A report of a small boat adrift in the middle of Chickawaukie Pond, Tuesday morning, April 29, stirred up questions of what, or who, might be adrift inside that boat. 

By 7 a.m., Tuesday morning, the only action on the water had been birds out enjoying the 50 degree temperatures. 

But then, phone calls miles from the water began to ruffle feathers. A random boat, beyond reach, and possibly, for some people in the Midcoast area, a reminicence of a recent passing of a long-time sailing lover whose time happened to come while relaxing in his own vessel in a different spanse of water.

The Rockport and Rockland fire chiefs were in phone discussions. Whose jurisdiction is this? Rockland has one side of Chickie, and Rockport has the other. But right square in the middle? Ultimately, it was decided to turn the command over to Rockland. Neither Rockport nor Rockland have an FD boat. However, Thomaston FD is an automatic mutual aid for Rockland, and Thomaston has a boat, always at the ready, on a trailer in the station. So, at 7:10 a.m., Rockland Fire and EMS personnel made their way quietly to Chickie, off of Route 17, while multiple Thomaston firefighters heeded the call, converging on their station to hitch the boat to a pickup before heading north.

While a lone firefighter set out across the water, another stood at the dock, waiting in a life jacket in case the rescue boat reversed course and raced back to shore in need of additional crew.

In fact, the drifting boat was empty, save for some dry leaves, according to Rockland Fire Chief Chris Whytock. It must have just floated away from someone's property. 

An hour after the 7:10 a.m. alert, the fire departments drifted home again, leaving the ducks to resume their peaceful paddle on a calm, uneventful, pond.