Below, you’ll see the pocket cruiser “Martha” in Great Cove yesterday afternoon during a small Down East weather event. The fog was receding but not totally gone, sunlight was beginning to reach the water, south-southeast gusts of maybe 10 miles per hour were rolling the water intermittently, and a late-summer haze was filtering out color.
We live on a ridge above the Cove and we look down on “Martha’s” mooring. She has become one of our weather descriptors. For example, when I’m not near a southwestern-facing window and the fog is moving in or going out or its raining hard, I might ask Barbara: “Can you still see ‘Martha’?” The answer can tell you a lot.
As many of you know, “Martha” was built for the author E.B. White by his naval architect son, Joel, the founder of the famous Brooklin Boat Yard. She’s not quite 20 feet long and reportedly a joy to sail. “Martha” is now owned by Rich Hilsinger, the former Director of the WoodenBoat School and a Brooklin resident who has a fascinating music show on WERU. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on September 1, 2024.)