Month: August 2024

One of our shared memories from our last trip to Seguin was watching the sunset from the bench on the west side of the island. This was in 2020, long before the idea of becoming caretakers ourselves had taken hold, but it is an experience we have come back to often. When we talk about Seguin we invariably mention the sunset bench, and that brings back a flood of other memories. We had our dog Maddie with us on that trip, when she was still young enough to swim in the ocean waves, before old age came and took her in her sleep. Later on that same trip, off the coast of Monhegan Island, Maureen swam in the deep part of the ocean for the first time. The boat that brought us to Seguin was the same that took us all the way from Maine to Key West.

When guests spend the night in the cove we always invite them to watch the sunset from the bench. Sometimes they take us up on the idea and we see them out our kitchen window, making new memories as the day ends. We had family visit us on the island today, and we introduced them to the same bench. The setting sun put on a particularly good show, and it was nice to see them enjoying the magic of Seguin from the bench on the west side of the island.

Daily Weather Report
Temp: 72.1º / 61.7º
Sunny and partly cloudy 
Wind: W 4.9mph / Gust: 18.3mph
High Tide: 4:42 am / 4:59 pm
Low Tide: 10:53am / 11:25pm  

Visitors were back to the island today, even though the sea was still a little rough. Today we noticed that almost every group we had on the island today was almost entirely comprised of repeat visitors who brought along one person who had never been to the island.

Matt and I were talking about how it’s fun to witness that dynamic and help a family create new memories. Sometimes we get to help introduce Seguin to a young child getting to visit the island for the first time along with parents and grandparents, and other times it’s a child or grandchild’s new partner meeting the family for the first time.

We had a pretty steady stream of visitors from about 10:30am to 4pm, which is pretty typical of a nice Sunday. Our first time visitors today had some great views all the way out to Monhegan and got to experience the stiff sea breeze we’ve become so accustomed to, and we hope they enjoyed the day as much as we did!

Daily Weather Report
Temperature: 72.1 / 61.7
Sunny and strong breeze
Wind: 9.2mph SW  Gusts: 19.5mph SW
High Tide: 3:54am / 4:15pm
Low Tide:  9:59am / 10:34pm

Today we awoke to the final throes of Hurricane Debbie, but by noon the skies had cleared and it turned out to be a beautiful day on the island. At sea seemed to tell a different tale as we watched huge waves crashing on the rocks at Cobblestone Beach, and it must have been the surf that kept our visitors away. It’s unprecedented to have Seguin to ourselves on a gorgeous weekend day in August, but we are able to make the most of our time. In the morning we finished a deep clean on the museum and upstairs guest quarters in preparation for visiting Friends of Seguin. As the fog lifted and the rain subsided, we took to accessing any damage on the island from the unusually high winds we encountered last night. All of the trails seemed in fine shape, and we tested the blackberries to make sure they were equally unaffected by the storm. Don’t worry, they were just fine.

After checking the trails and taking an hour to mow the upper lawn, we headed out to the cove. We’ve been busy during August, and often there’s been a line of boats waiting to pickup a mooring, so we figured it would be a good idea to make sure all of the pickups and pendants were intact. We also stopped by the donation bin on the information board, which is where guests can leave cash for mooring usage if they don’t have enough cell service to donate by scanning the QR code with a smart phone.

We restocked the paper in the composting toilet, at which time the dogs informed us that it was time for D-I-N-N-E-R. A few games of cribbage ensued, which was a nice end to a nice day.

Daily Weather Report
Temp: 72ºF / 61ºF
Wet with fog in the AM, Sunny and cool in the afternoon
Wind: WSW 10.2mph / Gust: 32mph
High Tide:3:10 am / 3:33 pm
Low Tide: 9:19 am / 9:47 pm

All week we knew that the remnants of Hurricane Debby would be making their way up the coast to New England. She definitely hit us overnight last night and we awoke to the fog whistle blowing and nearly no visibility on the island. While the fog eventually cleared by late afternoon, the winds started picking up and we’ll be in for a pretty stormy evening tonight. Luckily, the weather should pass by the end of the day Saturday and we’re looking at a nice stretch of weather starting on Sunday and continuing through most of next week.

With the foggy day, only a board member and her family and friends made it out to the island for the afternoon. It was a nice chance to catch up and let some new visitors to the island experience the eerie fog that can make the middle of the day feel like dusk. Most of the rest of the day Matt and I spent cleaning and organizing the guest quarters above the museum. As the winds picked up, I went for my daily hike and cleared some thorns and overgrowth from the Cove Trail and the North Trail and snacked on blackberries along the way.

The weather is the major determinant of how our days are spent. Yesterday, there was barely a moment’s rest between tours, greetings, and gift shop sales, and today was like living on a nearly private island.

Daily Weather Report
Temperature: 69.4 / 61.0
Dense fog most of the day, clearing with strong winds by evening
Wind: 19.2mph  SSW     Gusts 27.3mph SSW
High Tide: 2:29am / 2:55pm
Low Tide: 8:42am / 9:04pm

Yesterday was our day off of the Island, when we spend the day in Bath provisioning for the week ahead, picking up our clean laundry, and maybe grabbing a treat (or two). On Seguin, FOSILS volunteers work on long term maintenance and improvement projects on the historic buildings. This week, our Wednesday Warriors tackled new windows for the dormer in the keepers quarters.

During one of the many winter storms on the Maine coast, one of the dormer windows blew in, providing an irresistible nesting spot for some of the local seabirds. Combining years of experience, volunteers Chris and Tom removed the existing and broken windows, prepped and painted the new sashes, and completed the installation in plenty of time to catch the 4:30 boat back to the mainland. All in a day’s work!

If you’re looking to get a little time on Seguin, take a special tour of the lighthouse, get access to the outbuildings on the island, and help keep one of our most important historical and cultural places standing proud, consider joining the Wednesday Warriors. Email keeper@seguinisland.org and meet us at the docks!

Daily Weather Report 
Temp:70° / 58.3°
Beautifully clear and sunny ☀️ 
Wind: E 4.1 mph / Gust: 11.4 mph
High tide: 151 am / 2:19 pm
Low tide: 8:08 am / 8:22 pm

After spending much of the month of June weed whacking and mowing through hip-high grass to clear trails and lawns, we’ve been mostly just maintaining things with quick mows or walking the trails with clippers to cut back the overgrowth. This week, we decided to do one more big pass through of all the trails with the mower and weed whacker so we can keep it in good shape for the rest of the summer.

One spot we haven’t had to really clear is the marsh area on the North Trail where there’s a section of wooden planks over some swampy sections, but the last few weeks have seen the cat-o-nine tails grow up and, unfortunately, the poison ivy really started coming in. As far as I know, I’m one of the 15% of people who doesn’t seem to be affected by poison ivy as I’ve never had a reaction to it in the past, so I went down and cleared that section of trails well after our last visitors to the island had returned to their boats. Hopefully that keeps the leaves of three away from unsuspecting visitors and we’ll have a nice clear boardwalk for hikers for the rest of the summer.

And, I figured, since I’m scheduled to go to shore tomorrow, I’ll have the chance to visit a walk-in clinic if for some reason I end up having a reaction!

Daily Weather Report
Temperature: 68.0 / 59.5
Early morning clouds and rain showers, cloudy most of the day
Wind: 3.4mph W / Gust 17.2mph
High Tide: 12:34am / 1:08pm
Low Tide: 6:59am / 7:04pm

Of all the questions we are asked by the groups of visitors who come to Seguin, there is one that has haunted us for the past month. It’s a question most often asked by veteran Seguin guests, and our answer has always been tinged with the pain of anticipation:

”How are the blackberries this year?”

Finally, we can say that the berries are ripe!

Well, they’re beginning to ripen, anyway. We’ve reached the point in the season where the first of the mature berries are ripe, but there are still a good amount of berries that are almost there… in the next week we should be in full blackberry season. Bring your buckets or ask us for one!

Today, most of our guests arrived in the afternoon, so there was time for trail maintenance in the morning. As summer fully unfolds there is less mowing to do on the trails, but we are committed to keeping them well groomed and passable. It doesn’t hurt that the hiking paths just so happen to be lined with delicious treats, either!

Daily Weather Report
Temp: 76.6° / 64°
Sunny & humid with increasing clouds in the afternoon ⛅️ 
Wind: W 5.2mph/ Gust: 22.8mph
High Tide: 1:51 am / 2:19 pm
Low Tide: 8:08 am / 8:22 pm

We had another wild weather day. The fog settled on the island, and we had some very heavy rain for most of the morning.

The ground was soggy and slippery for our short hike with the dogs to check on the cove for visitors, but there was just one sailboat that had spent the night.

We settled into a quiet day watching the Olympics because the weather was so tricky, but then I got a text from a friend from Kittery and she and her partner were sailing by. Because we knew there were open moorings, we were able to have them turn around to visit Seguin for the first time! It was definitely a first to have someone from home “just driving by” to come visit! They got a chance to tour the lighthouse and see the island before settling back onto their boat to wait out some more rain and weather.

By the time they got back to their boat, all the moorings were full. I assume that most are planning to wait out the storms here as we haven’t seen anyone come up to the lighthouse since our last rain showers.

Daily Weather Report
Temperature: 74.8 / 64.9
Foggy and driving rain in the morning, cloud cover and showers by afternoon
Wind: 5.8mph NNW / Gust 22.8mph
High Tide:  11:48am / 11:53pm
Low Tide:  5:40am / 5:41pm

Yesterday (Friday) the FOSILS members came to the island to do some repairs and maintenance, while Matt headed to shore for a later-than-usual resupply. It was a pretty brutally hot day, both on-shore and on-island. We rarely see temperatures around 80 degrees, and with no breeze and a bit of haze, it felt much hotter. Since I stayed back on the island with the dogs, I had the chance to give tours to our 18 visitors for the day. One group had a couple who had been coming out to Seguin for at least 10 years and they commented on how every caretaker has their own special facts they add in to the basics of the lighthouse tour. I suppose it’s true that every caretaker will find different parts of the island history the most interesting and be excited to share it with others.

Today (Saturday) we awoke early morning thunder and lightning storms and the thickest fog we’ve had all summer. We were completely socked in until about 11am. The coast guard channel on the radio was buzzing with boats communicating their positions and navigating around each other in the channels. Here on Seguin, it was a pretty quiet day for a Saturday with only nine visitors despite the favorable conditions in the afternoon, but I’m sure the early morning weather kept a lot of people closer to shore. Though, Seguin is definitely getting some traffic because the Seguin Island Sprint – the little sister to the Monhegan Island Race hosted by the Portland Yacht Club – is being held today into tomorrow morning. Sailboats left Portland at 3pm and are out tonight using the buoy off the south end of the island as their turnaround point. Most will finish late this evening or by early tomorrow morning.

Daily Weather Report
Temperature: 77.0 /64.8
Rain and fog in the morning, clearing by late afternoon
Wind: 5.8mph WSW Gusts 12.5mph
High Tide: 11:03am / 11:09pm 
Low Tide: 4:54am / 4:55pm

We haven’t had a visitor at the lighthouse since Sunday. A few intrepid souls sought refuge from the weather in the cove, but no one has made the trek up the hill to visit the museum and take a tour, so you can imagine our delight when we heard the welcome bell ring. As a few guests came into view, we imagined a family had come for a day on Seguin, but the number of guest quickly climbed to 10, 20, and finally over 50! We stood in bewilderment until an adult introduced the group as the SPSS, the Small Point Summer School.

The children plunked down for lunch on the lawn around the lighthouse, after which they ran around the island and filled the air with laughter. A few of the group ventured up into the lighthouse while the others enjoyed the sun and pleasant sea breeze. It was a welcome bit of life after a comfortable, but isolated, few days.

Daily Weather Report 
High: 78.1° / 63.5°
Sunny and partly cloudy 🌤️ 
Wind: W 6.9mph / Gust: 20.6mph
High Tide: 9:17am / 9:28pm
Low Tide: 3:07am / 3:11am