It's a given that the winter here will be long, cold and isolated, but the winter of 2002/2003 hit the island a bit harder than was anticipated. Early morning temps dropped down to double-digit negatives on more than one occaision, and there were extended periods during which the daily highs rarely broke ten degrees. The result was that much of the bay froze over, including the thoroughfare, as seen above.

If memory serves, the lobster boat in the above pic is Geneva Sue, and it appears that she's jealously guarding the small patch of open water in which she resides. Fortunately, when things were looking particularly grim- especially for wooden hulled boats -the Sunbeam came by and saved the day, serving as an icebreaker and clearing a path through the thoroughfare, helping to free the imperiled boats.

One island resident I spoke with last March told me that in late winter, there was a foot and a half of snow on the ground when a brief spell of warmer temperatures hit. During that time, the snow began to melt and the island got some rain, then the temps fell back to below freezing, leaving the entire island encased in about six inches of ice. Oh joy!

The island had grown somewhat accustomed to the milder winters the Maine coast has been experiencing over the last decade or two; the last time winter hit this hard was back in the mid-1980s. The ever-resourceful islanders took it in stride, although I suspect the coming of spring brought more than the usual amount of elation.

Photos courtesy of D. Barter. Thank you!