The Ice Cometh, Man (small coastal harbors freeze over)

Portland Press Herald (Maine) ^ | 01/24/03 | Ted Cohen

[NewHampshireDuo]

KENNEBUNKPORT — In his 15 years as harbormaster, Dave Billings can count on one hand the times Cape Porpoise has frozen over. He added Thursday to that short list.

"Is this cold weather normal?" Billings asked from his usual perch on the cold wooden pier. "I don't think so. In a normal winter, we have some skim ice, but this? This is a real cold snap."

So cold, in fact, that many of the 52 lobster boats anchored in Cape Porpoise were frozen in place Thursday morning after yet another night of sub-zero cold.

Because of the prolonged cold weather, some Maine harbors are freezing over, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

"It's been several years since we've seen this degree of freezing in the smaller harbors," Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Brown said Thursday.

Among the harbors that have frozen over this week, besides Cape Porpoise, are Freeport harbor and Card Cove, which is in Quahog Bay near Harpswell, Brown said.

Jay Pinkham, Freeport's harbormaster, said he hasn't seen the harbor this ice-locked in 10 years.

"No one can get out and no one can get in," Pinkham said. "We've got 6 or 7 inches of ice right around the docks."

He said five fishing crews were waiting for a Coast Guard ice-breaker to help free up boats.

Brown said the Coast Guard sent the Shackle, its 65-foot ice-breaker, to clear ice in the Fore River and Haraseeket River. It was making its way toward Freeport harbor.

Brown keeps in touch with harbormasters along the coast and, when possible, sends out the Shackle.

The boat needs a minimum 120-foot-wide channel so it can turn around after breaking ice. "You can't just put it in reverse and back it up, or you can bend the propeller," Brown said.

Captains of some boats in the outer reaches of Cape Porpoise, where the ice wasn't as thick, were able to dislodge their boats and break up more ice, Billings said.

That, in turn, allowed some other vessels in the northern part of the harbor to break free.

John Daggett, 44 and the captain of a 45-foot lobster boat, said he's seen ice like this only a half-dozen times in his 30 years of fishing.

"It's some chilly, I'll tell ya," he said.

[NewHampshireDuo]

I'm heading up to Rockland, Maine today to visit family. It's supposed to get up to 7F with a wind chill still below 0. Feels like a darned "ice age" around here.

[ccmay]

Well, here in Scottsdale, the forecast is for 76 degrees and sunny. I'll be wearing shorts and a polo shirt to watch the Phoenix Open golf tournament today. Nice winter, eh?

-ccm

[angkor]

Between the swells that go right into the channel, and the lobster pots that clog it from one end to the other (including the harbor itself), Cape Porpoise is one of the more challenging anchorages in lower Maine.

By the way, Cape Porpoise is just around the bend from the Bush family compound at Walker's Point.

[whattajoke]

Well, here in Scottsdale, the forecast is for 76 degrees and sunny.

We frozen New Englanders will be sure to save this post and remind you of it in July!

[BluH2o]

"It's some chilly, I'll tell ya," he said.

That, fellow FReepers, is down east Maine dialect. Sailed those waters in the summer months ... listening to Maine lobstermen on the marine radio chatting back & forth is like listening to a foreign language you have some knowledge of, but must listen closely to understand.

[RipSawyer]

"I'm heading up to Rockland, Maine today to visit family. It's supposed to get up to 7F with a wind chill still below 0. Feels like a darned "ice age" around here."


How do you think we feel down here in sunny South Carolina with a temp of 12 above and warnings of wind chill factors as low as 5 below? I tell ya, folks, if we get any more global warming the gulf of Mexico might freeze.

[CPT Clay]

Global warming? How cold does it have to be for seawater to freeze?

[AngryJawa]

Damn SUV's...

[RipSawyer]

Global warming? How cold does it have to be for seawater to freeze?


"Depends on the salt content, I don't know exactly, but my point was that the more garbage I hear about global warming the more often it snows here in Eastern South Carolina. We had about two inches this week. We had snows at least five inches deep the last two winters. Please bear in mind that this is an area where it is not unusual to go several years with no snow to speak of. I have seen flowering plants put out bloom buds here in January. The deer hunters often complain about needing an air conditioner on the deer stand.
So far this fall and winter I have worn insulated underwear more than I normally do in a five year period. I tell ya, if we have any more global warming I will need a sheepskin lined parka like I wore in Iceland when I was in the Navy.

[harpseal]

Having had the experience of taking a lobster boat out of the Piscataqua River in January I would say that this is one of the hardest most dangerous jobs that exist. Of course some of the harbors here on LI sound are also frozen and the CT river has had its visit from ice breakers so the barges can get up river.

[Paulus Invictus]

Global warming is a nasty thing!

[Paulus Invictus]

Right! When they reach 122 degrees and 80% RH, they won't sound so smug!

[NewHampshireDuo]

We boat the Piscataqua river in the summer. The strong tidal flow and current, combined with the narrow mouth of the river towards the ocean, make it pretty hairy to navigate. We were tossed around like a cork. I think that's why my hair turned gray (tho Mr. NHD said it was no big deal. I wouldn't want to navigate it in January!

[NewHampshireDuo]

Having had the experience of taking a lobster boat out of the Piscataqua River in January I would say that this is one of the hardest most dangerous jobs that exist.

Heck, the Piscataqua can be bad in the summer! (Mr. NHD, staying home to tend the pets while Mrs. NHD goes to Maine.)

[NewHampshireDuo]

Mr. NHD is just jealous that I get to drive 4 hours up to Maine in the wind and cold, while he has to take care of 1 Beagle and 2 crazy cats for me.</P>

See you Sunday, sweetie</P>

Mrs. NHD</P>

[harpseal]

When I took my current boat from CT to NH a few years ago we were tied to the dock at Badger's Island and the current read 14 mhp while we were tird to a dock. I saw a sailboat running full power go into the Memorial Bridge backwards. It lost the top portion of its mast.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Here at 7500' in NM, it's 50 degrees, about 22 above normal.

[NewHampshireDuo]

When I took my current boat from CT to NH a few years ago we were tied to the dock at Badger's Island and the current read 14 mhp while we were tird to a dock. I saw a sailboat running full power go into the Memorial Bridge backwards. It lost the top portion of its mast.

Must've been something to see. I can certainly believe it.