Tenants Harbour Traps
Setting a course 3 to 4 miles off shore we sat back and enjoyed the slow rhythmic undulations of the sea swell which seemed to be timed with the soft drone of the engines. Slowly we watched as the bright morning sky started to cloud in and a few rain drops appeared on the windshield. Nothing bad appeared on the radar but when we saw a distant island fog in and a lobster boat disappear into a light fog, we became somewhat alarmed. Is this going to get thicker? Should we take one of the alternate routes I plotted in case of inclement weather or should we keep going? We still had phone service so we called ahead to Tennants Harbour and reached a soft spoken man named Stuart. Stuart said in his lilting down home accent, "We have heavy fog over he ah, but it was lifting". He couldn't see the harbor from his office window but "Hold on. I'll just walk out and look out into the bay... Yes, it's lifting you should be OK. Looks like you are bringing the good weather with you," he said calmly.
As the fog became thicker I decided maybe the best course would be to just hurry up and get there. Powering up.....no go....only 12 knots....What!.."What now I cursed!" as I cut back the throttles and went down into the engine room to see if there was a problem. If you remember back to the first part of the blog, when we started out, this problem was due to a lot of water in the bilge. Not this time. I pumped out what little water was present from the dripping packing glands then checked the fuel filters. The port engine fuel filter pressure gauge had gone from 5 to 10 mm...not enough to hold back fuel delivery but I switched it to a fresh filter just in case. Back up at the helm I powered up with the same result. Clearly we would not be running fast, but why?
The seas were calm and we had radar so we just kept our normal 1200 rpms, but our speed was at least a knot or two slower than expected. For fear of whatever was slowing us down getting worse, Beth refused to allow me to stop and back up to see if I could clear anything from the props or stabilizers...until she saw a Minke whale off our starboard side. I pulled the throttles back and pulled the transmissions in neutral. As she was trying to get a picture, I pulled the transmissions in reverse. An alarmed Beth came tearing back from the bow of the boat yelling, "Oh my God, you just ran over a lobster buoy and cut the rope. I saw the cut end of the rope!" There were no buoys in the area so I realized that it was a lobster buoy dragging off of our stabilizer that was slowing us down.
We continued on and managed to navigate through another mine field of pots to finally enter Tennants Harbour. I had called ahead and Stuart had a diver ready to go under and check Doc's Holiday's bottom. Sure enough there was still a couple of fathoms of rope hanging off the starboard stabilizer. Some lobsterman back in Biddeford Pool is probably still looking for his trap!
Now let me tell you about Tennants Harbor. This is down east Maine. Warm friendly people who will bend over backwards to help you out and not rip you off in the process.
Stuart is a thin man with a warm calm inviting demeanour and a soft voice that reminds one of Harrison Keller, the host of the radio show on public radio from "Lake Wobegone". His assistant, Chrissy is a bright enthusiastic girl with a glint of mischievousness in her eye who has "all you need to know about Tennants Harbour."
Chrissy informed us that the boat "Dreadnought" tied to the dock was owned by the famous painter Andrew Wyeth. His son, Peter owned one of the islands here and Andrew owned a couple of islands south of here. There was a museum nearby but we would have to get a taxi to get there.
"Dreadnought"
The famous Maine boat builder, Lyman Morse leased this facility as a launching site. Her father has worked for Lyman Morse for 30 years. We immediately took her up on her offer to show us a "mock up boat" that was put together because the would be owner really wanted to see what it was going to look like, not just the blue prints. The mock up was impressive and shows just what extent this boat builder will go to help his customers realize their dream. Unfortunately, the fortune of the person ordering the boat changed and construction stopped, but the mock is there with the blue prints for anyone who wants to continue the construction.
Stuart came out to check on us at our mooring and after helping me shorten the scope of the mooring, was not satisfied that if the wind came up we wouldn't hit another boat close to us. He very kindly had us move in to the dock for the night...at no extra charge! He even helped us get secured to the dock. Because we might be leaving before he got to work in the morning, he thanked us for coming in...and invited us to return on our way back. Considerate, caring, honest down home people!
Four in the morning and I heard the lobstermen starting their engines. The chilly fresh salt air was drifting in our aft cabin window as I slipped on some clothes and made my way to the galley to make coffee. I watched as the harbour started to come to life. As I watched the boys putting on their slickers to go fishing, something caught my eye. Thin somewhat aesthenic people with long hair getting on their boat? Not the usual outline of a rugged lobsterman. No....with the aid of my binoculars it was clear...two girls putting on their slickers to take their lobster boat "Endurance" out to their traps.. It turns out that Paula and Chelsea have been lobstering for several years! Yes!! Down Home Maine!
Here sex , race, color or creed doesn't matter...honesty, hard work, respecting and caring for others, is what is truly valued in Maine.
