18 August 2011 Picture Perfect Retriever?

In true August fashion, there was a decent bank of fog surrounding us this morning while we ate breakfast. Amy & I are hosting our friends Mike Dudley & Shannon Levesque for a few days, and after we ate Mike & I went down the hill for the morning check of the condition of The Cove.  As is usual on foggy mornings, our moorings were almost completely full, with the skippers waiting out the fog in the comparative safety of our harbor.  I was concerned by one gent who had anchored about forty feet off of the rocks on the NE side of the Cove, who also was clearly not securely anchored.  As it was low tide I walked out to on the rocks until I could almost spit onto the deck of this sailboat, and offered a polite salutation to the owner, and pointed out we had moorings available still.  He looked around, and replied “Nah, I think I’m fine”.  I blinked, responded “roger that” and left.  If someone wants to do something goofy after they’ve been warned, it is not my problem.

Visitors to the island get a good laugh when I command Darcy Dog to “stop being a nuisance”.  He generally speaking is a well behaved pooch, he just rarely does anything useful other than provide cheap entertainment.  Imagine my surprise this morning when he waltzed by me on the main trail, with a camera case dangling out of his mouth, looking rather smugly satisfied with himself.  I have no idea where he found it, there had been no visitors to the island at that point, but find a very nice camera & case he did.  He certainly got a Scooby Snack when we got to the top, and although he didn’t know why he got a treat, he was satisfied.

I was also satisfied this morning, as I made more huge strides working on Dory.  Amy & I are hosting our friends Mike Dudley & Shannon Levesque for a few days, and I took advantage of another pair of capable hands to help me fit the port gunwale onto Dory.  With Mike’s assistance, I managed to complete the work in a few short hours, making me think there is still hope to launch her once before the summer is over.  My last task is to steam & fit some stiffeners in place; stay tuned for further developments.

Mike & I had just finished our chores with Dory when the Small Point Summer School assaulted us for the second time this summer, with their Army of Darkness.  In all seriousness, they had called ahead so we were expecting them, and the kids are pleasant enough.  They tried to provoke me into letting the throw things off the tower again.  I out-smarted them this time round however.  I had gotten rid of all the balsa wood planes & other toys prior to their arrival, and thoroughly confused the younger kids by denying that they had ever been there.  They have their fun, and I have my fun.

Everything became reasonably peaceful when they departed.  Amy & I mowed the lawns while Mike & Shannon wandered the island a bit, enjoying their explorations all the more for never having been here before.  The fog had lifted around 0930, and stayed out, although visibility remained reduced throughout the day.  It cooled down fast tonight, so we made dinner & retired to the living room to play hearts for the duration.

19 August 2011

By this point in the summer I should pretty much disregard any weather forecast provided by NOAA.  I believe those scientists know what they are talking about; I also believe that Seguin lives in its own little bubble of uncertainty.  Based on the predictions, I had all but promised Mike & Shannon a quiet Friday of mostly fog & rain, with few visitors.  Long, intense games of Scrabble seemed to be imminent when we went to sleep last night.  Imagine our disappointment then, when we rose early this morning, to find the weather was foggy, but otherwise warm & sunny.  I knew then and there, as I was cooking sourdough pancakes, that our laid back day was doomed. 

I discovered shortly after breakfast that “doomed” was too mild of an adjective to use for our day.  I carried a cup of coffee out onto the porch to see five boats loaded down with people zipping towards the island out of the thinning fog; indeed, the Southport Yacht Club had returned.  For the second day in a row our peace was shattered by fifty loud kids.  I managed to get them in & out of the tower in reasonably short order, and they had just left when a clutch of forty people came up the hill, some from the Leeward, and some from their own boats.  We tied our record for busiest day by the time the fracas ended around 1500; the main difference today was that Alicia & Rich (a very nice couple from Westport) brought us an unlooked for gift bag of wine, cheese, and other snacks.  Thank you Alicia & Rich!  If you’re reading this, it lasted about two hours after you delivered it to us.  We put it to good use.

Aside from the huge amount of tours Amy & I gave, Mike & I managed to get three more windows painted, and I managed to get Phase II of Darcy’s physical therapy started.  The vet wanted us to begin attaching a weight to his lame leg in order to encourage him to use it.  Let me just say, our poodle puppy did not fancy having a 1lbs sand bag lashed to his leg with an ace bandage.  I got to hear all kinds of new disgruntled whining noises from our hound.

We finished today much like yesterday, playing hearts with Mike & Shannon, eating, drinking, and making merry.  It is a good end to another good day, for sure.  The weather is still holding steady, no rain, a steady gentle S’ly breeze, but with the high clouds definitely starting to shape up.  I (yet again) have full expectations for a relaxed day on Saturday.         

20 August 2011 Socked In

Mike & Shannon discovered what a good Seguin Fog looks like this morning.  The horn tripped on between 0430 and 0530 this morning, heralding the solid wall of grey I crawled out of bed to see an hour later.  It was thick enough that I was doubtful my father would be able to get out to the island to pick up the Dudley clan.  I should never doubt my intrepid dad and the Lovely Linda however; we had to scurry when his voice came booming over the radio that he was passing Pond Island heading our way.

Fortunately we had already eaten breakfast at this point, and I think we only delayed him about five minutes while we finished getting everything down the hill.  We chatted with Dad, said our goodbyes to Mike & Shannon, and they headed off into the fog, while Amy & I went back to the top to clean up & prepare for the next round, which began when Ethan brought out a tour group a few short hours later.  While the visitors were all duly impressed with the tower and the Fresnel Lens, but that was all they could see.  The fog persisted through their entire visit, denying even a view of the Whistle House at times.

Ethan’s crew departed at their accustomed time, leaving us, and Judy & Chuck Reeves, with the island to ourselves.  Judy (who is our office manager) and her husband are making use of the guest quarters tonight; we had only one other visitor tonight, Capt Ralph Ferguson & his wife.  Captain Ferguson & I graduated from Maine Maritime 40 years apart from each other, he in 1965 and I in 2005, and had a good time chatting and looking at the light.  The Fergusons got to enjoy the view from the tower, as the fog had finally lifted around 1500.  After the Fergusons left, we invited Chuck & Judy over for dinner.  I made a batch of sourdough pizza, while Judy provided the beer & the dessert.

The evening has come to a peaceful conclusion.  I am writing this while Amy finishes the dishes, and Judy & Chuck are stargazing.  The fog has not rolled back in, and while the setting sun silhouetted a beautifully formed anvil cloud, the gentle SE’ly breeze and steady barometer is not indicating any treacherous weather approaching.  The forecast is calling for a cold front to disrupt the streak of good weather tomorrow, but I am thinking it may hold off until the evening.  We’ll see.     

21 August 2011 Alone At Last

So after I finished writing the blog last night, my intention was to practice my mandolin.  I played through two songs just fine, had large amounts of trouble playing the third piece, and had fallen asleep before I could try to play the fourth.  This was at 2030.  Clearly cooking all that food and playing host had pretty much tapped me out.  I only got up long enough to slide into bed from the couch, and slept the rest of the night through. 

When I finally woke up this morning, it was to the sound of the foghorn going off yet again (big surprise) although today it only last to about 0800 before the visibility cleared up.  We never had great visibility today, but I could at least pick out Popham Beach and Sheepscot Bay for the better part of the day.  This made the folks Ethan brought out slightly happier, as they see more than a wall of grey.  The only visitors we had today at all were from Leeward; Judy & Chuck left when they did, leaving Amy & I to ourselves on the island for the first time since Tuesday.

After our guests left Amy & I again began cleaning things up, we played a game of cribbage, and I had every intention to do some minor work around the Quarters.  This was not fated to be, as a severe thunderstorm warning was broadcast for our area, so instead performing work, I had to scurry around closing windows and doors, battening down the proverbial hatches.  I had everything closed up by 1630, and had a couple of hours before we finally got slammed by some thunderstorms around 1830.  There wasn’t anything really exciting like hail, but the winds & rain were enough to keep my attention.

Clearly we were spending the remainder of the evening inside, so we heated up leftover pizza for dinner, played some cribbage, and hung out until it was time for me to type this up and head for the rack.  There are more severe weather alerts being broadcast via VHF as I’m wrapping this up, so I’m expecting an unsettled night. 

22 August 2011 Know Nothing NOAA

Yet again today I am annoyed with the weather forecast.  While the 90% chance of overnight thunderstorms delivered (a particularly violent one woke me up at 0515 this morning) the rest of the day’s predictions were wrong.  Normally this isn’t too big of a deal, today however the folks at the National Weather Service called for winds to die this afternoon, and planned on ending a small craft advisory at 1400.  Accordingly, I saw no one, and I mean no one, out on the water this morning, but by noon there were quite a few pleasure craft out, expecting conditions to moderate.  Except they never did moderate until around 1700, and in the meantime, the wind veered all the way from SW’ly to NW’ly, and freshened, churning up some beautiful seas, and wreaking havoc on the stomachs of the boat crews.  I am not impressed with NOAA and NWS at the moment.

Aside from the winds and seas, it was a beautiful day.  We had sun almost all day, and it the temps remained cool, primarily due to the wind.  I got the outhouse cleaned, moved stuff down the hill for Wednesday, scraped the windows Mike & I painted, sealed one window frame that needed it, and with Amy’s help mowed all the grass.  I also gave a few tours; four people on their trimaran braved the seas to get here, and USCG Helo 6002 from Air Station Cape Cod paid us a visit so her crew could make a head call.  For those of you counting, the USCG has been here three times, twice in Helo 6004 and once in 6002.  All have been pleasant visits.

I spent the remaining time in the day with my ear glued to my new cell phone (dammit Amy), preparing for real life to start up again in a few short days.  I coordinated getting friends back & forth to the island during my last week here, set up appointments ashore, contacted my office & my ship about my imminent return to duty, and generally put myself in a funk thinking about the world outside of Seguin.  Helping Amy, who is leaving on Wednesday, pack her stuff up did not help my mood.  I am going to leave ten furrows in the beach with my fingers when they finally pull me off of here.

Enough moping about something that isn’t happening quite yet.  I made dinner, Amy & I played cribbage, I practiced mandolin, did some editing on the job description for future caretakers, and now am finishing up this entry.  The weather has finally settled out, I think (hope).  The breeze has moderated to a gentle NW’ly, the seas are dying, the sky is nice and clear, and the barometer is rising.  This all bodes well for the morning, when I am expecting a visit from a former caretaker who is rather dear to me.

23 August 2011 Salty Lady

I set out to Seguin with one goal in mind: to become a little salty.  Though I will probably never be referred to as the saltiest dame alive (that honor goes to our guest tonight, Ann Luken), the saltiest lady around, nor even one who can ring salt from her socks, I like to think that this summer seasoned me well with a little bit of salt.  

My last evening on the island of course lends itself to reflection on what I’ve learned.  I am happy to report that I can now differentiate between a sloop, a yawl, and a ketch and I finally know what a Hinckley is.  I can determine which direction the wind is coming from, identify what different cloud patterns indicate for weather to come, know how to read a chart, know what a freshening wind is, know what the barometer indicates, and can communicate correctly on the VHF radio.  I also know a little bit about waves, swells, how to row, and of course the difference between oars and paddles.  For the moment we will ignore the fact that the one time I set foot on a sail boat this summer I became ill.  Moral of the story: I’m pretty pleased with my increased level of salt.

In addition to reflection, this evening also shows potential for proving epically fun.  As mentioned we have a house guest, the Salty Ann Luken, in addition to Nate’s sister and former Keeper, Kate Power, Stephanie Manning, and Matt Farmer. Ann, Stephanie and Matt are all former MMA class mates of Nate, and Kate… is well… Kate. 

In preparation for this evening, Nate rowed nearly a mile off Seguin’s shores this morning to procure lobster for our festivities. He also provided one of the most delicious risottos to ever pass my lips (Nate makes a mean risotto). Moreover, our bevy of company hauled enough fermented joy to appease an army. They also provided ample “Rom Noms” in the form of crackers, brie, goat cheese, olives, summer sausage, and many other delicious delicacies that my gastro-intestinal tract will remember that my mind does not. All I can say is THANK GOD my wedding dress was slightly too loose at my last fitting.

So off I go to frolic with friends and I leave you, and Seguin, happy to be here, but excited to see what comes next.



11 August- 17 August Unfortunate Event

A most unfortunate event has occurred.  Nate and I were moving our Seguin files from my computer to his since my hard drive is full of Grey’s Anatomy and Gossip Girl to the point where Word can no longer auto save. This greatly peeved Nate. Not realizing he had the blog open (and saved on the flash drive), I pulled the flash drive out of his computer to move our gift shop files from my computer to his.  And now the blog from last week is corrupted and lost. Hence this one condensed and Amy-fied version of last weeks events. Lesson learned (I hope): always properly eject flash drives.  Always.

This past week we had a moderate flow of visitors which began on Thursday with Nate’s father who came out to help Nate work on Dory and test drive the “steam box.”  They rigged up a lobster cooker and an old gutter to create a contraption which they anticipated would help bend the bits of wood into place.  The key word here is “anticipated”. I have never seen Nate quite so angry with an eventual success as when he realized 1) that his steam box did not work, 2) that all he needed to do this whole time was soak the wood in the bathtub for a day or so, and 3) that Dory could have been complete weeks ago had he known 1 & 2.  He’s over it now and Dory is well on her way to completion and her maiden voyage.  Stay tuned.

Our visitor count continued to climb and eventually peaked for the week on Saturday which added to an already busy day as a work party descended upon Seguin in a flurry of activity and productivity. Ken Young could be spotted anywhere and everywhere as he enthusiastically erected a structure which illustrates the size and location of the original tower. In addition, he also installed corner pieces to the Second Assistant Keeper’s house which illustrate its size and location.  The rest of the work party took up the Window Warrior effort by repairing and replacing window sills and frames.  Finally, the volunteers rounded out their day of service by hauling the remaining garbage off of the island. Over all Nate and I were thoroughly pleased with the day’s events, especially since amid all the tours, and helping where we could with the work party, we even managed to get the lawn mowed. Now that’s what I call a productive day. 

With Sunday came the rain. And the fog. We honestly didn’t expect to see a soul, which is why we were caught a little off guard by the persistent tourists who came out with Ethan despite the clouds, and again by two family groups who braved the seas to enjoy Seguin.  We happily showed everyone around, enjoyed a few savage games of cribbage and Scrabble and called it an early night.

Monday and Tuesday were more what we had been expecting with the onset of awful weather- two visitors between the two days. Dick Walker and his friend, Tom, were beginning a two week cruise, and decided to make a pit stop to visit us. With them came a plethora of lobster, steamers, and good conversation.  Understanding the summer is almost over, I will still throw this out there: anyone who brings lobster to share is allowed to come, hang out, and use our kitchen. Just saying…

I also came to a conclusion on Monday and Tuesday.  I love rainy days on Seguin.  There is a certain peace that falls over the landscape along with the mist and fog.  I greatly enjoy conversing with the people who visit and learning about them and where they hail from.  However, after a busy week there is nothing quite so welcome as a day or two of nothing but the pitter patter of rain drops, and yes, even the distant drone of the fog horn.  And thus ended our week, with peace and relative quiet.