Tag: Fun

Fort Point at Stockton Springs

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Having passed Searsport and now at anchor in Stockton Springs

Captain Becky’s reading in the galley
from Lincoln Ross Colcord’s Sailing Days on the Penobscot
of the treacherous trip from here,
where the crooked, tricky Penobscot River is said to begin
and the 24 miles to Bangor and Brewer at the first falls
and all the lumber collected from upstream

even the 18 miles from Bucksport was a terror
in the days of sails

 tidewalkers
broken logs along the shoreline
and river
can sink a ship

60 boats a day at Bangor and Brewer

schooners lashed three abreast
for the Bangor stretch
pulled by a steamboat

Make way!

Pumpkin Isle light

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

marking entry to Eggemoggin Reach
below Castine

the free lighthouse guide I brought along
2013 edition I see now
newsprint
has no mention of Saddleback Ledge light
not to be confused with Saddleback Island
other than a listing
no photo or description
nor does it list Eastport as a harbor
nor Lubec
though Calais somehow counts

buoys: green have flat tops
red, coneheads

We clear the bridge by a foot and a half, if she’s read the charts right

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Eggemoggin Reach
the Deer Isle bridge ahead
we’ll barely clear
six inches or sixty feet, what’s the difference?
other than a margin of error

the electronic gizmo’s
soundings in feet
at mean lower low water

I got to steer today
a feel of command
aiming for the arch of the bridge

Taking forever to get to the span
Deer Isle Bridge, as seen by vehicular traffic
Eggemoggen Reach Bridge from the water

a fixed bridge meaning
it doesn’t draw open
one more detail on the chart
(see Note B)
which I can’t find anywhere
until it’s pointed out in the margin,
same color type as the notice

we’re pushed by Greyhound
the inboard yawl

the motor behind me as a drone note
humming above lapping water

people bundled up this morning muted sun water depth 64
just gone to 72

Eggemoggen Reach broader
than Friar’s Road
where I live

Sparkly, shiny water

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

this lapping water is a nagging unease
so far from a destination
you can address

do I walk as fast as we’re sailing?

a fathom is essentially an arm span

how far the sound carries
that lawnmower

I think we’re heading the wrong direction
with someone new at the helm
how can they see ahead
from way back there?

I’m freezing
ready on the down haul
island hopping

today’s cold
except in the galley