Author Archives: George Fergusson

01 March 2021: Your Connection is Secure!

It has been a long time coming, but our website now supports SSL (secure socket layer) browser connections. This means that your website traffic between our server and your browser is encrypted on-the-fly. In a world that is becoming increasingly more security (and privacy) conscious, it was really only a matter of time before we were forced to take this step. You can tell your connection to our website is secure from the lock () to the left of the URL in the address bar. Also the URL starts with “https” and not “http.” We’ve been planning on installing an SSL certificate for some time but lacked a real incentive to do so, the primary reason being cost. I’m happy to report now that the cost of purchasing an SSL certificate has dropped considerably in recent months such that it was really no longer Continue reading →

February 2021 Water Level Chart Archived

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February 2021

I have archived the February 2021 Water Level Chart (at left). Precipitation was slow to accumulate this month but a rain/snow storm on the 27th finally pushed us to 2.67 inches for the month, just a hair above the February average of 2.61 inches. Year to date however we’re still the better part of an inch below normal and without any snow pack to speak of, we are looking at a drier than usual Spring. Most of Maine is not in drought this winter but there are some areas on the coast not far south from here that are considered “abnormally dry.” A lot can (and probably will) change between now and April. Continue reading →

23 February 2021: Spring is Coming!

It’s about this time of year that I really start hankering for Spring, and I’ve been watching the progress of the Sun anxiously as it rises a little further northward each day. By the time the Vernal Equinox on March 20th gets here, the point where it crosses the Earth’s equator on it’s way north, it will be rising well to the left of where it rose this morning:

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12 February 2021: Maine Cabin Masters on Clary Lake

A camp on Clary Lake belonging to the Andersen family was featured on Maine Cabin Masters this winter. The camp is over on the west shore of the lake. I recall the camp being worked on last summer, and more than once I waved at the folks working on it while out fishing. At the time I didn’t know it was a Maine Cabin Masters project and I didn’t learn that until long after they were gone. I also lost track of this project and didn’t know when it was going to air or I’d have posted about it sooner.

Check out the Maine Cabin Masters post. The before and after pictures are impressive, and the 3D model is pretty sexy 🙂

603 – The Old Fishing Camp

Many thanks to Dan Burns for bringing this to my attention.

Clary Lake: Fun For All Ages

Dave Knight sent me this video this morning which I decided to post on Facebook, then decided to embed here which is exactly backwards. Hopefully it won’t double post on Facebook 🙂

Albert R. Boynton May 18, 1926 – January 31, 2021

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Albert Boynton, 1926 – 2021

I was very much saddened to hear of Albert Boynton’s recent passing. Albert was intimately familiar with the Clary Lake dam and the Clary Mill which his family owned and ran back in the 1920’s and early 1930’s. I first met Albert when I was just 13 years old when his house caught fire, back in 1966. Water from the mill pond next door was used to save his house, something he liked to point out to people. I have spoken with him often in recent years about the dam and mill and how they factored into the lives of his family.

In early 2018 the Clary Lake Association was in the process of raising money to buy the dam, and Albert made a generous donation towards that end. I took the picture at left in the late fall of that year, after we had successfully purchased the dam. It shows Albert standing next to the red mill house in which he was born, talking with our Treasurer Mary Gingrow-Shaw one day while dam repairs were underway. Albert lived just across the road from the dam and he was a frequent visitor during that exciting period. He was thrilled that the Clary Lake Association was finally able to buy the dam and restore Clary Lake. Albert has been a Clary Lake Association member for a number of years, and an unending source of stories about Clary Lake.

He will be remembered, and he will be missed.

Here is Albert’s obituary: Albert R. Boynton May 18, 1926 – January 31, 2021

This article has been posted under Members No Longer With Us which you’ll find under the Membership main menu heading.

Reminder: Maine Lakes Webinars Are Back!

Maine Lakes Wednesday Webinars Are Back!

In light of the continuing health concerns about COVID-19, Maine Lakes will be hosting this year’s Maine Lakes Conference speakers in another series of “Wednesday Webinars” running the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month, from February through June.
 
This year’s theme, A Deep Dive Into the Lake Book, features many interesting and relevant topics that correspond with our soon-to-be published 4th edition of “The Lake Book.” While we are currently finalizing speakers for some of the webinars, we are happy to announce that registration is open for the following presentations. Registration is free and easy. Hope to see you there!
 
  • Feb. 3, 4 p.m. – Winter Lake Monitoring: Life and Limnology Under the Ice. Presented by Dr. Ben Peierls, Research Director for Lakes Environmental Association. Click HERE to register.
  • Feb. 17, 4 p.m. – What Kind of Lake Is That? Putting Maine’s Lakes Into Categories for Better Water Quality Assessments and Protections. Presented by Jeremy Deeds, Aquatic Ecologist for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Click HERE to register.
  • April 21, 4 p.m. – The History and Evolution of the Courtesy Boat Inspection Program. Presented by Mary Jewett, Lakes Environmental Association’s CBI Program Director. Click HERE to register.
And please forward this email on to anyone who you might think would like to participate in these webinars. Thank you!
 
Maine Lakes | PO Box 427, Brunswick, ME 04011

January 2021 Water Level Chart Archived

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January 2021

I have archived the January 2021 Water Level Chart (at left). The drought conditions that plagued us last year have returned early in 2021 with January’s precipitation of 2.16 inches falling considerably short of the normal monthly precipitation of 3.19 inches. February is the month with typically the lowest (2.61 inches) monthly precipitation of the year. We’re going to start February with a decent shot of snow in a couple of days. Hopefully we’ll develop a good snow pack by spring. Continue reading →

26 January 2021: Clary_cam1 and Clary_cam3 Upgraded!

Last week Dave Knight and I upgraded Clary_cam2. Today we braved the cold and installed new cameras for Clary_cam1 and Clary_cam3. You can see all three on our Clary Lake Webcams page. The new cameras take beautiful 1920 x 1080 pixel pictures and represent a significant improvement over the old camera’s 1280 x 720 pixel pictures. All three cameras upload pictures to the website every 2 minutes. They cover the same general areas, but the fields of view are bigger than the old cameras: Continue reading →

22 January 2021: Clary_cam2 Has Been Upgraded

Dave Knight and I just finished installing the new Clary_cam2. The camera’s 1920 x 1080 image needs to be adjusted slightly, it’s a little dark. I’ll swing by this weekend and tweak it a bit. As is, it’s already a big improvement from the old camera:

Here’s the old image from earlier today. As you can see, the new camera has a wider field of view and better resolution, not to mention color rendition:

I was going to replace Clary_cam3 today but I’ve run out of gumption. I’ve got 2 more cameras on order and I’m going to hold off until I can replace both Clary_cam1 and Clary_cam3, sometime next week. Stay tuned!

Lake Stewards of Maine 2021 Winter Newsletter Is Out

Lake Stewards of Maine (formerly Maine Volunteer Water Monitoring Program) has mailed their Winter 2021 newsletter, The Water Column. Print copies are in the mail and should arrive any day. As usual, they’ve produced a great publication. I especially liked the articles on “Influences of Extreme Weather on Maine Lakes in 2020” (on page 16) and Late Season Algae “Flash Blooms” in Lakes” (on page 26), both by LSM Executive Director Scott Williams. Also, the article “Changes to Communication & Technology in
the Past Few Years and the Spurs of CoViD-19″ by Tristan Taber was quite interesting. Continue reading →

14 January 2021: Maine Lakes Wednesday Webinars Are Back!

I received this email this morning from Maine Lakes (formerly the Maine Lakes Society) and thought I’d pass it on to our Clary Lake readers. I attended several Maine Lakes webinars last year and found them interesting and educational. I’m sure this year’s programs will be as well. I’ve already signed up for the first one, Winter Lake Monitoring. There’ll be more webinars. I’ll post notices of additional programs when I receive them.

Maine Lakes Wednesday Webinars Are Back!

In light of the continuing health concerns about COVID-19, Maine Lakes will be hosting this year’s Maine Lakes Conference speakers in another series of “Wednesday Webinars” running the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month, from February through June.
 
This year’s theme, A Deep Dive Into the Lake Book, features many interesting and relevant topics that correspond with our soon-to-be published 4th edition of “The Lake Book.” While we are currently finalizing speakers for some of the webinars, we are happy to announce that registration is open for the following presentations. Registration is free and easy. Hope to see you there!

Continue reading →

8 January 2021: ClaryCam2 Back In Service

I’m happy to report that ClaryCam2 is back in service, thanks to David Knight’s finger which he used to press the ground fault reset button on the power supply. If we’d known it was such an easy fix we’d have taken care of it sooner. Sorry about that!

I wouldn’t normally write a website post for something as trivial as a web camera coming back online, but it turns out that the Clary Lake Web Cams page is the single most popular, most viewed page on the site 🙂

7 January 2021: It’s Ice Fishing Season Again

20210107_105922The 2021 Ice Fishing season has started on Clary Lake. Dave Knight stopped by the State boat launch earlier today and took the picture at left. One of the fishermen said there was 8 inches of ice. As usual, be careful especially near inlets and in the channel where moving water could affect ice thickness.

If you’re  going fishing, know Maine’s Fishing Laws! You’ll need a fishing license of course. Here’s a link to Maine’s Daily Bag, Possession and Length Limits. Clary Lake is in the South Zone and the daily limit on Bass (large mouth or small mouth) is 2 fish, no size limit. However, only 1 may exceed 14 inches. It would be nice if you threw ALL the big breeder Bass back. There’s no limit on other fish species that you’ll find in Clary including White and Yellow Perch, Pickerel, and Black Crappie.

Let’s see some fish pictures! Send them to George Fergusson and I’ll post them on this website.