markmarchesi.com

This weekend we had a pretty good sized swell come in from a deep low pressure system a little ways offshore.  I saw it coming and rushed production on a new handplane.  I still hadn’t tested the first one I made because I realized shortly after finishing it that the weight and thickness were all wrong.

My new one is a swallow tail shape, made of mahogany and poplar.  It’s much thinner and lighter than my first attempt and has a strap instead of a cut out hand hold.  I heard that the cut out throws water in your face when riding so I salvaged the strap off a free diaper bag we got at the hospital when Penny was born, sewed some velcro to it, and fastened it to the deck with stainless screws and washers.

It worked great. I took it out Saturday morning in the fog before the swell started to peak.  It was only about waist high and I had an absolute blast.  While even the longboarders were scrambling for two second rides I was catching everything with ease and riding most all the way into the beach.  Sunday was solid head high with overhead sets so I surfed - nervous to swim out with just the handplane for flotation.  I managed a few good rides but it was finicky and the waves were hard to paddle into.  That got frustrating, so this morning I left my surfboard at home and decided I was going to give the handplane a try no matter how big it was.

The swell had dropped slightly from Sunday but was still around shoulder to head high and the inside was dumping.  I put my fins on and swam out for one of the most thrilling and insanely fun sessions of my life.  This may sound weird, but I had such a good time that I felt kind of guilty afterward - like a grown man with the amount of responsibility that I have shouldn’t be allowed to have that much fun.

There is something so pure and joyous in the act of flying down the face of a sizable wave with nothing but the length of your body and a small piece of wood making contact with the water.  From now on I plan to leave my surfboard at home more often.  There is nothing like standing and carving around on the face of a wave either, but handplaning is a whole different sensation and a welcome change from stand up surfing.

I just got back from what, depending on how you look at it, could be seen as the most efficient or the most asinine road trip to NYC ever.  I left my house in South Portland at 4:00 AM Sunday morning and got back at 7:00 AM Monday morning.  The only sleep I got in that time span was a three hour power nap in the back of my station wagon at a rest area in on I91 in Connecticut.

I purposely did all my driving at times when the roads are least crowded with motorists.  But what I didn’t expect was how crowded they’d be with orange cones and construction vehicles.  I think the entire eastern seaboard is being paved this summer while everyone sleeps.  There is always a mad dash to repair and rebuild roadways in the Northeast during the summer months, but I heard from a friend that this year the effort is heightened due to stimulus money being given out by the federal government.  And what I witnessed this weekend was certainly supportive of that.

The main purpose of my trip was to attend a small portfolio review event in Chelsea which took place from 11 to around 5.  I squeezed in lunch with my friend David Leventi on 10th Ave then tacos and a beer in Brooklyn with my friend Will who just moved to NY to head up the shop at the new Tesla Motors dealership also in Chelsea.  The reviews were encouraging and it was great to spend some time with Will in his newly adopted neighborhood.  It is hard to think about taking pictures on such an extremely head spinning voyage but I did manage to snap a few frames here and there…

About to leave Maine and enter NH at sunrise.

I made about 75% of the trip on 100% Biodiesel.  The rest of the way I had to use the petroleum based stuff.  One more 5 gallon can in the trunk or a biodiesel filling station along the way and I would have made it without using a drop of fossil fuel.

Bacon, Egg and Cheese and small coffee I got on 9th Ave but could have come from any deli in the NY metro area.

Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn at sunset

The following is a list of backers from my recent fundraising project to whom I owe my utmost gratitude.  I am truly humbled by everyone’s interest and support.  In the coming months I will be able to enjoy a freedom to create images that because of financial constraints I haven’t felt in a long time.  Thank you all so much…

Pat Touri

Marco Varisco

William Saturno

George

Andy Grahm

Sean Meadows and Jake Klotz

Nathaniel May

Marie Pierce

Twiddy

Bo Cordie

Stan Engelbrecht/Nic Grobler

Mark Crawford

Paula Newman

Winky Lewis

James Cradock

Barbara Simon

Steve Patch

Landicity

Tinga Mastrelli

Anita

Squeekyethan

Darlene Boyce

Louis Somma

Andrew Kessler

Michael Batz

Chelsea Holden Baker

Matthew Zappia

John Stancik

Gerald Marchesi

Barbara and Bob Massie

Nancy Ann Coyne

Martha K. Cyr

A nice little swell came in last night.  But it was so cold and foggy when I got up at 5am to check it I almost went back to bed.  You couldn’t see anything on the webcam but the buoy was reporting 5ft at 8 seconds with a light offshore wind and something told me the fog was going burn off quickly.  Sure enough, by 6am I was basking in the warm sun - blue sky above with shoulder high and glassy waves rolling in off the horizon and only three of us out.  A fun session.

Nice parking spot

Fog beginning to burn off

Blue sky, Glassy waves, Virtually empty lineup

Our bathroom project is nearing completion.  A full step by step of the process coming soon.

Fore River is a 4 mile, horn-shaped estuary that is formed by the confluence of several creeks southwest of Portland and empties into Casco Bay (definition borrowed from Wiki).  The lands along the banks of this relatively small body of water cover the whole spectrum of usage from industrial to residential to recreational.

Recently I added a project heading to my website called Fore River.  I’ve been shooting this area inadvertently for some time, but giving the series a name finally provided a home for a few old favorites that may otherwise have been doomed for the “random” folder - a black hole on my hard drive that many good images never return from.  And its given me a reason to haunt these mostly overlooked shores more often looking for photo ops.

Here are a few new images that haven’t made it to the website…

Finally, after what seemed like an endless flat spell, we have waves again.  Last week a short but large swell came through.  And like anytime it gets big, I took a beating but managed to land a handful of stomach swallowing drops followed by screaming fast rides then frantic exhaustive paddles back out past the break.

This week we are being graced by a more mellow swell in the chest high range.  The air temps are in the 70s-80s, the water has risen to around 55 degrees, and the winds are light and variable.  In other words, its a dream.  Today I even wore my summer suit, meaning I dropped about 10 pounds of saturated neoprene overnight.  It feels great.  Paddling is easier, movement is less restricted, and I didn’t pull a muscle trying to get out of it.

There is something about the color palette of waterfront interiors that I just love.  Fluorescent light, yellowed laminate wall covering, damp concrete, and stainless steel combine to create a mix of neutral tones and subtle reflections that just sings to me.

This morning I took a drive up to Bath to shop for building materials at the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  I haven’t been having any luck at the Portland location lately so I decided to go take a look at the midcoast region’s inventory.

Driving up 295 I heard on the radio that the (replica) Tall Ship HMS Bounty was tied up at Maine Maritime Museum and open for tours all weekend.  I couldn’t resist.  Penny was with me so I climbed aboard with her in my arms and we both walked the decks marveling at the design and workmanship.  And that’s not a joke - I really believe she could tell that we were someplace special, someplace to be admired.

Fashioned from 400,000 board feet of timber, the ship is 180′ long, her main mast 115′ tall, with 10,000 sq ft of sails, three decks, and rigged with 10 miles of line.  The story of the original Bounty is one of the most notorious in maritime history.  This particular ship was commissioned in 1960 by MGM Studios for the film Mutiny on the Bounty.  It was built at Smith & Rhuland Shipyard in Nova Scotia using the original drawings on file in the British archives.

I heard from a crew member that they hit rough weather upon entering the Gulf of Maine.  I surfed the other day in swell generated from the storm they encountered.  At the beach it was 6-8 ft but offshore seas rose to 10+ ft, the Northeast winds kicked up to thirty-forty knots, and they were trying to sail directly into it.  By this mate’s account the Bounty was actually loosing ground at one point.  But she rode it out and eventually made it up the mouth of the Androscoggin to port on a calm and beautiful spring morning.  That’s living.

Thanks a zillion to everyone who has made a pledge to my project on Kickstarter.  I think it best to wait and see if the project succeeds before naming names, but I want everyone to know how honored it makes me feel to see people reach into their pockets in support of my efforts in photography.  Below are some brand new images - made possible by the generosity of the US government and their decision to give back a portion of what I gave them last year (my tax return).

Also worth mentioning, this evening I met with a writer from the Island Institute who is doing a story about the project for their publication “The Working Waterfront”.  I’ll post a link to the online version when available.

Something about this image actually gives me a lump in my throat.  Not trying to toot my own horn because I don’t believe it’s the photo itself as much as the Detroit Diesel emblem peaking out from under that tarp, dripping with rust.

This guy used to work for Nancy’s Shellfish picking crab.  The same place I worked in the summer of 1999 shoveling bait, unloading lobster boats, and cooking those same crabs.

That’s it for now.  There’s more, but I’m working on getting them all up on the main site, so I’ll send another post when that is ready in the next few days.