09/12/2011

SeaCat’s Rest Gets a New Well!

Measuring the flow at 260 feet

We had a great summer season, but there was one fly in the ointment. We were on the edge of running out of water all summer long. One of our groups of guests had to endure several hours of no water, alleviated only by our kind neighbors who allowed us to connect their water system with ours while our well recovered. Thanks Kelleys!

We made a difficult decision in August to get a new (second) well. Not a cheap item! Our income from SeaCat’s Rest will pretty much be exhausted this year by this decision, but we will no longer have to expect the dreaded dry faucet. That wheeze of air is etched into my memory.

The process of getting a well has been interesting. We settled on Williams and Taplin from Blue Hill, Maine based on their price and a recommendation. Mark Taplin drove his massive drilling rig here and spent a day drilling the well all by himself. The rig was awesome, consisting of a big diesel engine (separate from the truck engine) powering both a huge air compressor and hydraulic pump. The rig stood 25 feet high (maybe more), had 400 feet of drilling shaft in 20 foot lengths and two pads which dropped down from the truck to level it. The hammering was deafening, and was used when there was rock to drive through. Through it all, the drill shaft dropped down at what seemed a constant rate; there were no breakdowns, stoppages or head scratches.

Now we have a new well and our guests will not be bothered by water shortage. Check out the video and see what well drilling is all about! And forgive my misspelling of “ballet” I really did try to correct it!