An active month of December passed quickly in the Cranberry Isles. The annual Christmas Fair, sponsored by the Great Cranberry Island Ladies Aid Society, raised a total of $2,200 through sales of crafts, baked goods, raffles and a delicious luncheon. On Islesford, family and friends either pledged to bake or purchased from the first-ever Islesford on-line bake sale, to raise a total of $2,500 to support Jacob Lief’s Ubuntu Education Fund for the children of South Africa. Over $20,000 was raised altogether from 150 bake sales, which took place on World Aids Day in Canada, the U.S., England and South Africa. You might have missed the bake sale, but you can still go on-line for a “cyber visit” to the Town of Cranberry Isles. Two websites, www.cranberryisles.com and www.islesford.com, feature a wealth of photographs and information about our communities. They are well organized and updated frequently by Bruce Komusin and Richard Hill.
Just before the holiday break, Islesford teacher Lindsay Eysnogle and her fulltime aide, Gail Grandgent, planned a wonderful community holiday program, which took place upstairs at the Neighborhood House. The schoolchildren, Abe and Peter Philbrook, Gretchen and Frances Blank, Melissa McCormick, Hannah Folsom, Cote Hadlock and Heather Spurling, each took their turn reciting a poem. More poems and stories were recited by Nan Folsom, Dick Atlee, and Ashley Bryan. The schoolchildren sang and music for dancing was provided by Ruth Grierson on fiddle, Dick Atlee on accordion, Jim Vekasi on guitar, and Trevor Corson on washtub bass. Cyrus Moulton, our Island Institute Fellow, accompanied everyone on the piano for carol singing until a knock came on the far door. Santa Claus had stopped by for an early visit, but the room was so warm that his glasses fogged up and he needed help from Emily Thomas to read the names on the packages he brought!
On the last day of the year, the same day that Ann and Warren Fernald had married 55 years ago, Sonja Moser and Bill McGuinness eloped. When sternman Bill asked his captain Bruce Fernald if he knew of a notary on the mainland, Bruce thought of a friend in Bar Harbor. Jeff Dobbs readily agreed to perform the service but when he asked about a location, Bruce said, “Why not the DOUBLE TROUBLE?” On Thursday, Bill and Sonja signed for their marriage license at the office of Cranberry Isles Town Clerk, Frances Bartlett. At 9:30 on Friday morning Bill and Sonja rode to Northeast Harbor in the DOUBLE TROUBLE accompanied by their witnesses, Bruce Fernald and yours truly, to pick up Mr. Dobbs. With whitecaps in the Western Way, the lobster boat idled in the waters near the osprey’s nest off Sutton Island so Bill and Sonja could exchange their vows while still within the boundaries of the Town of Cranberry Isles. We returned to Northeast Harbor to enjoy wedding cupcakes made by Sonja and toasts made with sparkling cider. As Bill and Sonja headed off for their honeymoon, I steered the boat back to Islesford while Bruce did some last minute cleaning. The DOUBLE TROUBLE would soon be going to a new owner in Massachusetts. “That was an appropriate final duty before the boat starts her new life down the coast,” said Bruce.
When Bruce made the decision to build a new boat he advertised the DOUBLE TROUBLE in fishing publications and with flyers at fishing gear shops in New England. Mike Bartlett of Danvers, Massachusetts, his father, Billy Bartlett, and uncle Jimmy Bartlett visited Islesford in early September to check out the boat. Within a few days Mike decided this was the boat for him. Plans were made for the sale to go through in December after Bruce had taken all of his traps out of the water. The hull for Bruce’s new Northern Bay 38 was molded just after Christmas, and the DOUBLE TROUBLE was readied for her new home. Arrangements were made to ship the boat to Massachusetts by truck and Bruce started her up for the last time on January 12. Murphy Yacht Transportation loaded the boat on their trailer at high tide, and Sarah Corson, whose son Trevor wrote The Secret Life of Lobsters, came by to take pictures. It turns out Mike had received three copies of Trevor’s book for Christmas! Bruce placed one of his new lobster traps aboard as a surprise for Mike, and the boat was on its way.
Bruce has yet to decide on a different name for his new boat. We’ve heard many funny and odd suggestions, but he keeps coming back to one or two specific names. When the Bartletts called to say the boat had arrived safely on Jan. 13, they also mentioned that Mike had chosen the name for his “new” boat. It was the nickname he and his cousin had shared growing up: “Double Trouble.”
Islesford
January, 2005