Current Waters: My Account Of The Vineyard Wind Disaster
Captain Carl Bois •
Well, this was a pretty eventful week. You may have seen that we were first on the scene to discover the floating debris from the Vineyard Wind turbine earlier this week.
This is my account of the events starting on Sunday, July 14th. Keep in mind that, at the time, we had no idea that the wind turbines had been compromised and I wasn’t immediately connecting the dots. My mind was also primarily on the task at hand; making sure my clients got on the fish, were safe, and having a good time.
On Sunday while I was tuna fishing, I was east of the wind farm (and, no, there is no secret tuna bite there). I started to notice a crumb trail of what appeared to be white and green Styrofoam which led me to bigger and bigger pieces as I approached closer and closer to the wind farm. I found two or three large sections of fiberglass panels that appeared to be quite rugged. From a boater’s perspective, this was really concerning. I had just been driving around there in the dark and fog fishing. A piece that size is no joke. This could seriously hurt a boat. There were a few other Nantucket boats in the area that were making the same observations with similar concerns. My next question to myself was “What is this and where is it coming from?”. We didn’t yet know what had happened and it wasn’t until later that we learned that a windmill blade had been damaged on Saturday night (this was Sunday afternoon).
I took note of all the debris that was around, followed it, trolled through and around it. The debris was all over the place. It was truly disheartening to see this mess and to see it only in the region downwind of the wind farm. It certainly led me to speculate that it had something to do with the wind farm without actually knowing anything had happened. We covered many miles that day and only saw it around the wind farm.
On Sunday, over the radio, I heard someone (presumably Vineyard Wind) talking about needing gloves to pick up fiberglass so that it didn’t penetrate the hands. So that led me to believe that they were picking up debris on Sunday afternoon and yet they hadn’t notified anyone. They were well aware that there was significant debris floating around and hoping it would go unnoticed. Well, we’ve noticed it now.
Back to Sunday. I took photos and documented what we saw in the water. I sent the photos to Jason Graziadei of the Nantucket Current. It was Jason who reached out to the Vineyard Wind media contacts to see if there was a connection. If it weren’t for Jason’s tenacity, how much longer would we have had to wait to hear about what’s unfolding? To later know that I had spent the whole day there fishing… I never heard an advisory to mariners about debris in the water. No one approached me or told me I was too close to any situation. I did observe one vessel in the area that was very mobile (a wind farm vessel) which may have been tracking debris. It was a smaller vessel that was easy to maneuver, but I can’t be sure what it was doing.
My disappointment in finding out what happened didn’t really set in until we woke up Tuesday morning to see all the images of the debris settling on the south shore of Nantucket. It left me frustrated that we, Nantucket, were never notified that it could be coming this way. It wasn’t until Tuesday that anyone was notified and only because, by then, the debris field was undeniable.
On Wednesday, I was on the water around Great Round Shoal Channel (east of Nantucket), which is a straight line to the wind farm 34 miles away and I observed more of the green foam debris floating by in the tide in the fog. I couldn’t see very far in the fog, but it made me wonder how much debris was actually floating around in the water. I did call that sighting into the Coast Guard and they really didn’t seem to care too much. They didn’t respond and there was, again, no marine advisory for it.
Then on Thursday (just yesterday), I was again fishing east of the wind farm, and apparently, early in the morning when I was on my way out to the fishing grounds, a significant portion of the remaining blade fell into the water. And again, I did not hear any mariner advisory on channel 16 (the Coast Guard channel on the radio) and I was purposefully monitoring that channel all day. There was nothing said. I did hear, on another radio channel, two helicopters in the area that were actively searching for debris and taking pictures. We later found out that there was a significantly large piece, upwards of 300 feet long, floating around in the region, and still no mariner advisories. The last I knew, there was an approximate location for that chunk, but I have no idea what they’re doing. This has all been transitions over the VHF radio, but none of it was mariner advisory.
Hopefully, this gets handled properly. Only time will tell how this will unfold. I am very concerned about all the vessels traveling through this area. It’s a popular route on the way to the Canyons. Right now, we are fortunate that no one has been hurt, but any of these pieces could change that.
When we were starting to see the debris in the water, it was just 20 percent of one blade. What are we going to be seeing in the water and on our shores when we have more than 60 turbines (> 180 blades)?
Everyone on the water; keep a good lookout. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing this crap in the water for a while now.
Fishing Report
Striped bass fishing has entered the world of keeping track of your water temperatures and looking for your colder water. Certain parts of the tide are going to be more productive because of it. But we certainly are still having fun with them.
We’re starting to see a little more bluefish around – yeah! They haven’t exactly settled into Great Point yet, but we have some to play around with. They’re setting up just in time for the August Blues tournament.
Some of this action is probably being helped by seeing sand eels around.
We’re also still picking at fluke. Delicious as usual.
The 2nd annual August Blues Tournament starts August 1st and now is the time to register. This charity tournament celebrates bluefish and is a great tournament for serious anglers and newbies alike. As the tournament website states, “The August Blues tournament is more than a fishing competition––it's a collective effort in the fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Every entry fee, every sponsorship, and every bluefish caught supports this mission, as all proceeds are directly channeled to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, a dedicated non-profit focused on finding a cure for this disease. Join us for the thrill of the competition, enjoy the camaraderie of fellow anglers, and contribute to a meaningful cause.”
The tournament boasts some stellar prizes including a personally autographed New England Patriots jersey donated by Tedy Bruschi who participated in last year’s tournament. Check out the website for registration info, sponsors, prizes, rules, and regulations. The tournament runs August 1 – 31st.