Sunday, July 24th – Good morning! Can’t believe we are starting the last week of July. I have said to Steve a few times, I don’t want to hear – “Well we only have “x” number of weeks left or “x” number of trips ashore.” I’m not ready – so I put my fingers in my ears and say “watermelon, watermelon, watermelon.” Then he catches on. It’s just too soon to start any kind of countdown. I know it’s coming, faster than I want.

Sometimes I do so well in taking pictures of people, things or views and other times – well I just forget! Today is one of those days. I have two pictures today. One is of a leaf hanging down from what must be a spider web. It was on the main trail. It was pretty weird to walk down the trail and see a leaf at eye level, just hanging there!
The next picture is of a lens cap we found yesterday under the picnic table. It could have been there for weeks! We haven’t really been mowing as much because so much of the grass is dying. So, here’s that picture. I measured it and it’s about 2 inches in diameter. Did you leave it on a visit here?

Let’s see what my notes have to say. Might be a good day for a history lesson too! Our overnight guests, Molly and her two grandchildren are leaving today. She said they all had a wonderful time and everyone left a note in our guest book, even the kids. She was also kind enough to sing praises to Cyndy about us. Again, that’s just how we roll! Today’s weather was pretty windy and it lasted most of the day. Our engagement couple Ben & Lauren popped back up again to say thank you for all the pics we took, then it was time for them to head on their way. Don, Pam and Mike came up again, this time for a tour. They enjoyed a private tour even though we had 17 guests today! A couple of them had been here before.
So, it appears next up on the list is info on the current lighthouse which I commonly refer to as the Tower. The pictures below are from the museum and show some structural drawings of the cross section view of the Tower as well as the house structure. Crazy to think they went out to bid for projects like this back in the 1850’s.


Here are some facts:
- In 1853 they decided to make Seguin a First Order Station. That means it would use a 1st order Fresnel lens, which is approximately 6 feet in diameter and a little over 9 feet tall.
- In 1855 they allocated $35,000 to build both the tower and the house. The centerline of the lens is 53 ft about the ground making the total height 238 ft give or take a foot or two, this makes it Maines highest lighthouse.
- The Tower and the house were completed in 1857 and both still stand today, 165 years later, looking much as it did back then. There are a few minor changes to the house.
- When the 1st order Fresnel lens was installed, it used a single lamp consisting of reservoir holding 10 gallons of kerosene oil.
- The lens consists of somewhere between 242 and 284 pieces of glass and weighs in the vicinity of 12,000 lbs.
- It’s a very impressive passive piece of technology.
- The lens was fabricated in the Henry- Lepaute (Henri-lapaut) facility in Paris and was then shipped to the U.S. Here’s today’s quiz question – any thoughts on what packing material was used to protect the lenses during shipping???? Here are two clues: It is a food item and is somewhat liquid… This is where I start to hum the Jeopardy jingle!!!! (Answer will be later on in the blog!)



We had one late tour today. Peter and his sister-in-law Amy sailed over from Magala Island. An off the grid island near Sebasco, which is still part of the Phippsburg peninsula, around Small Point from us and up the New Meadows River. It was a pretty fun tour with them. I took the “special-today-at-no-extra-charge” photo where I walk around the inside catwalk next to the lens and take a picture of people standing on the stairs and it background behind your head is reversed since I’m taking the picture through a prism (I had one of Steve very early on in the blog). However, there are a couple of lines of reflection as the sun was pretty low in the sky. Didn’t really see them when I took the pic, but still pretty cool.
Monday, July 25th – We have two boats in the Cove this morning. Dean is still here plus another boat. Pretty windy overnight and some light rain this morning. Still very cloudy and temps a little cooler than it has been. I made some scones from scratch this morning (you know the kind where you grate the butter, freeze it, then mix it with flour using your hands, press the blueberries in, etc.) The plan is to use a bunch of blueberries we picked recently!!! The recipe had a great hint which suggested you could freeze the scones uncooked then add a couple of minutes to the cooking time. So, I put half the batch in the freezer for a later date in August when we have friends visiting!



Here’s a picture looking towards the Northeast and you can see the unsettled weather. Also in the pictures is a fog bell and additional fog signaling technology called diaphones. And a closer picture of the fog bell. Let’s learn a little about fog signal technology here on Seguin. Information on Seguin’s Island original fog signals is a little sketchy.
- Although the date is not known, the first fog signal used on Seguin was a bell, rung by hand! Whenever a ship passing in the fog would signal, the keeper would signal back. Many sailors complained that they could not hear the bell when a sea was running, crashing against the island and its ledges.
- The fog bell grew in size from the time the first bell was installed until 1872 when the existing bell was replaced with a fog whistle. Bells ranged in size from hand bells to those up to 4,000 lbs. in weight! The story goes that if you wanted to make an extra $100 a year, you could volunteer to “bang” the bell! Yikes, I’d volunteer for just about anything but not that!
- September 5, 1872, the American Sentinel reported “The Lighthouse Board gives notice that the steam fog whistle has been established on Seguin Island. During thick or foggy weather, the signal will be sounded at intervals of 52 seconds, the length of each blast being 8 seconds. The machinery is placed in a small wooden building about eight yards to the SW of the lighthouse and 149 feet above sea level.”
- In 1907 the operation of the fog signal required 60 pounds of steam pressure and used 90 gallons of water and 150 pounds of hard coal per hour!
- In the latter part of the 1920’s, the steam fog whistle was replaced by a compressed air diaphone horn. The diaphone fog signal is the old familiar “Beeee Oooooh” sound. (That is the sound I’m most familiar with when as a child I heard the fog horn at Nubble Light – aka Cape Neddick, in York, Maine).



Here is a neat picture of the Oil house, the Tower, the main house, the assistant keepers home and the fog whistle house in the foreground. No sure what the small building with the picket fence near it. Ok, time to move on!
Given the weather we didn’t think we’d have many visitors today. We thought it would be fun to make a video of Steve playing the Lightkeepers Waltz. I think he has done a fantastic job with this piece. So we went into the Tower and played around with make a video. We did it about 5 times and agreed on one! It’s been posted to YouTube so if you’d like to view / hear it – this is the link! He’s got 70 views already! ( Steve’s Lightkeepers Waltz July 25, 2022)


Next was to do some clean-up whipper snipping of the Cobblestone, Cove and Main trails, then under the tram, around the Clivus. It certainly doesn’t take as long as you are basically cleaning up the edges and the center is well packed from all our visitors. Steve took this picture of the waves at Cobblestone. I find it very invigorating to be on the rocks with the waves and the wind. I have always loved being near the sea when she is exhibiting her massive strength…..
Spent part of the afternoon working on the blog, then more blog and more blog. I know what you’re saying – Carol you spend so much time on the blog, I hope you’re not missing the experience of the island. Well, as I type this up on Aug 5th, I’m starting to feel a little sentimental and want to make sure I fill every part of my being with Seguin. I think that is because as the clock continues to tick with the same regularity as it always has, I’m making an effort to ensure I take it all in. Oops, there she goes again digressing.
We could see a storm approaching so we went up in the tower to watch but it seemed to skirt us. We got a very brief shower. I’ve been wanting to get to the South Trail when it’s low tide. Steve took his snips and I joined him to walk the trail. However, from just the little shower we had, the rocks were very slippery. He slipped a couple of times, which set off the “danger Will Robinson” alarm! We decided it was best to turn around. We are cautious when walking here as neither one of us wants to hurt ourselves.
As we came back to the house, the clouds were pretty crazy all around us. Here’s a few pictures of them about an hour and half apart.


We walked down to the Cove and decided to row out and get some more crabs. Ethan has been very generous with them so we have a lot! We pulled out a bunch and Steve cooked them up. While he was doing that, I headed to the Whistle House to actually make a post to the website (the Whistle House is where I connect to the internet). You’ve heard that story before – lol! Dinner tonight was swordfish, tots and asparagus. Around 8:00 or so, the sky’s started to clear a little and the clouds parted for another beautiful sunset.


Back down to the Whistle House to work more on the blog and make a few phone calls.
Tuesday, July 26th – I was up early this morning, about 6:30. Cove is empty and it’s a beautiful morning! I discovered an issue with my photos last night while working on the blog! Somehow, I had switched a setting to wide-screen on my photos! I was wondering why the dimension sizes started to be different and spent most of my time down at the whistle house trying to figure it out and how to fix it!


Steve made me some blueberry pancakes this morning since I was so busy with fixing the pictures! And it is a picture-perfect day! Check out the sky and the barn swallows were storming the Tower!
Our first visitors today were Don & Sandy from Boothbay Harbor and their son Craig and wife Colleen. They are here for a brief walk around to plan a treasure hunt for 3 of their grandchildren next week. They hide things on the island and have a little treasure map! How fun is that! Unfortunately, Don broke an oar on his way in, so we let him borrow one for the row back out to the boat.



Next group here was a gentleman that was here with his son a few weeks ago (dang it, can’t find his name – if you see this, please make a comment on the blog as to your name – I’m so embarrassed) and he brought a friend and his son today. Gave them a tour and they had a great time.

Next group was fun, Arthur Osgood and family here from Sebasco. He was active Coast Guard 1968-1972 and was involved with working on lighthouses up and down the Maine coast! He was loving the tour! He actually educated me on a few things and I learned about the “mogul bi-pole.” This is a device that held different light bulbs (incandescent and halogen, both 1000 watts). It was wired such that if a filament went out or something went wrong with the bulb, it would detect the change in voltage, set off a relay that would rotate out the bad bulb and rotate in a good bulb into place to keep the light on! How cool is that! I love learning new things about the Lighthouse and its operation from my visitors! Here’s a couple of pictures of Arthur in the Coast Guard room of the museum and him sporting is swag!


Arthur then asked if he could see the area where he worked which was down in the whistle house as he was the person that worked on some of the high voltage connections for the shore power line. By then, two other gents (Paul and Dave) had come up the trail, overheard some of the discussion and decided they would love to see that area in the Whistle House as well. So Steve headed off with them. Unfortunately, we forgot to get a few snaps of that part of the visit.


We had a long chat with Paul and Dave as it was later in the day and we figured no one else was coming up. We talked about so many things. Paul has built several small boats and paddled in several locations around New England. He has one more trek to complete and he will have paddled around New England! There is a name for the loop, but I didn’t catch it. I was in absolute awe listening to his story. He also shared about his children and was especially proud of his daughter. She works at Mass General in Neuro PT. So of course, we chatted about Colin, his journey so far and the range of opportunities in PT these days beside our traditional thinking which is usually Orthopedic. Dave was trying to orchestrate transportation from Portland to Boston for the next day. Not an easy task as cell service on the island is not the best!
We started to get a few things together for our shore day tomorrow, prep dinner which was pork tenderloin and I headed off to the Whistle House to finish fixing my picture issue! Which I did thankfully! Yikes that was a curve ball for sure!
Here’s one of my favorite pictures as I was walking back up to the house a little after 9:00 pm. Isn’t it beautiful?


Wednesday, July 27th – Good Morning, another beautiful day in Georgetown Maine. Cove was empty this morning. We rowed out to Ethan as we were getting picked up first and tied off the dinghy to the mooring. Great ride in. Sam, Ethan’s helper for the summer is a high school senior and enjoying his breakfast of champions, a large container of mac and cheese!
We got to Popham and unloaded. We decided we would eat light for breakfast and have lunch out. Steve brought a banana and two of our homemade blueberry scones for breakfast. I brought my own coffee cup today so I’m looking forward to my chai tea at Café Creme. We noshed on the banana on our route to the transfer station.



When we got to the transfer station, I noticed that the “free” section was just about empty. I’m not sure how often they empty it out and move it all to the trash side….. so much stuff, so much waste. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find three items in the free section. A Black Dog brand bandana for Gracie, a box of Monet note cards (I can always use those) and jackpot – a Baggallini back pack / purse! It’s an eggplant color with a beautiful lime greenish color on the inside. I’m stoked!


Next stop, fire station to drop off returnable bottles and cans, then off to Café Creme! We drove down the little hill to City Park to drink our beverages and have our blueberry scones. It was delightful to just sit and enjoy the scenery and our own little breakfast.

Next, the laundromat to start our two loads, check the computer, emails, bank accounts, pay bills, etc. plus anything else I’ve added to the “computer list.” I washed my new Baggillini and it came out awesome! I shared a piece of Seguin sea glass with Amy. Why you might ask? When we were back in St. Thomas, the person I used for my leg waxing there ran a business called Love Spa. We struck up a friendship over the year we were there and I made her some dishcloths that spelled LOVE and she gave me a rock she painted with a symbol for “Love” and painted the word ‘LOVE’ on the back. I keep it in my purse and everyone once in a while when I’m digging for something in my purse, I come across it and it reminds me of her. I’m hoping the sea glass does that for Amy. She works very hard at the laundromat and takes great pride in making sure the place is clean and is friendly to all her customers. I digresses yet again!
Off to groceries, Swango (local produce), fish store, etc. We got all our stuff and then some. While at Swango, he was throwing out these weird looking things and we asked what they were – Garlic scapes! I’ve seen those at the farmer’s market. He said they were going to give them to the pigs….. So, he gave us and the lady behind us a bunch. Both the owner and a customer said they are good, sauté them up, little balsamic vinegar on top…. We took some and figured we’d give them a try. Then I had about 20 mins so I went to the tattoo place to chat some more with Shawn about setting a date as well as more discussion on the actual tattoo! I’m very excited! After that I walked up to Mae’s Café to meet my Maine friend Leeli for lunch! As I went to walk in, I ran into some folks that had come out to the island for a tour! I recognized them – how crazy is it that I’m recognizing people on the street after being here for 2 months. I went in and Leeli had a table for us already. We had a most delightful lunch! We shared lots of stories and got a chance to get to know each other a little better. She is a very funny, sweet, generous person. Then we still had a little time so we decided to have ice cream at Fountain on Front Street. As we walked to her car, we walked by our car. Then we found Steve and he joined us for ice cream! Leeli had Georgia Peach and I had Vanilla with Brownie Bites and Caramel. Is your mouth watering yet – OMG it was soooooo yummy! I’ve had a hankering for ice cream and they had so many flavors, now I need to go back! And guess what I forgot to do? Take PICTURES!!! Well, I’m meeting her again for lunch on the 24th of August so I will definitely take a photo then!
Alrighty time to head back to Popham. As we left Bath, temp in the car read 87, by the time we got to the dock it was 75!!!! Popham is only 10 miles from Bath! Gotta love the ocean. We met up with Ethan who hit the mother load today, about 700# of lobster! That’s great except, they keep lowering the price they are paying them for the lobster, but are charging the consumer the same amount! They don’t really have any recourse.
Back in the Cove. As we came in a couple were coming in to shore in their dinghy. They are Phillip and Pippa, they are English. Really fun couple. They helped us carry our stuff up the trail. Turns out the Coast Guard was here today. They carried all this random scrap metal stuff that has been sitting on the grass down to the whistle house area under the tram. However, they just left it there! It was very messy and lots of nuts and bolts just lying around. It looked awful. It’s like a job half done! So frustrating.
Talked with Phillip and Pippa for a bit and gave them a tour. Then we headed down for Cove time, sitting on the side where the rocks are warm. The sun is starting to move, so the boat house where we used to sit is in the shade earlier in the day.





Dinner tonight was haddock and garlic scapes fried rice which was delicious! When you put the cold rice in with all the vegetables and egg, you stir it then press it into the pan. Let it go for a bit, then flip it all around, press into the pan and that is how the rice becomes “fried.” It was really good, definitely being added to the recipe roster! Rick, this dinner pic for you! Check out how good our basil is doing now that we moved it to a new location that enjoys some shade during the early morning.


Here is a pic of the house / tower. Taking a few of these from this angle to help Shawn with the tattoo. I like the perspective that includes the door to the Tower. Oh and also another unique sunset!
Tonight’s entertainment was an episode of Virgin River. Season 4 came out a few weeks ago.

Thursday, July 28th – Gorgeous morning. If you’re not in the sun, it’s even a little cool. Another sailboat had come in last night to spend the night, so there were 4 boats overnight. The cruiser left this morning. The close-up picture of the blue hull sailboat (below-left) might have been Phillip and Pippa’s boat, not sure. As I started to walk up the trail, I just couldn’t resist a picture looking up at the tram. Look at that sky!


I did my Clivus duties and boy the barn swallows were flying crazy around the area and right in front of the door. It was like they wanted to come in! Headed back up the trail for breakfast. Took a quick look at the weather today and could be windy and rainy this afternoon. We’d love a good thunderstorm! We see a lot of thunderheads near shore, but we’re so much cooler out here, not sure we’ll get any.


I made up a tray for breakfast, toasted homemade rosemary bread, avocado, peppadews, Kalamata olives, cream cheese, cucumbers, some greens, some pesto and some SMAK (the spicy stuff in the bottle). Oh, almost forgot the smoked trout!! It was delicious – now you see it, now you don’t!
First up the trail this morning was Rob and Sarah, they have come here several times and have a Leopard 39 catamaran. We talked with them at length. They are both captains and she has done a lot of sailing and has helped people sail their boats from one place to another. Boy did she have a few stories. We were very interested in hearing what they had to say about boats, chartering, being crew etc. They invited us to come by later on in the day to see their boat (you’ll see those pics a little further down).


Next up was Natalya and Mariana and their dog. They had never been here before and enjoyed learning about Seguin. Lots of questions which was fun. Then a group of 3 – Craig, Wendy and Olivia. Give them a tour. They were easy going, friendly and really enjoyed the tour. Here they are in the gift shop. Many people say they have been here several times, but by far my tour was the best!

Then we had a family and their two daughters. They were so well-behaved and were very excited to see all the prism rainbows in the tower. If you time it right, they are spectacular. I just had to get a picture of them with the prisms on their arms!
Steve headed down the trail after I did their tour and when he got there he said, get ready. There were 8-10 boats in the Cove and lots of kids! Turns out it was a field trip from Small Point Summer Camp! Holy Cow – a little bit of a whirlwind of activity! There were 20 kids, maybe 15 staff and then all the adults that owned the boats which ferried them over. Some folks stayed, other boats left and were coming back later as Small Point is pretty close by. Gave all the kids a tour and in between they played games and had their lunches. We made one suggestion to them for future reference, to email the caretakers the day before. Not that we would have done anything to prepare, but just knowing a group that large was coming would have been helpful!



Next pic is Steve wanted to cover up the scrap metal pile the Coast Guard made down by where you come up from the beach (I mentioned it in yesterday’s write-up). Anyway, we thought it looked a little cleaner if it was covered with a tarp vs looking at all the pieces, etc. just piled up by the tram.
I noticed my phone had a call a little while ago, which I screened (Google phones will screen a call from someone not in your contacts). Turns out it’s a guy named Dan Schmitt that I know in my yoga class. He decided this summer to ride 4,500 miles across the U.S. from Anacortes, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine in a solo, unsupported bike-packing trip to fulfill a twenty-year dream to pursue an adventure inspired by a true story. Kon-Tiki is a book documenting the journey of 6 men who sailed 4,300 miles from Peru on a balsa log raft across the Pacific to the Polynesian Islands to prove it could be done. Dan will be riding to raise awareness and funds to support Sportable’s. ( http://sportable.org/events/coast-to-coast-2022/ ) Their mission is to provide opportunities and access to sport for people with physical disabilities in Richmond, Virginia. “Sportable creates opportunities to make sports accessible for individuals with physical disabilities and visual impairments year-round. By fostering a fun, inclusive, competitive, and accessible environment, Sportable transforms the lives of athletes and frees them to see beyond their disabilities, enhances their peer relationship and helps them to reach their personal finish line.” Colin’s PT class went there a couple of times to help out as well as our close friends have brought their son there for some PT. Dan knew about our gig here in Maine and said he might call. Well, he was in Camden, ME and expected to be in Boothbay Harbor in a few hours. He wanted to know if there was any way I might be able get him out to the island! Yikes! I started sending a few texts to my sister, a friend of hers that has offered to bring people out, the charter people etc. No luck, bummer. I asked Diane if it was ok with her if he camp at their place and she said sure. I told him about Robinsons Wharf, which is in Southport near her, to stop and have a bite there as it is a typical lobster place in Maine, right on the water by a swinging bridge! We go there every other year for our family reunion lobster meal!
Today, while Diane and Dave were out sailing on their boat with a few friends, Dave called us from his Coast Guard radio and we heard him! They were out sailing near Cuckhold’s and we could see them, albeit a super tiny sailboat as they were pretty far away! The cool part of this story was that Steve went in and got a mirror and signaled them from here and everyone on the boat could see it! How crazy is that!
We did end up heading out to Rob and Sarah’s catamaran in the Cove. They gave us a tour of the boat, pointed out all the features they love about having a catamaran, lessons learned, etc. Interestingly enough, she had a picture her mom had painted of Seguin on the wall! It’s beautiful. Seguin is her favorite island she said. Here’s a picture of painting and their dining area.




Cove is still pretty busy! We started to head in but rowed around to a few other boats to say hi again and in the last boat we went by, was a couple from NH. We sat there for a bit and chatted with them. Nice couple, offered us a beverage and we hung out there for a little bit. They didn’t have a dinghy but one of the other boats was kind enough to bring them in and they had gone up top. We saw that dinghy but thought it was the people we had already given a tour to, but it wasn’t. I felt bad they had gone up and we weren’t there. Another sailboat had came in with registration for Anchorage, AK! They took the Coast Guard mooring and made sure they had ample protection from bumping into it. Put a life vest on the actual mooring to protect the hull and hung their spinnaker pole off the front rails along with fenders tied off for added protection. We stopped to introduce ourselves, chatted for a few and they said they would be up in the morning for a tour. They were Jade and Benjamin.
We rowed into the beach and pulled the dinghy up and covered it, part of our normal task but there is a storm coming so we made sure everything was in order.
Dan did stop at Robinson’s and then went on to Diane and Dave’s. He stayed there overnight. It rained pretty hard so she offered him a futon in their home! That was super nice of them! Here’s a pic of the three of them – Dan, Diane and Dave! The last picture is our dinner, shrimp etouffee for tonight and I made crab bisque as I needed to make it before the crab went south! Wow what a busy, crazy day! Storm finally came in about 8, thunder, rain and some wind. That’s it for tonight.



Friday, July 29th – Wow it’s almost August! Yesterday was a very, very busy day. Today is Friday and we still have the weekend! I was in the kitchen preparing my breakfast and the barn swallows were flying like crazy birds outside the kitchen window. I don’t know their behavior but would sure like to understand what is going on with them! Made a yummy breakfast of champions this morning! Leftover fried rice, additional veggies, small piece of haddock and a fried egg on top – delicious! I cleaned out all the leftovers!
First order of business was to sweep the tower after yesterday’s crazy day! Jade and Benjamin came up the trail. It was early and we spent a lot of time talking with them and learning of their adventure. They were both working remotely and enjoying life for sure. We talked about another place besides Salty Dog (crew opportunities) called Offshore Passage Opportunities. Could be the next Carol and Steve adventure. Being around all these boats and water is reminding us how much we love being on and around the water.

Next group up the hill was the Damariscove Island caretakers and their friends that own the Life Saving Station on the same island. And boy did we talk with them for a long time, tour, showed them our quarters, etc. Scott and Aiko the caretakers live in a 12 x 16 building! They don’t provide tours but act as a presence on the island. They also have an arrangement where they ‘work’ 10 days then have 4 days off. This is their 2nd year as caretakers on behalf of the Land Trust. Then Chub and Natalie told us their story. Chubb had an amazing story of how he purchased the Lifesaving Station on Damariscove Island for the cost of a pick-up truck! Natalie was having a blast taking photos of our place. We had great fun sharing stories. Here is the picture of the gang that came over and all their Seguin swag and then a pic of both “caretakers.”


Next up the trail was another group with Liz Armor, Different Drum Sailing Adventures. She shared this is her last trip to Seguin this season. Her husband may bring one more group but she is returning to teaching for the next school year. I’ve enjoyed seeing her a few times and we are convinced our paths will cross again! This was an American Girl group from Chicago. Very fun group of young women and their leaders. We all had a laugh or two. In addition, one of the girls McKenzie was the first person to have the answer to my shipping the lens question that I ask during every tour as well as I asked it here in the beginning of the blog. She is 14 and knew the answer, way to go McKenzie!



Our next visitor was a single person with his dog Riley. He was a sailor for sure and shared many of his trips and insights! Again though, another person sailing by themselves.
Our next group was 10 people. One family has been here already this season. I think it was Carrie’s sister Kim and her family that joined them. When I take a photo with young people in it, sometimes I say ok, let’s take a regular picture, then take a crazy photo! Everyone seemed to embrace the fun photo idea so I decided to use that one for the blog. Pretty fun!


Next, we had a group of 3. John was from Rhode Island and the two women were from DC. Took a pic of them in the tower while on tour with Steve. As I was waiting for them to come down and we’ve had a seagull or two acting a little weird. One landed on the sidewalk and walked around poking in the grass. At first I thought maybe there was some food left over from the Small Point Summer Camp group. Then another came by and landed on the picnic table and just stood there. They are big birds up close…. Not sure what’s going on with them.


Things seemed to slow down around 3:45 so I had a little bite to eat since I hadn’t had lunch. Jeff and Susan came up from the Cove. They are sailors. Jeff lives in Melrose, MA and she lives in Wilmington, MA. We spent a bunch of time chatting with them, one of those couples with whom you connect. When we were finished in the museum, they asked it we wanted to come out to their boat for a little bit – why not! We enjoyed chatting with them about their adventures and we shared ours. He brought us out in his dinghy which he actually built (it’s a small sailboat) and they have actually sail it sometimes! It was getting late, so we decided it was time for us to head in, up the trail and have dinner. Tonight was homemade crab bisque along with sautéed bok choy and carrots. Pretty yummy and very flavorful. And last but not least, a sunset. You can see most of Mount Washington. Later in the evening I got a text from Auri! They were sailing our way and wanted to check on the moorings. I said you’re good, we have room!



Saturday, July 30th – Another beautiful day on Seguin, most of the haze is gone! Wanted to get ready first as I feel it’s going to be a busy day. I needed to do my hair, suntan lotion everywhere (lips, face, arms, legs, hands, ankles – everywhere). We headed down to the Cove to get some water so I might as well take a picture! We refill two 5-gallon water jugs just about every week. Those are the big blue jugs you might have seen in a picture. When we come ashore, we carry them up from the beach and store them in the Donkey Engine house. Then every couple of days, we transfer the water into two 2.5-gallon jugs to carry up to the house. Here’s Steve carrying those up the trail! He’s so strong!!! I carry up my 1-gallon girly jug!


Here’s our first group of the day. Three young women Lauren, Lacy and Quinn. They wanted a tour so up we went!! Nice, engaging and funny!
Steve headed over to mow the helipad as we are anticipating the pending roof work starting next week. The helicopter is supposed to come out Aug 5th and he’ll bring out new shingles and then take back some of the old ones. He’ll do that a bunch of times. That will be an exciting day! As we were sitting on the porch, Jeff from last night popped up to drop off one of his business cards and to let us know they saw the bioluminescence last night in the Cove. WOW! We’ll definitely check that out tonight!
Then we noticed a crew walking from the Cove Trail along the coastline to the Cobblestone Beach. We usually tell folks to go the other way around as it’s sometimes hard to tell where to go as you approach Cobblestone Beach. Well sure enough, they made it about ¾ of the way and then turned around! They were so close to making it.


Next up the trail was Auri! They made it last night and there was plenty of space. He was here with his brother Dane and friend Molly. I talked with Auri a bit and then Steve gave Dane and Molly a tour, that’s them at the top of the Tower.
While we were talking, a large group of 9 came up the hill! They were from Southport and guess what, yep they knew Diane and Dave! Guess that’s what happens when you’ve had a summer place for 20+ years! They all wanted a tour, so I took them up after Steve was done. Then they needed to get going as the sister Susan (in the picture back row on the left) was waiting for the boat.


Next up the trail was a single attendee, his name is Bob Patton. We chatted a bit, talked about the moorings and how some folks stay overnight, etc. I gave him a tour and he was very interesting, engaging and friendly! Another single sailor.
Next up was a group of 4. Burton & Amanda Rankie, from Scarborough and their friends from Philly, Chris & Kristen + Sam the dog. Super interesting to talk with them as Burton’s dad Charles was a keeper here in the late 60’s. Two neat stories. First, his Mom and Dad met on Seguin. She came out as a visitor to the island and she met him! Second, he shared how they would get the diesel fuel from the tanker boat on the west side of the island up to the tanks on the east side of the island. He was one of a couple of Coast Guard guys in a boat on the west side (right side in photo below) who would shoot a rope gun towards the island that was attached to the hose on the tanker. Then other Coast Guard guys on the island would pull the rope and ultimately pull up the hose from the tanker to fill the tanks that sit in the cradles (far left side of the photo)! This stuff is great, because I can add it to my tour!


In the museum we have a blue board in each room that list the keepers for that period of time. The front room goes from 1795 to 1939. Middle room is the Coast Guard years that go from 1939 to 1985. We don’t have all the Coast Guard keepers but if someone comes in and has new information, then a little plaque is added. For instance, I should have checked it when Burton was telling me the story, so I could have had him get the info so we could add a plaque for his Dad. Then the gift shop room has the keepers since 1990 when FOSILS took over. And we actually got to hang our plaque up!




Two more groups of two came up today. One was Jeff and Maria from the Mt. Washington Valley area. Gave them a tour as they had not been here before. Thought I had a picture of them, but no luck. Then we met Jim and Jill. They came up kind of late, but we still gave them a tour. Really nice folks and we chatted a bit about all things sailing. They have a 406 Sabre, with a beautiful blue bottom.
Well, it’s 5:00 and that’s Cove time. We headed down and sat on the rocks near the Vista off the Cove Trail. My new favorite spot. Here’s a pic of Jim and Jill’s boat. She sent me a picture of us sitting on the rocks!



We walked back up and boy the wind just couldn’t make up its mind. First from the west, then swung to the east then back again. I took a little video but it’s too hard to get that in the blog so you’ll just have to imagine it. Tonight, was Chicken Stroganoff – Steve does a great job of making this. Here he is enjoying his efforts!
Beautiful moonrise over the west tonight, just above the clouds, not quite a half moon. And guess what, the bright star that is to the left of the moon and about 1 ½ inches up is the International Space Station!!!! The Tower pic has the ISS too, just above the dome!


Lastly, we did go down to the Cove tonight and we both saw the bioluminescence for the first time in our lives! Of course, I tried to take a photo as the little waves came into the beach and as Steve was paddling the dinghy, they would stick to his oar. However, my pictures didn’t really capture anything. I know what the little dots in the photos are, but I don’t think you’d see them on the blog. Guess you’ll just have to use your imagination!
Phew that was a long blog entry – Hope you are all well and thanks again for reading!!!
PS – Almost forgot to give you the answer to the question! It was molasses that they used to package the lens for it’s shipment across the pond! I know, you’re saying “sweet!” But the related fact we learned was they turned it into Rum and sold it!!! Now that was smart! They weren’t going to take it back, right?
See you next week 😉
Hello there, so I have passed Seguin many times over the last 25 years, going back and forth to the boat races… I also see it while we are hauling traps most every day. Today we were coming back from Pemaquid and we were a bit early, I always saw the tram going up there and decided to take a left and check it out. We went into the cove, I saw some people on moorings and chatted a bit. It looked inviting and I decided I would come back with family, and jump on there and look around? So I looked on the Inet of course when home, and see you guys have an assn, and are the caretakers? I wanted to come thins week sometime but not tomorrow. I really don’t need a tour but it sure would be cool to see it all inside there too no doubt! Just thought I’d reach out. Ty