It's Bill, 6/8/25: Last Saturday Night

Catching Up at The Anchor

We stepped out. And up. We even had a plan. We were meeting our friend Rich at The Anchor in Machias City, 5:30. Rich is a good friend from a few years ago when he stayed at West Quoddy Station as our long-term guest. We had some catching up to do and decided dinner and drinks was best. The Anchor is about halfway between us. We were even on time. But Rich wasn’t.

An Unexpected Gathering

While sitting in the Tundra and not wanting to make any sudden moves, our friend Todd from Lubec and the Legion spotted the truck and pulled up alongside. So, the three of us went in where Rich found us. A waitress and drinks followed after introductions. Seems like Todd was on a mission. Todd had just come from the Machias Legion, Post 9, directly on the hill above us, where Carla was bartending. Carla, a past Lubec Legion Post 65 bartender, was hungry and wanted a particular chicken entrée at The Anchor. Todd, wanting to keep a favorite bartender happy, decided to get Carla’s chicken and have a drink or so at The Anchor while waiting.

Drinks, Chicken, and Good Company

Well, we all got to having fun and talking. More drinks, and the waitress offered us menus. We ordered, Carla getting her chicken about an hour and a half later. The four of us went up the hill to Post 9 with Carla’s chicken. We were met at the door by a happy vet who had just won $250,000 on a $10 scratch-off. He bought all of our drinks. We sat next to the new commander, all good.

The Legendary Boat Ride

So, this seemed like a good time to tell one of my favorite stories about Carla and our friends. It was about 6–8 years ago on a warm and sunny August Sunday afternoon. Ricky Wright, a lobsterman, one of our Annabelle’s crew, planned a boat ride to look for whales. There is only one way to find whales on Ricky’s lobster boat. BYOB, a grill, snacks, salads, sandwiches.

Of course, Carla was there and had to get back to The Legion by 4. Tammy was with Ricky Wright, Tina was with Ricky Wilcox, plus others. Carla, unofficial waitress. On the way out by Campobello, we circled a very special cable-laying ship at Sunday anchor. The ship had been laying cable between mainland Canada and Grand Manan. Our real mission was to find whales.

The Wright Whale Moment

We ranged out a few miles toward mainland Canada, past East Quoddy Lighthouse, then out to The Wolves and back to the bay. Other working fishing boats were out, just like us. We found minkes, finbacks, humpbacks. Then Ricky climbed the radio mast for a higher range. All of a sudden, an excited Ricky yelled “Right whale! Right whale! Wright whale!!” Mission accomplished, we motored back at warp lobster boat speed, over an hour. Carla was met at the dock by a fast car. Just a mite late, we all met her there later for more celebrations.

Sunday Morning