Storm shuts down Port Clyde America

Early Friday morning I woke up in the middle of the night to do my middle of the night business. The computer beckoned me so I sat down to check out Facebook and tend my crops in Farmville. The good Captain hopes I'm as dedicated once we put our garden in this year! In any event, the lights went out shortly after that. The wind was howling in the wires and the rain was coming down in buckets. The calliope of sound created by the wind-chimes was simply amazing all by itself. I was engulfed in total darkness, the only light was from the back up battery of the computer. I schlepped into the living room to get an oil lamp. Lit it and sat it on the kitchen counter and loaded the wood stove. My idea of fun is not cold and dark, plus I didn't want any other poor soul trying to do middle of the night business to kill themselves in the inky black of a house with no lights.

The next morning the good Captain informs me that we have no power. I wonder just exactly who he thought lit the lamp and kept the stove going? We lose the power it's no big deal. I have lamps, candles, a stove to stay warm with, an old fashioned percolator for coffee and a gas stove for cooking. All I have to do is light it manually. Water can be a bit of a problem but once the lights flicker a time or two we spring into action filling jugs and the tub for flushing.

The Captain has made coffee that requires time and skill instead of pushing a button. He has my cup ready, man has learned through the years that if he insists on getting me up at an ungodly hour there had better be coffee waiting for me!

We sit and discuss our day, I hear rumblings from the other inhabitants of our happy household bemoaning the fact that there is no power. Horrors! A life with no TV! I think,"well kids you better go to plan B." My niece lumbers by making noises about not knowing what you have until it's gone. I smile, this is a great opportunity to read a book or write a much overdue letter. I write my sister and the New England Organ Bank about my son's liver recipient. I have no problem keeping myself entertained without power. I must admit though, I WAS having some computer withdrawal symptoms.

The good Captain comes back in from working on his boat and asks if I want to ride to town with him? I am out the door like a shot! We go to the big city of Rockland Maine and run his errands. I tell him he has to feed me and we go to lunch. I'm sure by the time we return the power will be restored. Not so dear reader. The Captain has more repairs to make to his vessel, so I decide a nap is in order and I'm sure by then the power will be back on...

Four o'clock I rise, it's getting gloomy in the house. I light three oil lamps and think about making dinner. No problem I assure myself. I read a while and think of what gourmet extravaganza I'm going to make for the hungry hoards. Obviously I wait too long to start and find myself cooking by flashlight. Not as easy a task as one might think. Dinner is finally finished and I wonder what am I going to do now. The Captain goes to bed with the chickens, not so me. How on earth am I going to kill the next few hours? I putty around doing small tasks as I'm able in the lamp light. I finally give up the pretense and take two melatonin. I'm off to bed by 9pm. I don't think I've been in bed this early since I was a child! Needless to say I flop and flip for what seems like hours, I swear no sooner than I get to sleep than the Captain is waking me with the news that the power is back on. We went a full 24 hours with no power. You know, you have to give it to the pioneers. Tough, plucky bunch that they were...

Port Clyde Lobster Tours

This blog has been created not only to promote Port Clyde Lobster Tours, a small venture located in Port Clyde Maine. Starting in the summer of 2010, Captain Gary Libby will be taking folks out on a working lobster boat in beautiful Penobscot Bay. Tending traps and observing a lobster man plying his trade on the water. Captain Libby's license allows the not so faint at heart to bait and haul lobster traps.

We also intend to educate the general public about what is going on in the commercial fishing industry in the Northeast. Mainly what some think of as a small boat fishery. Of course it depends on your definition of small. In our little piece of the world the boats in the harbor that are draggers average 60 feet in length. This may not seem small to most folks but I can assure you that when you are 60 miles off shore and there is no land in sight one finds out how insignificant they are in the grand scheme of things. Not only is this a place for political ramblings about commercial fishing but also a place to provide information about food sovereignty. I will be posting links about what is going on in both industries. The big food bogyman is Monsanto, be afraid be very afraid! Also we will be discussing the merits and advantages of becoming a member of either a CSA (community supported agriculture) or a CSF (community supported fishery) program.

Food on average travels 1800 miles to reach our plates. Becoming involved in CSA/CSF's is one way the conscientious consumer is able to vote with their wallet and their hearts. Good local food is available all over the country. We as a people need to move away from industrial farming and fishing. These practices are not good for either the environment or for people. Know your Farmer and Know your Fisherman if your lucky enough to live near the coast.

This is my first blog, but once I get warmed up there will certainly more to come!

Thank you for paying attention to my ramblings.