperature was 57°F in the shade at the back of the house. While driving around town, in the truck, I noticed that the air temperature went up as high as 63°F. In Portsmouth, New Hampster, the high air temperature for the day was 62°F. It was certainly a nice day. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 64°F (with a low of 46°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 34°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 31°F).

Today was spent working on house cleaning; getting set up for the work week starting tomorrow. I finished a lot of stuff up at the desk in the office. In between time, I also got some exercise in. I spent the afternoon in Portland, Maine, working on getting a new mobile phone at the Apple store.

I was able to take Gill for a two mile walk on the beach at, almost, high tide. We spent our first mile up the beach slow-walking and sniffing, taking our time. On the way back it was all business. I was walking but, sometimes, has to jog to keep up with Gill. Even the various dogs we met on the way back didn't slow him down for long. Gill has been like that for years; tough to get him up the beach, a breeze to get him to walk/run back. There was no need for a leash today.

Monday, November 18, 2024

At sunrise, we still had a canopy of clouds overhead and to the southwest. But, to the east, we had a clear sky. An hour later, it was raining. That didn't last long. In fact, it was the only rain we got today. The sky cleared later in the morning and became sunny. We had sunny skies for the rest of the day. The visibility remained excellent. There wasn't enough wind to write about all morning and most of the afternoon. Indeed, the ocean was flat calm along the shore with a very small sea breaking on the beach. The wind started to blow out of the northwest before sunset. Wind speeds of ten knots were attained at 5:30 PM, when I took Gill for a walk along the Marginal Way. At 8:00 PM, the northwest wind was a bit stronger at fifteen knots. The air temperature today was, again, mild. The highest air temperature that I saw was 60°F. It's been a very mild fall. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 61°F (with a low of 43°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 59°F (with a low of 35°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 59°F (with a low of 34°F).

My day was spent mostly on the phone. The first day of the work week is like this for me at this time of year. I have a lot of projects going on, not the least of which is getting Barnacle Billy's, Inc. up and running with all the winter projects and future staffing issues. Along with this was a manager's meeting I called for 11:00 AM today. I didn't have a preliminary meeting like this last year. I wanted one this year while the season was still fresh in everyone's mind so we could go over staffing problems and equipment we needed to replace, some of which we have wanted to address for a couple years now. The meeting lasted almost two hours. It was a good start and set the tone for some of the other meetings to follow.

I was on the phone for the rest of the day chasing down leads concerning our earlier discussion and other things related to the Bunny Clark and the re-powering of the Petrel. I gave up at 5:00 PM.

In the meantime, Ian Keniston was working on rebuilding the reels we used and getting a parts list together for me to order.

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

At sunrise, the sky was cloudless. The air temperature had dropped to 39°F as well. The visibility remained excellent for the day. The wind blew out of the northwest a bit over ten knots ashore. I did see it blew a bit harder offshore. But sometimes I wonder how accurate those buoy readings are. It didn't blow that hard here. And the ocean along the shore had calm streaks. Or was I seeing things? The sky was clear all day, cloudless for most of it. It was another mild day today with the air temperature getting up to 56°F, that I saw. In Boston, Massachusetts (Logan International Airport) the high air temperature was 57°F (with a low of 45°F). The Concord, New Hampshire's high temperature was 53°F (with a low of 44°F). The high air temperature at the Portland International Jetport, Portland, Maine was 55°F (with a low of 38°F).

It was a busy day today. I got up at 1:00 AM, as I couldn't sleep anyway. I went to bed at 8:00 PM; so I had enough sleep. That allowed me to get an hour of core work (work-out) in, my social media post up and a 4 mile run, concentrating on hills.

At 8:00 AM, my son, Micah, and I headed to Portland in the Bunny Clark truck to look at Cummins engines for re-powering of the Petrel. We spent and hour with a very informative Dave Kline, who couldn't have been nicer. I learned a lot in a short time. For the rest of the day, at intervals, I followed up on the change by doing a bit of research and going over to the Petrel to look at propeller sizes and looking to see where the engine would set. I want to move the engine back some so she sets on her lines better and will be better balanced with a tower and tuna stand in the future.

Once I got home, I had a meeting with our managers at Barnacle Billy's. I'm trying to get a list of repairs together but I needed to hash out some details. This led to a meeting with Sarah Cannon (our top manager who works with Micah at Barnacle Billy's, Etc.) to go over a few things with her. Then I met with Tom Dickerson, my flooring guy. I need to make a few changes here and there. That took me through lunch.

After meeting with my cardiologist, Deb and I drove to Portsmouth to pick up my other truck that had been services at Coast GMC. After this is when I went to visit the Petrel to scope things out.

The rest of the day was spent working on the "repair list" for Barnacle Billy's and working on the same for the Bunny Clark. I was done by 6:30 PM.

I received a generous $120.00 donation sponsoring me in the Pan-Mass Challenge from Merv & Brian Murphy (NH). Marian & Brian have helped me in this cancer project since I got involved in 2007. I so enjoy having them on the Bunny Clark. The donation was made in the form of an "eGift" through the PMC site. They also left me a message that said; "Much love and respect to you for all that you continue to do to help find a cure for cancer." Thank you very much, Merv & Brian. I so appreciate your thinking of me and this project. Means a lot.

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

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