In the Right Place: By Gulley

Here’s an unusual vessel about to launch at Naskeag Point and motor up to Great Cove to moor. She’s a stitch-and-glue constructed Lichen 20 designed to be easily transported and to sail primarily in relatively calm waters.

Her name is Gulley Jimson, the name of the talented but disreputable artist in Joyce Cary's novel The Horse's Mouth (1944). She’s a 20-foot cruising sailboat with a pram (flat) bow for extra cabin space, a vee-bottomed hull for a good draft, and a relatively narrow 7’8” beam (widest width) for “trailerability.”  

Gulley also has a large open cockpit, a mast that pivots up or down on a tabernacle, extra-large portholes, and a huge “barn-door” rudder. She was designed and built by Sam Devlin, who has a boatbuilding company on the shores of the Puget Sound in Washington and who is part of the faculty at the WoodenBoat School. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 19 and 24, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Dank Days

Except for a few spectacularly beautiful days, this June has been one of our foggiest, chilliest, and rainiest summer first acts in years. If this weather keeps up, we may hit a dankness record.

On the other hand, our soil was abnormally dry and our stream flows were low until recently. As you see here, our bogs have returned from drying to pooling and our wooded streams are overflowing. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 27, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Maneuverable Classrooms

The WoodenBoat School’s Elements of Sailing I class started Monday in fog and otherwise semi-foul weather, and it looks like the class might continue in that kind of weather or worse until it ends on Friday.

Nonetheless, based on what I saw yesterday, the participants seem to be learning quite a bit of seamanship and enjoying their sails in Great Cove.

The class members sail 12 ½ - foot Herreshoffs and Havens, which are very maneuverable and safe. The listed class subjects include getting underway, maneuvering through the points of sail, keeping on course, tacking, mooring, and docking, among other things.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 27, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Opening Acts

Peonies are starting to bare their souls here, even in the rain. For those who like garden flowers that are big, dramatic, varied, and long-living, peonies are a good choice. Some plants reportedly have produced flowers for more than 100 years.

Peonies (usually pronounced “PEE-uh-knees”) are named in honor of Paeon, the Greek god of medicine; and, indeed, their flowers and other parts have been used in Asian medicines and teas for centuries. The roots of white peonies are among the oldest known traditional Chinese medicines.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 22, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Black Magic

Sometimes, when the sky grays over and the fog rolls in, the still pond waters blacken severely, but their wild water lilies burn brightly for awhile. It’s magical.

Our native Fragrant Water Lilies (Nymphaea odorata) are blooming now. Their pads are leaves that grow on flexible stalks arising from submerged roots (“rhizomes”). These lily pads attract insects and become floating al fresco cafes for small frogs and birds. Underneath the pads, fish and aquatic invertebrates, such as dragonfly nymphs, enjoy the shade on sunny days.

The genus name for the water lily, Nymphaea (“nim-FYE-ah”), is derived from the Greek and Roman name for “water lily,” which, in turn, originated as a reference to mythological water nymphs. The species name of our wild native is odorata (“o-dor-RAH-ta”), which means “fragrant,” as you probably guessed. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 25, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Dismally Dry

Despite a disproportionately large number of wet, dank, and dismal spring days, our stream levels are low and their flows weak.

In fact, summer has begun in an officially “Abnormally Dry” condition for us here on Maine’s Down East coast and several other regions in the State, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor:

We’re supposed to have a rainy week; Let’s hope things improve before we get to the drought stage. (Photograph taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 21, 2023.)

In the Right Place: A Good Day to Sail

Here you see the schooner Mary Day gliding into Great Cove with her jibs down at sundown on Thursday. She overnighted and her passengers were ferried to the WoodenBoat School campus, which they toured. She was on a four-day cruise that included visiting Down East lighthouses, according to her schedule.

Meanwhile, the schooner Stephen Taber snuck into the Cove Thursday without us seeing her initially and also overnighted off of Babson Island not far from Mary Day..

Mary is a 125-foot schooner out of Camden, Maine. She has classic mercantile coastal cruiser lines, but was built in 1962 just for passenger cruises. (She reportedly has heat in every tourist cabin.) She was built in South Bristol, Maine, and named after the wife of the late Captain Havilah Hawkins, Senior, who designed the vessel and owned her for about 20 years. She drew the attention of a a Coastal Kayaking class from the WBS.

The 110-foot Stephen Taber was built in 1871 and is a National Historic Landmark that now hails from Rockland, Maine. Curiously, she was named after a once-famed, but now forgotten,19th Century New York politician. As with many coastal cargo cruisers in the 1800s, the Taber was built with a flat bottom to “ground out” and discharge her cargo at low tide without the need for a pier. She does have a centerboard to lower as a keel during cruising, but has no motor. She was pushed out of the the Cove and into the wind by her motorized yawl boat, Babe, at about 10:30 a.m.

The Mary Day, on the other hand, raised her two mainsails, a top sail, and a jib, turned to have the wind aft and sailed off at about 12:15 p.m.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 22 and 23, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Osprey Nest Report 7

Ozzie and Harriet have produced at least one nestling and probably more that I haven’t been able to see yet. Here’s an extreme enlargement of the young, red-eyed raptor that popped up very briefly from under Harriet’s right wing Wednesday (lower left).

As usual, we’ve named this first born/seen bird David for descriptive convenience. Harriet and David seem to be healthy and contented.

Ozzie also seems healthy and contented; he spends a lot of time flying and perching near the nest and visits it frequently, albeit briefly.

Here are images of him rising handsomely from the nest yesterday:

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 21 and 22, 2023.)

In the Right Place: To Stand Still

Yesterday was the first day of summer here and she decided to begin her performance with a dazzling display of bravura: a big blue sky populated with a tasteful number of cumulus clouds, slight breeze off the sea, and a high temperature of 69 degrees (F).

In the image above, as the lupines start to fade on Amen Ridge, we take our first summer view over Blue Hill Bay to watch Mount Cadillac in Acadia National Park attract some of its cloud fans.

In the image below, as the water lilies start to appear, we watch summer begin in the WoodenBoat School’s marsh pond.

As you probably know, yesterday was also known as the summer solstice, which seems fitting when looking at these images. “Solstice” combines the Latin words for “Sun” (sol) and for “To Stand Still” (sistere) because the sun reaches its highest point of the year and provides its longest period of light on the first day of summer. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 21, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Tall Tales

If you’re wondering “What is that plant that looks like a tall buttercup growing along the roads and in the fields now?”, you’re already halfway to the answer: It’s probably “Tall Buttercup.” Not too hard to remember.

This plant, shown here, is an invasive buttercup that grows from 1 to 3 feet tall and is native to Europe and temperate Eurasia. Its scientific name is Ranunculus acris and some of its other common names are Giant Buttercup, Meadow Buttercup, and Common Buttercup, but it is most commonly called Tall Buttercup.

Tall Buttercup apparently arrived here (perhaps unknowingly) with our earliest European settlers, because there are reports of Native Americans using the plant for medicines: Abenaki and Micmac (or Mi’kmaq) peoples ground and sniffed the plant as a headache remedy, the Cherokee used it for poultices to put on abscesses, and the Iroquois used it in poultices for colds and chest pains, among other uses.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 12 and 20, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Basking Cases

We had some sun yesterday for the first time in awhile. Although the sunshine played peek-a-boo, our painted turtles were out basking in force. We had five PTs in our main pond, alone.

Basking is critical behavior for freshwater turtles. Being cold-blooded, they need to warm up to function normally and dry out and receive beneficial ultraviolet rays to prevent fungal infections. Absorbing vitamin D also helps keep them in condition, especially their shells, according to reports. Here’s one basking between two dragonflies that are also warming up on a heated rock:

Painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) have existed and presumably been basking for at least 15 million years, according to fossil records. These common natives to the United States evolved into four geographical subspecies during the last glacial age, which ended almost 12 thousand years ago. Maine’s subspecies, shown here, is the Eastern painted turtle, Chrysemys picta picta. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 19, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Flower Flag Day

Wild Blue Flag Iris are blooming now in our damper areas, sometimes pleasantly sprinkled with the yellow of Buttercups, as you see here:

This small iris, Iris versicolor (“variously-colored iris”), is a native to the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada. It’s also known as Harlequin Blueflag, Larger Blue Flag, and Northern Blue Flag. It’s especially attractive in the rain:

Blue Flag Iris has a nemesis: Yellow Flag Iris, an invasive species native to Europe, Western Asia and Northwest Africa that has escaped gardens and has naturalized itself in the wilds that Blue Flag likes. Here’s one:

This yellow-flowered plant is scientifically named Iris pseudoacorus. The epithet pseudoacorus means "false acorus," which refers to the similarity of the yellow iris’s leaves to those of Acorus calamus, which is commonly called Sweet Flag, but is not an iris. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 16 and 18 [2nd Blue Iris], 2023.)

In the Right Place: Rain & Shine & Rain

This June on the Down East coast seems to be on the way to breaking the record for the number of miserable days in a month. I’m talking about unseasonably cold, foggy, and wet weather – days when our horizon was shortened to several hundred feet of dismal gray, our clothes and spirits were dampened, and our minds were having flashbacks to November.

Here, you see a huddled mass of wet tourists diligently rowing back to their sailing vessel after exploring the WoodenBoat School on a recent cold and wet June morning in Great Cove:

Having complained, I must admit that this June has had her moments. We’ve occasionally awakened in an iconic Maine June morning that made our souls ache with the simple joy of being. I’m talking about a few seasonably clear mornings when the air smelled slightly of salt and the distant horizon balanced a big blue sky atop a bluer sea that was painted with reflections of graceful creations:

But, of course, it’s raining as I write this.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 14 [rain] and 16 [shine], 2023.)

In the Right Place: Osprey Nest Report 6

I think that nestlings have hatched. Harriet is more vocal and no longer lies low and flat; most of the time, she hunches over something(s) now.

Also, Ozzie is spending more time near and on the nest:

I can’t peer into the nest, so I’ll have to wait until the nestlings get near an edge (if there are nestlings) to see them. It’s time for them, I think! (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 16, 2023.) See also the image in the first Comment space.

In the Right Place: Getting in Shape

Below you see a summer-trim Dear Abbie: moored in Naskeag Harbor this week. She looks to be in fine shape to start lobster fishing soon. She’s freshly painted and a lot slimmer than her winter profile.

During the winter, she carried a mast, boom, and dredge (“drag”) for dredging (“dragging”) for scallops; she also had a shelling house behind the cabin for sorting and shucking the tasty mollusks:

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 13 and January 3, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Duckling Day Care

Here you see Mother Mallard showing her septuplets the way by herself.

Common Eiders care for their ducklings very differently. Mother Eiders often form a "crèche" with nonbreeding females that help bring up the duckling broods in a collective:

Some reported Eider crèches have contained more than 150 ducklings that are herded along by the mothers and other females.

You might be familiar with the word "crèche" (from the Latin cripia "crib, cradle") as it is used to refer to a nativity (birth) scene, especially that of Jesus Christ.  However, the word has broader implications. Here’s the Merriam-Webster On-Line Dictionary definition of "crèche”: “Nativity scene; day nursery; foundling hospital; a group of young animals (such as penguins or bats) gathered in one place for care and protection usually by one or more adults.”

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 8 [Eiders] and 13 [Mallards], 2023.)

In the Right Place: Learning the Ropes

The sailboats at the WoodenBoat School are being rigged and readied for the water, as you see from this image taken yesterday.

The sails are soon to come, but many of the ropes are out for rigging and moorings. On-the-water sailing classes begin June 25, although other classes began at the School on June 4.

When it comes to modern marine “ropes” for recreational vessels, you’re not going to see much of the Manilla hemp used in days of yore when apprentice seamen had to “learn the ropes” on sailing vessels. Today, you have an amazing choice of wild colors and compositions. Take a look at this collection behind the WBS boathouse:

The mystifying number of materials when it comes to types of rigging and mooring/docking ropes today includes nylon; nylon polyesters; polypropylenes; braided, double-braided, and hollow-braided; floating; reflective; low-stretch, and high-absorption ropes.

The mooring gear also can be stored and transported in curious ways:

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 8 [rope cluster and moorings], 13 [boats], and 16 [crate and loader—added later], 2023.)

In the Right Place: Jacks Are Wild

Our annual reunion of preachers named Jack is starting. That is, Jack-in-the-Pulpit plants (Arisaema triphyllum) are starting to appear in the darker and damper areas of our woods, as you see from this image:

The botanical baptizers who gave this plant its most common name apparently viewed the plants’ three-part (“trifoliate”) leaves as the church and their underlying striped “spathes” (protective enclosures) as pulpits in which the flower spikes/”spadices” were preachers named Jack.

I’ve been unable to find out why the name “Jack” was chosen for the preachers. (Perhaps it was inspired by the historic Jack-in-the-box toy.) However, some of these plants are female and should be considered “Jills-in-the-Pulpit.” Nonetheless, these plants also are commonly known as Indian Turnip, Bog Onion, Brown Dragon, and Starchwort.

These native plants are graceful things, but dangerous: their leaves are significant irritants to humans and can be toxic to horses, dogs, and cats. However, Native Americans used the plants’ roots to treat rheumatism and snake bites. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 11, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Dilemma Department

Here you see a harbor seal feeding Saturday in the incoming tide in Patten Bay at the mouth of Patten Stream. Since June of last year, increased numbers of harbor seal and gray seal deaths have occurred across Maine’s mid- and southern coast.

Strangely, avian flu seems to be implicated and some worry that, since federal protection in 1972, the overall population of seals has gotten too large to sustain itself healthily. Some also blame an increase in seals for the increase in major seal predators, white sharks,  in the Gulf of Maine.

Difficult decisions may have to be made soon with regard to Maine’s seal population. Keep your eyes out for opportunities to assure that these decisions are reasonable and not overreactions. (Images taken in Surry, Maine, on June 10, 2023.)

In the Right Place: Pale Hider

Here you see an elusive native wildflower that Henry David Thoreau said is “rarely met with.” It’s Pale Corydalis (Corydalis sempervirens), also known as Pink Corydalis and Rock Harlequin.

It’s ½-inch tubular flowers are anything but pale; they’re shocking pink and glaring yellow and dangle in the wind. Its many-lobed leaves and stalks, however, are a ghostly bluish green:

The plant is a biennial in that it grows stalks and leaves one year and flowers and fruits the next. It’s usually found (by lucky and keen-eyed wildflower lovers) in areas that have ledges, although I’ve seen it in fields.

(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 9 and 10, 2023.)