Category: Seguin Island News

It was a very busy weekend on Seguin. On Saturday we welcomed over 50 visitors to the island. It also happened to be Matt’s 50th birthday. We had some friends visit and we got a chance to go “cliff jumping” (i.e., hopping from rock to rock between the Cove Trail and Cobblestone Beach) with our friends’ kids, hike the trails, play card games, and share some great meals to celebrate. We were joking around with Matt that he has to retired from lighthouse keeping because the US Lighthouse Service had a cutoff age of 50 when they were in charge of Seguin Island Light, though we all agreed Matt’s doing a great job and can stay on through the end of the summer.

Summer really felt in full swing on Saturday as the moorings were full nearly all day. We had a group of 21 visitors spend the afternoon picnicking and taking turns going on lighthouse tours. Their group put us over 900 visitors for the summer! We saw visitors swimming in the cove and nearly every group took some time to hike around the North Trail to pick the blackberries that have overtaken nearly every inch of the island. August is a special time in New England when everyone is enjoying summer to the last drop, but everyone also knows that the first days that feel like fall are right around the corner.

By Sunday morning, the fog settled in and there were pretty strong winds and relatively low visibility as Hurricane Ernesto started to churn up the waters. We didn’t have any visitors to the lighthouse, but we did see a couple of sailboats out on moorings when we ventured down to the cove later that evening. It looked like it was a pretty rocky night for anyone who was moored out there.

This morning the fog was the thickest we’ve seen it and it didn’t let up all day. The batteries didn’t charge up in the morning because we got no sun for nearly two days straight, so we had to turn on the generator for a couple hours in the morning to get the system up and running again. Even though we can’t see the water today, we can hear it roaring. The tide is high from the full moon and the combination of the wind, tide, and storm off shore brought large waves and some huge logs (more like trees) into the cove. We’ll have to figure out a good time to try to move the largest log to somewhere more safe once the waves settle and we time the tides right. We just had one couple come up from the sailboat around noon to get some shore time after spending the night on the mooring. They were planning to stay again tonight to wait out the rough seas and fog.

The juxtaposition between the perfect summer day of Saturday and today’s moody fog was very Seguin. We’re looking forward to seeing what the remainder of our time here will bring as the summer winds down.

Because we’re often asked what animals we’ve seen on Seguin, we figured we’d come up with our running list of species we’ve seen (with varying degrees of scientific exactness).

1. Bats
2. Smooth Green Snakes
3. Garter Snakes
4. Brown-lipped snails
5. Canada Geese
6. Gulls
7. Osprey
8. Bald Eagle
9. Terns
10. Cormorants
11. Barn Swallows
12. Cliff Swallows
13. Goldfinches
14. Hummingbirds
15. Eider ducks
16. Crickets
17. Katydids
18. Grasshoppers
19. Ants
20. Deer flies
21. Green head flies
22. Mosquitos
23. Monarch Butterflies
24. Swallowtail Butterflies
25. Hickory Tussock Moth Caterpillars
26. Minke whale
27. Rock Crab
28. Periwinkle snails
29. Porpoises
30. Gray seals
31. Mink

Because the only mammals are bats and the occasional mink, we’re in a rare situation in Maine where there aren’t ticks! We saw this little mink friend scurrying down the tram path this morning on our way to cove.

Today we woke up to some fog and a threat of rain. By noon, the skies had opened up and there were thunderstorms in the area that lasted until about 1:30pm. We had a few visitors beat the rain and some that got stuck in it, but everyone handled it with good humor!

When the weather cleared, Matt decided he was going to row the dinghy around the entire island. He set off from the cove around 2pm with the initial plans to go clockwise around the island, but quickly changed plans and went counterclockwise when he assessed the incoming tides and waves.

He said it was a pretty smooth ride until he rounded the southern tip of the island where there were some 4ft waves, but they helped push him back toward the cove. As he passed the east side of the island, there were about 20 gray seals that were curious about what he was doing and followed the boat.

I met him around 3:30pm back at the cove and we towed the dinghy back to the high point of the beach. Matt said it was a great afternoon adventure, and he’s looking forward to doing it again when the weather is right!

Daily Weather Report:
Temperature: 68.4/61.2
Foggy in the morning, rain midday, cloudy by afternoon
Wind: 2.2mph NE   Gust 15.9mph
High Tide: 7:33am / 7:43pm
Low Tide:   1:21am   /1:23pm

I don’t know what a blog with out words would be called, but sometimes you just have to see things for yourself.

The Aurora Borealis was visible from Seguin Island Station last night.

Daily Weather Report
Temp: 77.4º / 60.4º
Sunny and clear
Wind: NNW 4.1mph / Gust: 17.2mph
High Tide: 11:31 am
Low Tide: 5:35 am / 5:49 pm

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