Ice at Dawn: How a Lobster Boat Returned Missing Thirteen Hours

Ice at Dawn: How a Lobster Boat Returned Missing Thirteen Hours

The sight of a lobster boat encased in two inches of clear, Arctic-grade ice in Kessler Bay in July sparks a chill: solid ice on the Nora Mae, 47 photos taken in 12 minutes, and a fuel ledger showing 41 gallons unaccounted for. How did a routine 3.5-hour round trip become a 13-hour mystery with hours of engine time no one can place?

In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from departure to discovery, laying out eyewitness timelines, mechanical readings, and the concrete anomalies that remain. What explanation fits the ice, the missing hours, and the gap in Pamela Griffin’s memory?

Person: Pamela Griffin
Date: July 13-14, 2011
Location: Kessler Bay, Gulf of Maine
Boat: Nora Mae, 32-foot steel-hulled lobster boat
Fuel discrepancy: 41 gallons consumed unaccounted

- Departure logged at 4:45 PM on July 13; return logged at 5:50 AM on July 14 - a span of 13 hours and 5 minutes.
- The hull was covered in two inches of clear, Arctic-grade ice from the waterline up two inches above the rub rail.
- Marvin Miller took 47 photographs of the iced Nora Mae in 12 minutes beginning before 6:00 AM.
- Chartplotter went dark at approximately 8:40 PM on July 13 during the trip.
- Nora Mae left with 63 gallons of fuel and returned with 22 gallons, indicating ~11.5 hours of cruising at normal burn.

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