We’re on generator as I write; last night’s 50 mph+ gale winds knocked out our pole-line power somehow. But a quick survey this morning indicates that no significant damage was done to our property or any nearby.
This post contains two images taken in yesterday’s rainy, high-winded buildup to last night’s howler. On their face, these images will seem completely unrelated. Yet, sadly, there is a relationship.
This first image is of the fishing vessel ALL-IN tossing and swinging wildly at her mooring yesterday, even though she was somewhat protected by the islands around Naskeag Harbor:
The second image is of the ancient Camperdown elm in the Brooklin Cemetery yesterday. Her stolid body was unaffected by the winds, but her leafless branches were unable to protect against the rain that was falling on the graves of those she tries to protect:
The elm principally shelters the grave of Rodney S. Blake, who went down with the side-wheeling passenger steamer “Portland,” when everyone onboard drowned in a gale off Maine in 1892.
As for ALL-IN, despite being somewhat protected, boats similar to her have slipped their moorings in Naskeag Harbor during high winds and been sunk or severely damaged. When I checked on her this morning, however, ALL-IN was swinging contentedly on her mooring, seemingly proudly.
While in bad last night as wind and rain pounded the house, I remembered the words a veteran commercial fishermen told me with a shrug: “Nothin’ good about a gale.” (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on March 16, 2026.)