The Adventures of a Maine Peanut - by Samir Haydar & Todd Gutner (Paperback)

About the Book

A mostly true story of a boat named Peanut that was lost at sea, as told by the Seagulls that witnessed it all.

Book Synopsis

A real adventure and an almost completely true story.

This is a story about a beloved, strong, but little family boat, with what some consider to be a funny name, that was able to find its way to safety after being lost at sea.

While it is impossible to know all of the details of what happened during the 96 hours that Peanut the 24ft Eastern went missing, we have used firsthand reports to recreate events as best as possible. According to footage obtained from an area Ring Camera, between the hours of 11pm on June 17th, 2023, and 3am the following Father's Day morning, Peanut broke from its mooring in Kettle Cove off the coast of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, during a strong coastal storm.

What happened next can only be imagined. How Peanut was able to navigate out of the rocky waters of Kettle Cove, be lost at sea for four days and then end up some 50 miles down the coast off the shores of Ogunquit without a scratch, remains a mystery to this day. It seems miracles really do happen, the details of which perhaps only the sea creatures of Maine will ever know.

About the Author

Just two dads who are always looking for a good excuse to spend time with their kids. Samir and Todd both live in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, just down the road from where Peanut broke from its mooring in Kettle Cove.

Samir is an Emergency Physician in Portland, Maine. Peanut has always served as a little bit of an oasis for him, a good escape from the chaos of everyday life. Losing Peanut, even if it was just for 96 hours, is something he hopes to never experience again. From day one, Peanut's name has been the source of much discussion. Of course, not a typical name for a boat, folks are always curious as to Peanut's gender and as of yet, Peanut has not let us know.

Todd is a local weatherman on TV and also a radio talk show host. He was instrumental in drumming up awareness of the missing boat named Peanut. With daily updates shared across the radio waves, locals became obsessed with the missing boat named Peanut. Of course, there was some poking fun of the name along the way, as well as ribbing Todd for that bowline knot!
Rachel Gutner (Todd's wife) and a literacy teacher at Falmouth Elementary School has been in education for twenty years. Rachel encouraged us to put Peanut's story onto pages and helped us finetune the text along the way.
An amateur nature illustrator and photographer (plus grandfather to another Richmond Island Father's Day trip fanatic), Newt brought life to The Adventures of a Maine Peanut with his illustrations of Peanut's open sea adventure, and the precocious seagulls who witnessed it all.
Age 15, Samir's youngest child and an annual fanatic for the Richmond Island Father's Day trip. Franny created the first and last drawings in the book of Peanut at the mooring with friends at Centerboard Yacht Club in Portland Harbor.