Van Morrison - The Time Interview

Van toured last year performing new versions of Astral Weeks.
"I just listen to the stuff that got me nto it - jazz and blues."  "Brown Eyed Girl i didn't do for a long time.  It was just a throw-away song.  I've got about 300 other songs that are better than that."  "In a lot of ways it's harder when you're better at it."  "If I did it all over again I wouldn't become famous."

Here comes the night: Them - Van Morrison

Van was skinny when he was 20 years old playing with his group Them.  Here they do Here Comes the Night.  An immature classic. h/t Deborah Frost

Issuma: Nannuk harbor - Baffin Island

Polar bears live on 900 mile long Baffin Island - and a few thousand people - mostly aboriginal..  The tides are 6 meters, polar bears wander the rivers and harbor looking for food.  And Ted, Gabriela, and Richard found they were not alone even in the unpopulated safe harbor of Nannuk when the Akavak family from Kimmirut and Iqaluit motored in to leave one of their squadron of three in the anchorage for the next leg of their trip.

How far north is 61 23 latitude?  Answer: much of Greenland is south of Baffin Island.  Nuuk - it's capital is 64 degrees North.

Where next?  Keep an eye out on Voyages  or at the Issuma blog HERE

Alaska: it's not just the big fish

photo by pagsfish

Pags with big fish

Issuma: Baffin Island Rainbow

61.52 North; 66 30 West

That's five degrees higher than Cape Horn on the other end.  Lots of sea ice, cold water, summer winds, and fog yielded this Baffin Island rainbow.  Welcome to the arctic circle.  (Yes people do live there.) Is Greenland next?

Check it out on Issuma's blog.

18' Lyman inboard - 1957

When the engine started making a hammering sound I slowed, and slowed some more. When it died 10" before sunset a mile south of Gay Island with no one moving on the water to hear a call on Ch. 16 there was Verizon wireless! Fortunately Barrett, Gay Island oysterman was in the vicinity.  He rescued me, towing me to the island where we tied the boat up for the night to the farm.

Sad death of a 53 year old engine. Ran like a sewing machine 'til the last minutes. Checked the crankcase oil and the lubricants. All appeared to be OK. Time to get something more prosaic and less delicate.  Next stop Craigslist.

18' Lyman inboard - 1957

Muscongus Summers - Jeremy Barnard

Jeremy Barnard is a life-long summer resident of Friendship, Maine.  His current and longstanding passion is photographing the Muscongus Bay, at the head of which is Friendship.  We love this image of a bait shed in town.  It hangs in our home in New York.  


There are lots more HERE.   Recently Jeremy has been working with infra red, like these shots of two of his favorite subjects; rocks and trees.

Naptime

IMAGE BY SUSAN SERMONETA from her NYC PHOTOSTREAM

Issuma reaches Nain, northernmost town in Labrador

Issuma has reached Nain - northernmost town in Labrador. 56° 32′ 32″ N, 61° 41′ 34″ W .


Nain is an Inuit community, population about 1,150.  It depends largely on fishing (arctic char and scallops).  The season is June to October. 

Gay Island Oyster Farm

Barrett - Gay Island Oyster man

"The Big Oyster" is what foodwriter and prolific historian Mark Kurlansky called New York City in his terrific book about what the Times reviewer called "the mollusk that made Manhattan".   New York is no longer the big oyster but up here on the Mid-Coast of Maine despite the cold water the oyster farming trade thrives.


Wednesday at high tide I took the boat through Pleasant Pt. Gut and headed south about a half mile to the Gay Island Oyster farm, where I was served by the oysterman.  Barrett keeps his seed stock in the Meduncook River a mile and a half north - near our house.  (That's a flooded dock at the new moon on the Meduncook.  People call it the Friendship River too.)


If Barrett's not there you just pull your oysters from the crate at the corner of the float and put $1.00/each in the little black can  at the bottom of the ramp.

When is an oyster like a whale?

When Bowsprite looks at one: 

She has good advice on opening oysters too.

Issuma: Labrador Skiff

What strikes me about this Labrador rowing skiff is its strength and its simplicity.  It could be made with a circular saw and a sabre saw.  There isn't a single beveled edge.  The oarlocks are thole pins.  Simple - and effective.

Image: Richard Hudson - Issuma

Image: Wooden Boat Forum - Thorne

Georges Highland Path

At the bottom of every valley is a river.  The St. George River highlands are part of the 40 mile network of marked trails maintained by the all-volunteer Georges River Land Trust.  Marilyn, Gary and I hiked a bit of the Georges Highland Path in Thomaston.  Slide show HERE

Issuma: Hopedale, Labrador

Hopedale public landing

The mast was repaired (shortened 5cm), rigging modified.  Yann's well-timed vacation ended and he returned to France.  Richard and crew pushed north up the coast, now in Hopedale.  Two more ferry stops Nuantish and Nain before the wild.  Newfoundland Labrador ferry schedules here are tentative: ice may compel change at any time of year,  but especially summer when a lot of ice floats south.

M/V Northern Ranger

Current position HERE

SummerWind sails home to Thomaston

Summerwind, the magnificently restored schooner flagship of the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY sailed up the St. George River today to Thomaston to visit Lyman Morse, the yard where she was built in 1929.


Nancy and I were headed down river from Maple Juice Cove to George's Harbor when we spotted her passing Caldwell Island.  We caught up with her again as she approached Thomaston for the courtesy call.  She leaves tomorrow for Castine where she will join the Castine Yacht Club Classic Yacht Celebration.

SummerWind, St. George River

Slideshow HERE

Issuma: The Repair

Yann's joining the crew was obviously a good idea, but HERE is the evidence: his repair of the damaged mast. Cut off 5 cm, shorten stays, good to go. 


Now Richard and crew have left Cartwright and are back to exploring the Labrador Sea and coast.  Below are a Cartwright ferry and a "bergy bit" - a chunk of glacier.