The Claire Elise is lucky to have a mooring in Scituate harbor that not far from the dingy dock and close to the state pier where she takes bait and fuel and unloads her catch. The down side of her mooring location is she is exposed to the seas that build during an easterly or north-easterly storm and roll thru the breakwater unimpeded then into the mooring field.
Last October we had a decent Nor-Easter and while the Claire Elise put up a good fight, she eventually parted her mooring and was adrift and at the mercy of mother nature. The call came in around 6am from my son, who was contacted by another fisherman that happened to be sitting in the parking lot watching the storm roll through. My son and I raced to the waterfront expecting the worst, to find Claire Elise blown ashore and exposed to the surf. What we found was the boat had blown down wind and landed on her port side against a dock that was being disassembled for the season. A stroke of luck for sure, for had she missed that dock she probably would have been lost. To add to our luck, we arrived to meet a very wet cop who braved the pitching dock to secure the Claire Elise and prevent her from blowing ashore.
Everything happened pretty fast once we saw the boat. She was beam to 3 foot waves. Her port side pinned to the dock, sharp metal brackets for the finger piers grinding into her hull as she struggled against the storm. My son quickly assessed the situation and I just recall him saying we have to get her off the dock NOW!…His voice muffled by the screeching wind and the grinding of wood and fiberglass. I can remember looking out towards the harbor, foam blowing off the tops of the whitecaps and thinking, where will we go? Within seconds the engine was running and Dan was giving me instructions… “When I tell you, let go that line, put a lobster bouy off the port quarter, dont get your hands between the boat and the dock!” I remember trying to keep by balance as the deck beneath me was pitching, I saw the billows of soot from the dry stack as the little Cummins screamed under full load. I heard Dan say NOW! and felt the Claire Elise lunge forward and somehow, to starboard. The seas and the wind were on her bow and the noise and the motion became manageable. Dan was able to pick his way through the tight mooring field that led to the inner harbor without being blown into any other boats. A few minutes later we were on a sheltered dock, safe from the seas. I dont think either of us spoke much when we tied her up and shut down the engine.. Too many emotions I guess. We assessed the damage and thanked what ever angels we could for sparing the Claire Elise and getting us to safety. While I think about that morning often, we rarely talk about it. I will say, it was a proud dad moment and one Ill never forget.
