CatchWindow fishing intelligence

Cutler Farris Wharf, ME Daily Water Report — August 23, 2026

Diving leads the card at Cutler Farris Wharf today, 8.3 out of 10, with boating a workable 7.2 if you accept the fog as the real constraint. Kayaking, surfing, and wildlife sit in the mid-6s; fishing and sailing both land at 5.9. Those numbers are suitability scores, not a safety clearance, and the air is the catch. Current and forecast conditions point to a socked-in harbor: about 0.1 km atmospheric visibility, a full cloud deck, humidity at 100 percent, and weather consistent with fog. That is not underwater clarity. It will slow every surface move even while the sea itself stays modest. Representative wind is a light 6 knots from the east-southeast, gusting near 8, inside a day that mostly stays under 10 knots until a late 18.5-knot gust around 22:00. Open-Meteo marine guidance holds waves at 0.6 to 0.8 meters, calmest near 13:00 at 0.64 meters, with a short 0.66-meter swell from the southeast and only thin wind chop. A 0.6 m/s set toward the northeast is in the mix. Marine SST is 15.5 C, a +3.8 C anomaly on the CoastWatch field. The better windows sit on that midday lull and the tide turns. NOAA puts high water at 08:05 (3.49 m) and a larger evening high at 20:20 (3.92 m), with lows at 01:51 and 14:07. Solunar majors run 06:31–08:31 and 18:31–20:31, minors near 01:00 and 13:00—the clocks that feed the fishing and wildlife scores, along with falling pressure near 1015 hPa and the light breeze. Surfing’s 6.4 is the short period talking, not a missing sea. Sailing dropped from 7.8 yesterday to 5.9 as cloud and a softer, less consistent wind take the edge off; diving eased only from 8.7, still the day’s strongest read on wind, waves, available clarity, and temperature. Boating is essentially even with yesterday’s 7.1. A rain window is flagged through 19:00 with little accumulated water. Air stays cool, 15.6 to 18.2 C, under a late moonrise at 16:09. Through midweek the forecast stays milder aloft, mostly single-digit winds except a bump near 12 knots on the 26th, low rain chances, and seas easing toward 0.6–0.8 meters by the 27th. Best bet: take the midday calm for a dive, and let the fog, not the score, decide whether you leave the dock.