In the realm of the faerie castles

[JohnHuth]

In the realm of the faerie castles

I’ll call my companion “Mister Clean”. I could explain the nickname, but I’m not sure he wants to be identified.

Mr. Clean and I were kayaking out of Jonesport. We were camping on some of the MITA islands. On the second day, we were doing a crossing from Shipstern Island to Pond Island, enroute to Bois Bubert Island.

Mister Clean pointed to a large yellow-tan object on the horizon, wondering what it was. I looked at it – it was this strange large box-like object. In that area, the only island was Great Waas, but it was so far away, it couldn’t possibly be that tall. I speculated that it was a large ocean liner. They do sail into Bar Harbor, so maybe they were up north – although I didn’t know why. Don’t they just bump between different ports of call like Falmouth and Halifax? I can’t imagine that an ocean liner would be interested in the Old Sow whirlpool.

After passing Pond Island, Mr. Clean pointed to the same area, and drew my attention to what looked like a large piece of land. Again, this was in an area where I didn’t expect to see land. Mr. Clean speculated that it was Grand Manan Island. “Grand Manan dominates the coastline around here.” I figured that Grand Manan was at least 30 nautical miles away, and would have to be 900 ft. tall in order to be seen over the earth’s curvature. It seemed unlikely.

The next day, we rounded the Petit Manan lighthouse, and, paddling to Goldborough Bay, I was looking west toward Mt. Desert. I could see the hill of Schoodic Head, and was looking at Shoodic Island. Schoodic Island looked unnaturally large, the trees on it seemed huge, and…boxlike. I pointed this out to Mr. Clean, and, within a few minutes, they seemed to shrink back down to a normal proportion and the box-like appearance vanished.

I speculated that the image of Schoodic Island might have been a “fata morgana” – a mirage caused by a layering of warm air over cold water, and producing both an upright and inverted image that merge together and create strange sights.

We paddled back to Bois Bubert that evening, and watched the clouds build out of the west. Mare’s tails and mackerel scales.

Paddling back to Jonesport, I was looking from Flint Island to the abandoned lighthouse on Nash Island. At about ten degrees west of the Flint lighthouse, I saw another distinct lighthouse. Like the lighthouse on Petit Manan, it seemed to rise directly out of the sea. But, there were no lighthouses indicated on the chart. Mister Clean and I vowed to check out smaller scale charts on our return.

Hitting Jonesport was like entering one of those wild-west towns with the saloons and cowboys staring at the strangers all down one main street. Rusting old lobster boats were moored with skull and cross-bones flying on top. Scallop dredgers were randomly moored in Moosabec Reach. I swear that the lobster boats kept trying to run us down and then veered off at the last moment.

I loaded up the car, and vowed to make the drive back to Boston in one shot, taking an intravenous drip of caffeinated sugar-water to help me along. As I was driving, I mused that maybe we had seen four fata morgana’s. This would explain the strange box that I thought was the ocean liner, the improbable sighting of Grand Manan, the odd appearance of Schoodic Island, and the mysterious lighthouse that shouldn’t have been there. All mirages.

It’s named after Morgan le Fay, the fairy half-sister of King Arthur. She could change form at will, and her castle would mysteriously appear out of the water. Sailors and explorers have been fooled by this mirage, seeing land where there was none – particularly in regions with cold water. They’re frequently seen off the coast of Norway.

Admiral Peary, the noted polar explorer was fooled by a fata morgana. While exploring the northern coast of Greenland, he saw the hills of “Crocker Land”. Years later, the Danish explorers Knud Rasmussen and Peter Freuchen dog-sledded to the same point, and couldn’t see any sign of Croker Land. An expedition was even formed to look for Crocker Land. They ventured out onto the polar icecap for many miles, but didn’t see anything. When they got back to the shores of Greenland, they saw “land everywhere” – a huge fata morgana had given the appearance of a large chunk of land in precisely the place they had explored and had found none.

From home, I got online and checked the charts and distances. There was one very flat island, Machias Seal Rock, roughly in the direction of the mysterious lighthouse, but a) it was over 20 nautical miles away and there was no lighthouse indicated. Grand Manan was even more of a long shot – a minimum of 40 nm away, and not high enough to be seen. That sealed it – we were seeing mirages.

Fata Morgana (Longfellow)

O sweet illusions of song

That tempt me everywhere,

In the lonely fields, and the throng

Of the crowded thoroughfare!

I approach and ye vanish away,

I grasp you, and ye are gone;

But ever by night and by day,

The melody soundeth on.

As the weary traveller sees

In desert or prairie vast,

Blue lakes, overhung with trees

That a pleasant shadow cast;

Fair towns with turrets high,

And shining roofs of gold,

That vanish as he draws nigh,

Like mists together rolled --

So I wander and wander along,

And forever before me gleams

The shining city of song,

In the beautiful land of dreams.

But when I would enter the gate

Of that golden atmosphere,

It is gone, and I wonder and wait

For the vision to reappear.

[EEL]

Neat/interesting stuff.

>

>Hitting Jonesport was like entering one of those wild-west

>towns with the saloons and cowboys staring at the strangers

>all down one main street.

Sounds like my kinda place. Have to get up there.

What was the paddling like generally while you were there?

> I swear

>that the lobster boats kept trying to run us down and then

>veered off at the last moment.

Maybe you took "their" table at the diner the night before?

Seriously, how far off were they before they veered off?

I have noticed this on occasion, but usually they are a couple hundred meters off. I never got the impression there was an intent to cause grief. Still, there are a few "cowboys" out there and they have been known to "buzz" pleasure sailboats too.

Ed Lawson

[JohnHuth]

>What was the paddling like generally while you were there?

Great. East of Steven's Island there were no other kayakers. We saw one party on Steven's and that was it. One day was a bit windy and had a decent swell, the other days were amazing - clear blue sky, not too much wind. Picture post-card days.

>

>Seriously, how far off were they before they veered off?

Not so bad as to make it look dangerous. I really don't know - they seemed to keep changing their heading to coincide with ours, and they weren't hauling traps or anything. It seemed harmless, just to chase the boredom away. As soon as we stopped dead, or seemed to take obvious evasive action (e.g. ducking behind a moored scallop boat)they always veered off. That comment was really in keeping with the "wild west" sense of Moosabec Reach.

[glil]

Hmmm...Were you and Mr. Clean snacking on chocolate covered mushrooms?

[ccarlson]

Whoa, I never thought of dipping the 'shrooms in chocolate!

[PeterB]

From the Coastal Pilot (page 155):

“A marked increase in air density with increasing altitude causes looming, towering, and superior mirages. Looming occurs when objects appear to rise above their true elevation. Objects below the horizon may actually be brought into view. “

AND

“Occasionally, a complicated vertical temperature distribution may transform hilly coastlines into impressive walls of lofty pinnacles. This phenomenon is known as Fata Morgana.”

[EEL]

>From the Coastal Pilot (page 155):

>

>“A marked increase in air density with increasing altitude

>causes looming, towering, and superior mirages. Looming

>occurs when objects appear to rise above their true

>elevation. Objects below the horizon may actually be brought

>into view. “

>AND

>

Interesting stuff. I was beyond Great Waas today and swear I saw the coast of Nova Scotia on the hoizon before lost in cloud bank. Its a strange and beautiful place. Ledges and boomers. Ledges and boomers. To say nothing of clear, cold water

Ed Lawson

[JohnHuth]

Nova Scotia would be at least 60 nm from Great Waas, so if you saw it, it was an impressive case of looming.

This is the right time of year for this - the air temperature is relatively high, but the water temperature is quite low. That hot air layering over cold water creates prime conditions.

And - yeah, the side of Great Waas that faces the Gulf of Maine is pretty amazing.

[gyork]

On August 4, 2006 at 10:22 AM, JohnHuth said:

 

I speculated that the image of Schoodic Island might have been a “fata morgana” – a mirage caused by a layering of warm air over cold water, and producing both an upright and inverted image that merge together and create strange sights.

It’s named after Morgan le Fay, the fairy half-sister of King Arthur. She could change form at will, and her castle would mysteriously appear out of the water. Sailors and explorers have been fooled by this mirage, seeing land where there was none – particularly in regions with cold water. They’re frequently seen off the coast of Norway.

Admiral Peary, the noted polar explorer was fooled by a fata morgana. While exploring the northern coast of Greenland, he saw the hills of “Crocker Land”. Years later, the Danish explorers Knud Rasmussen and Peter Freuchen dog-sledded to the same point, and couldn’t see any sign of Croker Land. An expedition was even formed to look for Crocker Land. They ventured out onto the polar icecap for many miles, but didn’t see anything. When they got back to the shores of Greenland, they saw “land everywhere” – a huge fata morgana had given the appearance of a large chunk of land in precisely the place they had explored and had found none.

Fata Morgana (Longfellow)

O sweet illusions of song

That tempt me everywhere,

In the lonely fields, and the throng

Of the crowded thoroughfare!

I approach and ye vanish away,

I grasp you, and ye are gone;

But ever by night and by day,

The melody soundeth on.

As the weary traveller sees

In desert or prairie vast,

Blue lakes, overhung with trees

That a pleasant shadow cast;

Fair towns with turrets high,

And shining roofs of gold,

That vanish as he draws nigh,

Like mists together rolled --

So I wander and wander along,

And forever before me gleams

The shining city of song,

In the beautiful land of dreams.

But when I would enter the gate

Of that golden atmosphere,

It is gone, and I wonder and wait

For the vision to reappear.

Was surprised by these images of Cliff, Jewell and others from Cape Elizabeth on a recent trip:

[prudenceb]

Actually this is a good cautionary, tale, John.  A less experienced navigator than you might have been thrown into quite the tizzy of uncertainty if faced with unexpected "features" where none are supposed to exist.  

pru

[JohnHuth]

That's great, Gary!  do you know the water and air temperatures?    Typically cold water and warm air creates these conditions. 

 

[gyork]

1pm-ish, Thursday, May 19 (pre-Jewell).  Air temp ~70F, winds light and variable.  Water temp ?50-52F