Coastal ice scrapes bottoms, hampers travel

Ferry navigates thick ice as it heads toward Islesboro Nakomis Nelson

The 2002-2003 winter was hardly a record-setter in the books of the National Weather Service, but for seasoned island residents it brought forth many memories. The most ice seen in nearly a generation quickly built in upper Penobscot Bay towards the end of February after two months of sustained cold.

Ferry trips were delayed and water taxi service to and from Islesboro was canceled for nearly a week at the end of February. Local fishermen were unable to check their boats, left to the mercy of the ice. In Friendship Harbor the Coast Guard was called in to break out nearly 50 fishing boats that became endangered by the movement of a large ice sheet.

Executive Petty Officer James Taylor of the Coast Guard Cutter TACKLE said, "All of the local Coast Guard ice breaking boats were kept busy round the clock, seven days a week during the most extreme periods of cold in January and February. The ferries needed help almost every day." Taylor, although only in his first season of icebreaking, has heard through the ranks that this was an exceptional winter. Ice in the open bay between Islesboro and the mainland, he reported, was between four and six inches thick.

Although strong northwesterly winds kept the ice from developing during much of February, there were mornings where the ice skimmed over from mainland to island, an event not common for many years. A century ago, the only way off Islesboro in the winter was across the ice.

Nick Lobkowicz of the Maine State Ferry Service reported that no serious damage was done to any of the ferryboats as a result of the ice. However, he fears, the ice may have scraped a fair amount of the antifouling paint off their bottoms.

The ice was less kind to local island pier owners. Numerous docks were damaged on Islesboro alone, most when the ice began to break up and move down the bay. Some lobsterman also reported damage to and loss of their bait floats. Tom Daley, owner and operator of the QUICKSILVER, Islesboro's water taxi, lost a week's worth of revenue when his boat was frozen in at the dock.

Both January and February averaged more than five degrees below normal. The National Weather Service said it was the coldest winter in over a decade, but more significant was the consistent cold. Instead of having multiple cold and warm periods, the thermometer only made it above freezing twice in February.

In September, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center forecast a warmer-than-normal winter for the Northeast. Now it is predicting a warmer-than-normal summer.