There reigned a tense expectancy in the boat, all of us straining to see through the fog and silence, as if to help the prow better push through the thick air. The spindle tops of painted lobster buoys popped into view, bright spots against the blank black of the sea. At times, Papa called out the colors of the lobster buoys we passed, determining which lobsterman had left these signs, knowing Mr. Coates did not heed nor mind the summer visitor’s sleuthing. Behind us we could hear the low throbbing of another engine and just make out voices from another boat. I turned in the direction of the sounds, and for an instant, I caught the white prow of the following boat emerge, then disappear as quickly back into the fog. The ghostly crew remained unseen, though their chatter bespoke several cheery men, a cheer that seemed misplaced in that atmosphere. I turned from them and faced forward into the dense mist. Mr. Coates’s great brown hand lay easy on the tiller, his mouth pursed in a soundless whistle. We pulled forward into it, deeper and deeper, until the sound of the other boat dimmed to a hum and the buoys gave way to the single red and green channel markers. The rocky line of the harbor breakwater stretched into view and we left it, passing farther on into the quiet.

And then the dark outline of the island loomed into view. Long fingers of granite stretched forward into the sea. As the boat drew closer, the granite line was softened by the enormous boulders, almost womanish in their roundness and covered by dull green lichen. Mr. Coates navigated the prow up the island’s narrow cove, over the sunken rocky ledges that lay like teeth at the entrance to this watery mouth. Although I knew this coastline well from previous visits, a chill swept down my frame as I espied how close-knit lay the rocks below us and how near they seemed, though covered by the interposing feet of water. When we could go no farther, Mr. Coates cut off the engine. In the sudden absence of sound, the single cry of an island bird called its warning.