Local shipyards and, to a lesser extent, commercial fishing ports bustled with activity Sept. 2-3, in preparation for high seas on the fringe of Hurricane Earl.
At Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol, General Manager Steve Morris estimated that he and his crew took 35-40 boats out of the water.
“We started clearing our slips as a precaution,” Morris said. Some of the boats belong to summer residents, who, motivated by the approaching storm, decided to call it a season. Many others will return to the water Tuesday.
Most boats on moorings will remain on the water, but the boats in the slips are more prone to damage, Morris said.
Down the road, Michael Nyboe of Bittersweet Landing said, “Everybody’s in panic mode.”
Last night, Nyboe and his crew brought 15 boats ashore. This morning, another 11, and Nyboe expected more. More boaters have been calling with questions. “Most folks are listening,” Nyboe said. “They’re not freaking out.”
“I don’t think it’s going to amount to a whole lot,” Nyboe said.
Even if Earl strikes harder than expected, the waters of The Gut offer a haven from the worst of the storm. “In South Bristol here, we got such a great little hurricane hole,” Nyboe said. “It’s a great place to be.”
Christmas Cove, on the west side of Rutherford Island, has more exposure, Nyboe said.
In New Harbor, Nate and Nancy Hanna, captain and sternman of the Two Sons, and Scott Nesbit, the manager of Shaw’s wharf, gathered around a picnic table on the restaurant’s lower level.
“We’ve been moving our traps into safer areas,” Nate Hanna said.
New Harbor fishermen are also “making sure the boats are secure” and “everyone’s checking their moorings,” Nancy Hanna said.
New Harbor doesn’t offer the same protection of The Gut, Pemaquid Harbor, or Round Pond. “This harbor can get pretty bad if the wind comes out of the east,” Nate Hanna said. “It’s pretty exposed… You’ve got open ocean out 200 yards there.”
Nate and Nancy Hanna said they’ve followed the weather closely, and expect Earl to track away from the Midcoast. “We’re probably going to get some big swells from the storm,” Nate Hanna said, but “No one’s taking their boats out of the water for this one.”
“If it happens to turn, come down the day after the hurricane,” Nancy Hanna said.
As for Shaw’s, Nesbit said the restaurant has no plans to change its hours “unless we evacuate it.”
“They’ve done that before,” Nesbit said.
Just 20 feet away, Anna Barber, a receptionist for Hardy Boat Cruises, stood at her desk. Barber took a short break from a busy morning to explain the line’s strategy.
“It’s still under discussion,” Barber said. “The one thing we’re queasy about is the 9 a.m. [Saturday] run.”
Fortunately, “It’s taking care of itself,” Barber said. “Most people have decided it’s too rough for them.”
“We go out in rough weather. We don’t go out in dangerous weather,” Barber said.
Hardy Boat Cruises offers twice-daily ferry service to Monhegan Island, seal watch cruises and other events. “We’ll just tie down the boat extra tight tonight,” Barber said.
A few miles down Rt. 32, in Round Pond, Bruce Cunningham, the owner of Padebco Custom Boats, was back inside after hauling seven boats out of Muscongus Bay, all at the request of their owners.
“Looks like we’re not going to get hit as hard as we could,” Cunningham said. Although Cunningham only brought in seven boats, “A lot of people have come in from more open areas to pick up moorings because it’s more protected here,” he said.
Nearby, at the Round Pond Fisherman’s Co-op, Spencer Dyer, Captain of The Chain, said he brought in about half of his traps. “The ones I was worried about losing or getting smashed up I took up.”
Otherwise, the general mood in Round Pond seemed calm. “It’s pretty sheltered in here,” Dyer said.
