John Morin has been running the charter business “Equinox Island Transit” for years, moving people and goods to and from the islands of Penobscot Bay and beyond just about as reliably as the sun rises every day. Contractors that commute to the islands in the winter are key clients, and North Haven Island has been the destination of choice for most of this winter. Equinox handles the majority of the passenger transportation to Hurricane Island, where staff have been delivering summer programming since the formation of Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership in 2009. Today, as the sun rose over the islands to the east, the Equinox idled off the dock and headed out for another day of work, and another trip to Hurricane Island.
My day started at quarter of six, heading down to the boat shortly after dragging on clothes and pounding a cup of coffee (black, we were out of half and half). I have been filling in for John as relief captain this winter, keeping my sea time up and getting some experience handling single-screw downeast boats. John has given me the reins today; the responsibility of delivering his contractors to North Haven.Those aren’t the only passengers on this particular Wednesday, however. Three other staff from Hurricane Island are tagging along for the rare and important winter island checkup trip.
We made the Breakwater by 0635 and steered a course north of the PB buoy, shooting to hit just south of the Monument on Fiddler’s Ledge, a well-known landmark for anyone who’s ever been through the Fox Island Thorofare. The temperature was probably in the single digits outside the cabin, but inside, with the big six cylinder Caterpillar making heat and the diesel drip heater going down forward, it was comfortable. The Equinox is about as good a winter lobster boat as you could ask for. She’s heavy, dry exhaust (easier to winterize in freezing temps), and has ample space below to stay out of the weather. Some small but critical features include a centrifugal clear-view window and heated windshields, which keeps your vision clear of freezing spray.
We were inside the Thorofare by 0710 and out of the majority of the freezing spray. The sunlight was just starting to brighten up the skinny piece of water ahead that separates the islands of Vinalhaven and North Haven, and although cold, was another beautiful day to be on the water. I idled the blue 40’ Young Brothers past the mooring field, usually stuffed with summer boats, but today there were just a handful of islander’s lobster boats with low slung ice beards just above their waterlines, clinging to the spray rails. The contractors piled onto the dock and up the gangway, to hop in their frozen vehicles and head off to their respective jobs.
With the contractors offloaded, we headed casually back out the Thorofare with the sun at our backs, following the Vinalhaven coast on a familiar route to me. The trip takes us past the Sugar Loaves, around Brown’s Head Light, and past the gazebo on Crockett’s Point as we fall off to port, headed for Leadbetter’s Narrows. Coming through Leadbetter’s Narrows, looking up to the house and yard, and seeing the floats tucked away in the cove was just beautiful, still in the shadow of the morning. After the Narrows, your view opens up to the head of Hurricane Sound, and we swing almost due south for Hurricane.
The band of snow melted off evenly by the tide on Leadbetter’s bold coast, and the dense spruces tipped with white was just beautiful as we cruised at an economical 9kts, which is just about hull speed for this boat. We snuck over into the lee of Crane Island as we proceeded south. There’s rumor that a rare Russian “Steller’s Sea Eagle,” is around, far out of its normal range of coastal Russia and occasionally western Alaska, so we keep a sharp eye out for any big-bodied raptors, including Snowy Owls. Nate had his big lens with him, so we were really hoping for some action.
With no bird sightings of significance, we ran the rest of the way down to Hurricane. Today’s tasks included an important mid-winter sea water sample and depth profile with a tethered Sonde muli-parameter measuring device that gets lowered at a steady rate collecting data from the surface to the bottom, resulting in a detailed data profile. We also used a Niskin bottle, which is a much more simple device, to capture water samples at specific depths. The Niskin sample is placed into a specially prepared brown plastic bottle to be frozen and later analyzed for environmental DNA, as part of an ongoing study.
With the sampling out of the way, it was time to land alongside the pilings at the Main Pier and take a walk around to check the photovoltaic systems, buildings, and any unpredicted damages the winter weather has made. With the tide outgoing, and a little chop in the mooring field, I elected to let the gang off and idle around the south side of the island in the lee of Gaston’s Cove to wait in the sun for them to walk around and take pictures. With a big snow forecasted, Madison and Lucy took the rare opportunity to skate on the Quarry Pond.
In an hour, they called me back to the pier and I eased the big boat alongside the ladder again. Everybody made it down the slippery rungs and safely back aboard, and I got a flurry of positive reports and pictures as we headed for home. Battery systems seemed to be holding on, and in general, everything was weathering the winter pretty well. It’s always amazing to me how resilient the island is.
