Bill Green's Maine is a popular weekly television program here in
Maine.
Hosted by Bill Green it is aired every Saturday night on Channel 2 in
Bangor
and Channel 6 in Portland.
Yesterday we made a frightful trip out to Little River Lighthouse so
Bill
Green could do a story about the American Lighthouse Foundation's
efforts to
save not only Little River Lighthouse but a number of other Maine
lights.
With wind gusts, the wind chill at any given time was 20-30 below zero.
Our sincere thanks to Capt. Jeremy Cates of Cutler, who took us out on
his
boat "Charlene Gail," and his crew Brian Cates and Andy Patterson, also
of
Cutler.
This is my recollection of that trip.
As we approached the island the winds started to pick up and we
transferred
to a small skiff to land on the island. After Bill Green and his
cameraman
Charlie landed on the island, the skiff, being handled by Brian Cates,
was
swamped with a large wave on departure and Brian had to bail the boat
by
hand to enable it to make it back to the "Charlene Gail." The second
trip to
the island was just as scary, only this time I was in the skiff and
with
Jeremy manning the outboard. Once I exited the boat, the waves and the
winds
made it nearly impossible for him, in the small skiff, to get back to
the
lobster boat. Both Jeremy and his father showed in those few minutes
what
the 'Cutlerites' are made of.
Little did I know, this was just the beginning.
Kathy Finnegan, of the American Lighthouse Foundation, who had
accompanied
us, realized that with the bulky clothes she was wearing, to make an
attempt to transfer from the boat to the skiff and then to land and
then do
it all over again on the way back would simply be too dangerous for her
and
she elected to stay on the boat. Although she was able to take a few
vital
photos of the event from water, her camera soon froze up from the
bitter
cold.
Once we got on the island the wind got stronger and we could barley
walk up
the walkway. However when we reached the top of the island we were
protected
by the trees and we experienced very little wind, but it was still
biter
cold. The zipper tag-thermometer hanging on my jacket said it was zero.
We discovered that several large trees had been toppled (apparently by
the
last storm) over the walkway to the lighthouse, forcing us to crawl
under
them to continue our journey to the lighthouse on the other side of the
island. The flags from both flag poles were gone. In fact the third
main
flag pole to be erected on the island in the last eight months, was
broken
and lying on the ground. We found one flag, which had been ripped to
shreds
and Bill Green spotted the other flag in a tree.
While we were filming on the island, we did not realize that the wind
was
picking up and Jeremy was circling the island trying to find a place
where
he could safely pick us up.
Within 45 minutes of our being on the island, the weather got worse. By
now
the wind was at gale force with the waves easily three to four feet
high and
close together as they smashed into the rocks that were covered with a
layer
of salty ice water. For the waves to cause this much havoc is not all
that
common on the mainland side of the island, in this normally protected
harbor, especially by the boat house, which is the safest landing and
departure spot on the island.
Although we were all dressed warm, the crew on the boat was freezing,
the
on- board heater was no match for the high winds.
The radio on the island at first refused to work allowing for no
communication with the crew of the Charlene Gail. Once we were able to
get
the radio working the voice crackled back from the Charlene Gail that
we
should make every effort to leave the island now; before the weather
got
even worse.
The thought crossed our minds that we might be forced to spend the
night on
the island. At least the old light keepers' house would provide us
shelter
from the wind, but not the cold. Although there is electricity on the
island, there are no electric heaters.
Maybe, just maybe, we could crank up the propane heater that is in the
house. But was there enough propane to keep us warm for any period of
time?
We did not dwell on those thoughts.
At least the camera man had gotten some good file footage and we even
did a
brief interview on the outside deck of the lantern room, although I
felt
that if we didn't hang on to the railing Mother Nature would have
plucked us
from the deck and thrown us into the house below.
'Bill Green's Maine' is an outdoor show, and I kept thinking to myself,
this
is about as "outdoors as it gets."
But, we were able to talk with Bill about our efforts to save not only
Little River Lighthouse, but the other lighthouses and their history.
And,
we stressed that one way to accomplish our goal is by getting public
attention through a TV program as widely watched and respected as his.
Naturally, we would hope that the program will also help bring in
donations,
especially when people would see what we and the crew of the Charlene
Gail
did to help make this TV episode possible. On the other hand, I kept
thinking, why couldn't we have done this in the summer?
Approaching the new departure area, as we had discussed on the radio,
it was
soon realized that leaving the island would be even more difficult than
getting on the island was, especially with the increased force of the
wind
and the waves.
Several attempts were made to land the skiff at different locations on
the
island, but all proved to be either too dangerous or the seaweed too
thick
or there were too many hidden rocks. Plus, between the combination of
the
wind, the bitter cold and the waves, the small outboard motor on the
skiff
was no match for the elements.
By this time the boat crew had gone back to our original site by the
boat
house and Captain Jeremy Cates figured this was still the safest and
best
location to make one final attempt to get us off the island. Bill Green
turned to me and asked, "Tell me, why are we doing this again?" To
which I
replied, "For the lighthouse cause, but this is nuts." Bill replied,
"Well,
I have my wallet in my back pocket, so at least they can identify my
body."
It was then decided that the easiest and safest way to get us off the
island
was to tie a rope to the skiff, and with the assistance of the outboard
engine, we would be slowly be pulled back by hand to the Charlene Gail.
My
mind flashed back to all the amazing sea rescues I had read or seen
photos
of when a line was shot out to a vessel to carry people in a bos'n
chair to
safety.
I watched as Bill Green was the first to slowly make his way back in
the
skiff to the larger boat. I watched in fear as he and Jeremy bobbed up
and
down over the waves in that tiny skiff making its way to the Charlene
Gail.
Now, I was scared. We now realized what the lighthouse keepers of
yesteryear
had to contend with, but I doubt even they would have ventured out on
day
such as this.
As soon as Bill Green was safely back on board the Charlene Gail,
Jeremy
again maneuvered his way back to the island, using all his boatmanship
to
bring the skiff up close to the rocks. As I watched him, I could see
how his
experience was paying off in the blistery cold. He looked confident and
knew
exactly how to handle that small skiff in the dangerous waters created
by
this wind and cold.
Somehow or another I slipped my way into the ice covered skiff. Jeremy
hollered to the cameraman, "Let's go, I'm taking both of you." Trying
not to
fall or slip out of the skiff, Jeremy passed the camera to me. It must
have
weighed 100 pounds. I thought to myself, "How does that guy carry that
thing
everywhere? Why don't we just take the film and leave that heavy
awkward
camera on the island? We can retrieve it in the springtime."
With the extra weight of a third person and the heavy camera the top of
the
skiff appeared to be level with the water. As we bobbed up and down in
the
water, with the skiff slowly making its way back to the Charlene Gail,
I
noticed the windows of the lobster boat ahead were covered with ice
from the
spray. Why I even noticed this is amazing, especially since I was
hanging on
to the ice covered skiff in total fear. At the same time the only real
thing
I was focusing on was Andy Patterson, who was pulling on the rope and
drawing the skiff closer to the boat, as the wind and sea smoke swirled
around him.
As we got on board and headed back to Cutler, I looked at the crew and
suddenly realized just how cold they looked. Did I look that cold? A
thought
went through my mind, a crazy thought; my mustache was frozen. But,
what I
was really thinking was how great these guys from Cutler were. They had
gone
above and beyond the call of duty to help us, especially on a day like
this.
I've had hundreds of amazing experiences at lighthouses, several where
I
thought I would not get back alive. Once, when a helicopter I was in,
coming
back from Seguin Island off the coast of the Kennebec River, a wind
gust or
something caught us, and for what seemed like a lifetime, the pilot had
lost
control and we were going down, straight down, nose first, before he
regained control. Another time was with a camera crew from a TV station
on
the way back from a visit to Middle Island Light, nine miles out in
Lake
Huron, known for its freak storms and shipwrecks. I remember seeing the
look
of fear on the Captain's face on that day as he skippered a boat about
the
size of the Charlene Gail, fighting to control the boat as waves tossed
the
vessel around like we are a toy, not just up and down, but sideways.
Was I scared on this trip to Little River? Yes. But, was I frightened?
Yes,
but something deep inside me knew this trip would end safely. Maybe it
was
because what I have heard about the history of the fisherman from
Cutler.
They are rugged and they know how to handle a boat, any boat. But more
importantly, they respect the sea, they understand it, they know its
power
and they don't use their knowledge or training recklessly, and they
take
nothing for granted. Any way, in my book, they deserve some kind of
medal.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Although the camera was
acting up
due to the change from the bitter cold to the warm indoors. We spent
most of
the rest of the day at Neil Corbett's house, sitting by a toasty warm
woodstove sipping on warm coffee and hot chocolate that Neil's wife
Allie
had made for us.
Bill Green was interviewing Neil on his memories of growing up at
Little
River Lighthouse where his father was the last keeper of the United
States
Lighthouse Service to serve there. And, Neil had some great stories and
photos from the family album to share.
As we left Neil's house, the cameraman said he hoped that the film
turned
out okay after all the problems he had with it because of the weather
and
condensation in the lenses. To which Bill Green replied, "So do I. We
want
this to air in a couple of weeks and I don't want to have come back and
do
this all over again." "Me too," I thought. I can't imagine Jeremy
Cates and
the crew being too eager to make that boat trip again! Would you?
The Little River Lighthouse segment will air on Bill Green's Maine on
Saturday, February 7th.
Tim Harrison
American Lighthouse Foundation
www.LighthouseFoundation.org
