Sept. 1, Sunday – Temp. 65, wind SW at 12 knots. A full feel of fall with 42 degrees at 6 a.m. Church today at 10 a.m. and lobstermen can also haul their gear on Sundays, now until next June.
Ralph Stanley and his wife, Marion, visited us today near noon. We had a nice chat and talked mostly on boats and Friendship Sloops. Ralph is building a 36-footer for Mr. Sean McCarthy of N.Y. City, who summers in S. Bristol, Maine. It will be ready, hopefully, for delivery next July. It will have a topmast and be a full-rigged sloop. This is the largest sloop Ralph has built for some time. There are a few 33-footers in our area. I asked Ralph what was the largest Friendship ever built, to his knowledge. He replied that he had heard of one of 50 feet but he knew of some of 45. When this large, they were usually decked over.
A barbershop quartet from off-island sang songs at the Islesford Dock restaurant during the brunch hour. Today is the last day of the season for the restaurant. Joanne Shorey stood up tonight and gave her appreciation for how much Dan and Cynthia Lief have done for the islands by constantly improving the restaurant dock and grounds, and for providing a fine spot for folks to gather, and a wonderful employment opportunity for many of our young folk. Joanne led everyone in three cheers for Dan and Cynthia.
Sept. 3 – Wind ENE at 18 knots, temp. 55 at noon. Morning overcast, rain in A.M. We are on the off season ferry boat schedule, starting today. Mail leaves NE Harbor at 11 a.m. Then boats leave there for the islands at 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Our island school also begins today. Our two school teachers are both new this year. The home room school teacher will be Rebecca Beal. She will teach kindergarten through grade four. She has two children of her own to add to our student population. Their names are Zo’ and Merrick Swaffar. They come from Bennington, Vermont, and will live in the apartment above the school rooms. The other teacher is Jenny Johnson and she comes from Gloucester, Mass. She will be teaching grades 5-8, and will be living in Eric Lake’s studio apt. on Lobster Boulevard. There are 13 students in our school this year. Joy Sprague, our postmaster, went recently to visit the new granite museum on the Beech Hill Crossroads, Mount Desert Island. Steve Haynes and Juanita Sprague have set up a wonderful exhibit of photographs of granite quarries throughout our state, with pieces of rock from each quarry and much info, about the many buildings in the U.S. that have used Maine granite. Juanita is a sister to Joy and also grew up and went to school on our island. Another proud sister here is Barbara Fernald, whose brother, Steve Shirey, just produced an article on diamonds, published in Science magazine Sept. 6.
Wed., Sept. 11 – Temp. 61, wind SW 8 knots, overcast and foggy. A quiet morning, one year since the tragic disaster caused by terrorists … Bishop Alden Hathaway gave a brief memorial service in the Congr. Church today and many attended. Ted Jr. measured our well in A.M. Down to 16 inches, a mite scary. But we are still getting by and a little rain does boost up the level fairly quickly, it being a dug well. Lobster fishing is still fairly good now and the price is $3.10 for them per lb. but crabs dropped down to 35 cents per lb. Bait is getting harder to find and get but our co-op manager, Mark Nighman, is doing a fine job and still gets enough to keep the men going.
The Islesford School’s cross country team will run at Tremont this coming Friday. Eve Harrison is the coach. The runners are Christina, Gretchen and Frances Blank; Heather Spurling; Danny Wriggins; Zo’ Swaffar and Emily Thomas.
Sept. 16 – NE wind at 8 knots and temp. 53 at noontime. A nice letter today from Letitia Baldwin. She visited us last Aug. 29 with her twin baby girls, Blue and Skye. She also included two fine pictures of me and the babies, one on each knee. They were born June 12, 2002.
Sept. 21, Sat. – Wind SW, 15 knots. Temp. 65 and overcast. Ted Jr. took his daughter, Christy, on a row over the wreck of the three-masted schooner EMILY F. NORTHAM today. The NORTHAM’s remains are still visible at low tide on the Great Cranberry Island shore, on the starboard hand as you pass out the channel between Big and Little Cranberry Islands. I can vaguely remember this wreck as a small boy of five. This was in December, 1926. She had a cargo of lumber and hit first on Baker’s Island Bar and got off by help of island men and a tugboat. Most of the lumber was salvaged. She was towed around to the beach near our docks, tied to a large tree and one anchor put down. Another NE storm came, she worked clear and drifted across our harbor and stuck fast where she is today. All during my youth her hull could be seen plainly and the stumps of her three masts. But not much can be seen of her now, except at low tide. I have a list of merchant vessels of the U.S.A. circa 1922. She is listed as being built in Portland, Conn., in 1883, 131 feet in length and of 332 gross tons. Teddy and Christy brought back a few pieces of her planking.
A full Harvest Moon tonight.
Sept. 23 – temp. 60 degrees, wind SSW at 12 knots, overcast and fog. The autumnal equinox at about 1 a.m. today. Fall sets in while most of us are sleeping. A good rain shower this morning. State Senator Jill Goldthwait is here talking to the school children today. There is a new Islesford organization now; ’tis called Dip of the Month Club. Joiners must take at least one saltwater swim each month. Joy Sprague and Judy Petrovich have already fulfilled this obligation for membership, with an invigorating dip off the sand beach.
Sept. 30, Monday. Wind SW at 15 knots and temp. 60 degrees at noon. Partly cloudy. And so ends this month. Another town meeting last Wednesday, Sept. 25, more talk on the new land site at Manset. It got rather spirited and heated at times. Mr. Pritham Singh, the seller, was also there to explain his side of the deal.
Oct. 3, Thursday. Temp. 55 degrees, wind north at 12 knots, rain during the wee hours. Bruce Fernald had an interesting and somewhat painful experience recently, when a little bird flew aboard his lobsterboat while he was hauling his traps offshore. Little song birds sometimes do this, when they are getting tired from a long flight across the water and are glad to find a stopping off place to rest. They are often so tired you can pick them up. They will even light on you. Bruce offered this one his finger to hop on, but the bird tried to perch on his nose instead, grabbing the tender spot between Bruce’s nostrils for a landing and “hang on.” Bruce shook his head quickly (quite startled) and the bird flew off. The nose bled for a little while after, being scratched by the bird’s claws. Bruce looked in his bird book when he got home, as he had gotten a very close-up look at the bird, and found it to be amongst the warblers. A Philadelphia Vireo, it is called. Sue Hill hosted the Wednesday Spinners at her Sand Beach, and about 17 came and brought their wheels. One spinner even took an ocean swim, as well. The Dip of the Month Club also swam today, at least some of them did. Cindy Thomas, Judy Petrovich, Joy Sprague, Barbara Fernald, Stefanie Alley and Cynthia Lief. Such cold goings-on – and they plan another swim in November.
The Islesford School had an open house yesterday. The older classes, grades 5-8, held a mock election involving voter registration, and had a questionnaire involving energy, health care and school vouchers. The school’s recent bottle drive to raise money for school trips brought in over 3,000 cans and bottles. The school will have their Cranberry Press newspaper again this year.
Wednesday, Oct. 9 – Wind ENE at 15 knots, temp. 46, bar. 30:40, a sunny day, extra high and low tides. Dan and Cynthia Lief left Islesford today to start a new restaurant business in Vail, Colorado. They are going in partnership there, with their Islesford cook, Eric Wupperman. This new venture will be called Cranberry Isles Sea Food Co. They plan to return to their island business again next summer. We will all wish them well.
Sunday, Oct. 13 – Temp. 58, wind NE at 15 knots, a nice morning. Harvest Supper tonight at our Neighborhood House. Many there and lots of our summer folks returned to the island to partake and have a gathering with their friends and neighbors. This time of the year is also about the time it is advisable to close up the summer cottages and secure them for the winter, draining and shutting off the water being especially important. The supper was ample and tasty as usual. To all in attendance, Ann Moran and Michael Young announced their marriage on Oct. 11. Ann is an island girl and grew up here. They were married in Otis, Maine, and will be living there, but plan to make many trips to the island. Congratulations and best wishes were given to them.
Oct. 16 – wind ENE 20 knots at noon. Temp. 46, bar. 29:90, day overcast. This day started off with a fiery red sunrise. Ted Jr. was lobster fishing along with others out to the east’ard and said it was “spectacular.” “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.” He said his sternman, Mark, who is from Switzerland, was most impressed and said he had never seen anything in the early morning sky to equal it. Lobsters are still holding at $3.00 per lb. (to the fishermen) and hauls are good. Wind and sea increasing tonight.
Friday, Oct. 18 – Temp. 46, wind N at 12 knots, cloudy at noon. Ashley Bryan is home again for a little while. He has been on a talking and lecture trip to several places. Instead of saying “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” the phrase made famous by Audrey Hepburn’s film, our own Ashley Bryan can coin his own words, “Breakfast at the White House.” Along with other authors and artists, Ashley was invited to Washington, D.C., with a personal invitation from Laura Bush to participate in a literary program to celebrate National Library Week. The weekend of Oct. 11 and 12 was especially memorable for Ashley. At one event he was seated in the front row with the first lady and Madame Putin, the Russian president’s wife.
Oct. 21 – temp. 42 at noon, and wind NW 20 knots. Cool and clear. The Acadia Corp. crew and staff from Bar Harbor came over to the island today on their annual picnic. They engaged our Neighborhood House. They had lunch and played games and hiked about. Two of their staff, Zack and Thor, came to our house to ask about the old life saving station on our SE point. It was active here for many years from 1879 to 1946. In 1915 it changed from Life Saving Service to U.S. Coast Guard. It is now owned by a private family.
Reta Dunn, of Dunn Tombstone Monuments, Ellsworth, also visited us for a little while later. She and her crew put dates on several of our island grave stones and did other work in three of our island cemeteries, besides setting a new stone at a private lot. They barged their truck and equipment over on the Beal and Bunker barge. This is so much handier and easier than the old days, when everything had to be handled so many times, off and on. A full Hunter’s Moon shone bright tonight.
Friday, Oct. 25 – Wind a light NE, temp. 45, bar. 30:50, sunny and nice. Gassed up the island “aspirin” this morning and took a drive about the island. Dale Hadlock located a good used radiator for me and it seems to be holding up all right. I like this old Dodge wagon. It is a handy island vehicle, new in 1980. Harvey Bunker and crew are working on several job, one being expanding Finlay Matheson’s boat house at the Sand Beach. It is getting to look more like a dwelling than a boat house.
Henry Grandgent is still working on a new front porch on Franny Jo Bartlett’s home, also known as the Braided Rugs Inn bed and breakfast, formerly the Morse home and originally the old Nathan Stanley place – he who had the island’s largest store and also used a two-wheeled cart drawn by his big ox, Bucky, to haul his freight and store supplies that came to him frequently via Friendship Sloops – extra large orders by coastal schooners. Bucky was later replaced by a horse named Demon.
Monday, Oct. 28 – temp. 44, wind WNW, 18 knots. We are back on Eastern Standard Time. Blowy and cold, 35 degrees at 7 a.m. On a morning walk down by our Acadia National Park museum, I noted a group of our school children, their two teachers and some park rangers on the lawn there, having some instruction on navigation, both terrestrial and celestial. Very informative and interesting. I was delighted to linger awhile and hear them talk. Very simply put and easily explained. I hope to get a written copy of the lecture from them.
Oct. 30 – the evening before Hallowe’en, the school children held a fund raising event at the school by inviting everyone to a “haunted house” with a “come in if you dare” challenge. Many dared and had a good time, and more donations were given for future projects and field trips.
Oct. 31 – wind NW 12 knots, temp. 44, fine and clear. “Trick or Treat” night brought out the children again in all sorts of costumes. Fall is still with us. The trees are holding their golden light, as we face November gales.