MATINICUS ISLAND, Maine — As a fall nor’easter brought heavy windswept rain into the state Wednesday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard boat responded to a fishing boat taking on water in high seas off this Penobscot Bay island.
The fishing boat was able to make it safely to Criehaven early Wednesday afternoon.
Coast Guard Station Chief Carter Seigh said the vessel Southern Skies was located about 4.5 miles east of Matinicus when it sent out a distress call shortly before 11 a.m. He said another fishing boat in the area reported seas of 10 to 12 feet and the weather buoy on nearby Matinicus Rock was recording winds of 40 knots.
The 47-foot Rockland Coast Guard vessel left port at 11 a.m. Seigh said it takes about 90 minutes to reach the area from Rockland.
A good samaritan fishing vessel reached the Southern Skies at about 11:30 a.m., the Coast Guard chief said. The chief said two windows on the pilot house of the Southern Skies broke and water was coming in that way, he said. How the windows broke was not immediately known.
The vessel still had power and was able to make it to Criehaven while accompanied by the other fishing vessel, he said. Criehaven, which also is known as Ragged Island, is located next to Matinicus and is about 22 miles off Rockland.
The nor’easter also was blamed for a sailboat breaking its mooring in Rockland Harbor on the Owls Head side. The sailboat was on the rocks Wednesday morning at the end of Island View Terrance in Owls Head. The owner, a local resident, was trying to find someone to help pull it off the rocks, according to Rockland Harbor Master Ed Glaser.
The National Weather Service office in Gray has issued an urgent marine weather warning of gale force winds in effect through 8 a.m. Thursday along the Maine coast from Stonington south. The warning alerts mariners of possible northeast winds of 25 to 35 knots with gusts up to 40 and 10- to 15-foot seas. It also recommends mariners without the proper experience seek safe harbor.