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

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

a day centered on shades of gray
trimmed in green and faint blue

slow bell
buoy, white and red

slow bell lazy-like,
lulling slow sea

we’re sailing about 1.3 knots

three times faster than I could swim
without a current
either way

Every morning, we had to lift anchor to get on our way. Our schooner relied on a four-person winch, plus a helper to keep the anchor chain orderly for the trip.

 

top of the ladder
up the hatch this morning
broke out laughing
we’re in a bank of heavy fog
just like home
an hour later it’s lifting
and a decent breeze from NE kicks in

this cold fog
is a state of flight

 

Or line, as they insist

right-handed cord
coil it clockwise?
left-handed, counter?

Right laid
a Z twist
versus an S twist
in the cable

coiled wrong, it will kink
potentially dangerous

where will I apply such arcane detail?

As he had told me:

urchins once filled all the shoreline rocks
till the Japanese market opened up
flights from Bangor
fishery now tightly licensed
hoping for recovery

An old-fashioned farm windmill was doing whatever on one island we passed.