Right Whales and The Chart Room Opening

Before I get into our opening weekend at The Chart Room, I need to tell you how we got there.

We kept Amazing Grace in Plymouth until the 10 MPH Massachusetts speed limit in Cape Cod Bay expired on May 15. It’s about thirty miles from Plymouth Sandwich and at 10 MPH, that’s kind of boring.

But there are worse things than boring!

Last year we got popped by the Environmental Police on a cold windy May Sunday morning.

After that encounter we ran at 10 MPH for the next three hours and I said to myself, “Never again…”

So this year, we waited…

NOTE: If you just want to hear about Mudslides and Steamers, you may want to skip this section and all the whale talk.

Concerning Right Whales!

Massachusetts has established a 10 MPH speed limit from January 1 to May 15 to protect the Right Whales.

The northern edge is 42.08° – just off Green Harbor.

The law not only restricts speed but also severely restricts the days allowed for lobstering and requires expensive gear modification.

The rationale is simple:

• This is where Right Whales “Spawn”.
• Right Whales are an endangered species.
• A boat is unlikely to hit and kill a Right Whale at 10 MPH.
• In the event a whale gets tangled in lobster pot lines, they want them to be able to easily break free.

I certainly never want to hit anything with my boat. And who doesn’t want to protect an endangered species?

But if you’re reading this, you may well be a New England fisherman or at least know one. It’s a hard life that generally doesn’t pay very well.

Like most things in life, fishing’s productivity boils down to time and money. Slowing boats reduces the number of hours one can fish – less fish, less money.

For the lobsterman its not just a matter of setting fewer pots, but they are forced to spend money on more expensive gear designed to keep whales from tangling in their lines.

The Controversy

Whenever the government makes rules for our own good, there is controversy and serious consequences.

The industry groups opposing these regulations aren’t questioning whether or not we should protect the whales – they are questioning the efficacy of these rules.

The fishing groups have run the math:

“Although whale strikes are tragic, they are extremely unlikely by the boats covered under this proposal. Since 2008, there have been five small vessel (boats that are less than 65 feet) strikes on right whales while there have been 5.1 million fishing trips over that same period, meaning the chances of a small boat strike on a whale is less than one in a million. According to NOAA, there are 9,000 recreational boats that would be affected by this ruling while our estimates put this number closer to 63,000.”

American Sportfishing Association

The Maine Lobstermen have also run some numbers:

“In the last 25 years, there has been one documented entanglement of a North Atlantic right whale in Maine fishing gear…

There have been zero documented fatalities of right whales in Maine lobster gear in the history of the fishery.”

Maine Lobster Association

Inquiring minds want to see the evidence. Are small fishing boats and lobster traps actually killing Right Whales?

The government tracks and reports all Right Whale deaths and the suspected cause.

They report four whales were hit and killed by vessels and one was killed from entanglement in the last four years. They do not report if the whales were hit by small boats or container ships.

I looked further and found reports that one vessel strike was reported in Georgia, one in Virginia, and one in Florida.

The one entanglement death was found off Edgartown in February of 2024 and the necropsy found the lobster lines traced to Maine.

Summary

• No decent person ever wants to hurt or kill an innocent animal, but every pescatarian knows a fish was killed to become their supper.
• They estimate there are 370 Right Whales out there. Based on the outrage over five deaths being caused by men (1.3%), it seems that the government’s goal is to have zero whales die from manmade causes. Very noble.
• To achieve this very noble goal, the government has imposed significant and costly regulations on hundreds of thousands of fishermen.
• None of the whales believed to have been killed by a vessel were found north of Virginia.
• The one whale killed from lobster gear was killed during the period when lobstering was severely restricted (February).

For what it’s worth, this all feels like overkill.

As a great man once said “None of us is getting out of here alive.” That goes for Right Whales too!

You may have guessed I’m not a big fan of the government protecting us for our own good…

On To The Chart Room

We left Plymouth around 9:30. Despite Small Craft Warnings, it was a bluebird Sunday morning.

Joe, the service manager at Safe Harbor Plymouth, deployed some super slick bottom paint and gear coating to Amazing Grace over the winter and we cruised south at nearly 30 MPH.

It was just me and Peter (Mrs. Horne was away on a girls weekend) and we debated Fisherman’s View or The Chart Room for an early lunch.

Given that it was nearly 70° and opening weekend at The Chart Room, the Chart Room won.

We entered Buzzards Bay around 11:30 and it still looked like a perfect day for boating.

The south entrance to Red Brook Harbor was dredged over the winter, so we tried it. The tide was 2.8’ high and we never saw less than 14’ below the props.

As we approached Kingman Marine, the wind. suddenly kicked up to 20 knots from the west and I needed every ounce of thrust the new thrusters offered to keep us from slamming the dock.

Once we were snugged up to the dock, Sophie and her team tied us up in record time.

In the past, the lunch docking fee was always $15, but on Sunday it was $25. I’m not sure if that’s the new rate or we paid more for having a sixty footer.

With the wind now howling, we were happy to see the new Pavillion equipped with side curtains.

As usual, the menu didn’t change much over the winter, but they did offer a few specials.

They were all tempting, but since I had skipped breakfast, I was in a brunch mood, so I started with their Bloody Mary.

It was quite good except for the Marichino Cherry. Cherries have no place in a Bloody and next time I’ll have them hold them.

Peter stuck with tradition and ordered the Rueben with Cape Cod Potato Chips.

Since I was already halfway down the brunch path, I ordered their Prime Rib Hash with an extra poached eggs.

The hash at the Chart Room is unique. It’s constructed with Prime Rib (as opposed to Corned Beef or Short Rib). It’s pan fried and served like a giant cookie.

The exterior is dry and crunchy while the inside is moist. It’s also a large portion (I left half of it behind).

Those of you who have lamented the absence of Fried Clams or Fries at the Chart Room may be happy to hear that they now offer Home Fries with Onions as a side.

They were classically prepared and worthy of any brunch anywhere.

Speaking of brunch, I have to compliment the chef on the poached eggs.

As anyone who has tried knows, it’s very difficult to get the egg perfectly shaped with a runny yolk and no runny whites. Magnifico!

As I tried to finish my hash, I looked skyward and noticed that the day was rapidly going downhill.

I was glad we were only going across the canal to Onset.

Despite the approaching weather, Peter had to stop by Periwinkles and refurbish his Chart Room wardrobe.

We had docked with the bow facing north. This left me with two options for getting out; back out or turn around in the narrow channel between the breakwater and the dock.

As much as I love our upgraded thrusters, backing out would leave me 100% dependant on the stern thrusters holding against a 20 knot wind.

I decided to try and turn around. If I didn’t have enough room, I could always back out, but if I turned around I knew I could navigate between the moored boats with the main engines alone.

I’d estimate that I had 20’ on either end of the boat and successfully executed a quick pirouette. Despite powering the port engine to 1000 RPMs, I still needed a little thruster to fight the wind pushing us toward shore.

As you may have guessed, Buzzards Bay was no longer warm and fuzzy as we left Red Brook Harbor.

Despite the spray, we were in our slip at Safe Harbor Onset Bay in fifteen minutes where Tom and the dock crew tied us up quickly.

Next Up: Memorial Day on The Islands