June 18, 2025

The fog finally rolled in. We have been waiting patiently for it to obscure the little world we live on out here in the middle of the harbor. Granted it is not the supercharged fog where we can’t see the boat next to us but it works. Along with the fog came rain and a temperature drop. This is par for the course. 

As I mentioned, we have been using a warming blanket to warm up the bed before we get into it. I discovered that it is hard to use judiciously. This is reflected in the lack of battery charge in the morning. Fog being fog it prevents our one solar panel from making up the difference from the use of the blanket. The only way to deal with this is to run the generator. 

 

Carrie Rose is 1990 vintage. Back then a generator was a splurge. Not all boats had one or two as is often the case now. We did not have all the electronic gizmos and we did not have the expectation that every comfort on land would be available on the water. The electron needy devices have slowly infiltrated and along with that, we aged. Our expectation of comfort grew mainly because our protoplasm demanded it.

 

If you pardon the technical talk, our generator is a 4kw Kohler. That’s correct, the plumbing people. They are big into power generation. As with many other things, generators have become sophisticated. Ours is not one of those. It is powered by a small two cylinder diesel. I shouldn’t say small because it is the same size engine that we had on Lenore, our 31 foot sailboat. 

 

If anyone is familar with small diesel engine they know that a small one can make a hell of a racket. And, like a Harley Davidson, each detonation pulls and pushes the engine back and forth sending a small shockwave through the boat. And, though there is a muffler, each of the above detonations sends a distinct pop out the starboard side of the boat. 

 

Charlotte and I have been self conscious about this since we began to cruise. The last thing we want to do in a pristine anchorage is create an hour or so of noise pollution once a day. Our friends with newer boats have generators that are encased in sound proof crypts with exhaust systems that expel the foul vapors and noise under the water, thus maintaining the pristineness the anchorage. 

 

Of course, a new generator would remedy the situation but come at a cost both financially and psychically. We can absorb the monetary cost, at least our financial advisor tells us so. The psychic cost, I am not so sure. To replaced it, one boatyard or another will have to be dealt with and at least in Maine, this has proved a challenge. Along with deadlines, our expectations are rarely met.

 

As I write this, sitting in the fog, I should be more concerned about the state of our and the world’s polity. Us privileged boomers can certainly put up with a little noise and inconvenience for a little longer and wait for the sun. I’m not sure about the planet. 

NE Harbor, ME