Page 4. MAINE COASTAL NEWS December 2014


Maine Coastal News Winterport, Maine 04496-0710 U.S.A.


P.O. Box 710 (207) 223-8846 Fax (207) 223-9004 E-mail - igmatats@aol.com Web site: www.mainescoast.com Publisher's Note


Maine Coastal News is published 12 times a year and is dedicated to covering the news along the entire coast of Maine, Kittery to Eastport. We cover general marine news, commercial fi shing, yachting (power and sail), boat yard and waterfront news and maritime history. Distribution of Maine Coastal News is from Eastport to Marblehead, MA and is free on the newsstand. It also can be obtained by subscription. A year subscription, 12 issues, is $20.00. A single copy is $2.00, which covers the postage. Foreign rates for subscriptions are $40.00 per year.


The Maine Coastal News offi ce is located at 966 North Main Street, Winterport, Maine. Comments or additional information write: Maine Coastal News, P.O. Box 710, Winterport,


Maine 04496. Publisher Editor-in-Chief


Jon B. Johansen Rachel Elward


Advertising Sara MacCorkle To contact Sara directly: (207) 350-7094


mainecoastalnewsads@gmail.com


Advertising Deadlines: The deadline for the January issue is December 12. The deadline for the February issue is January 9.


MCN's Calendar 2015


JANUARY 27-29 NEFMC Meeting Sheraton Harborside Portsmouth, NH


APRIL


21-23 NEFMC Meeting Hilton Hotel Mystic, CT


JUNE 13 Boothbay Harbor Lobster Boat Races


Boothbay Harbor Info: M. Farnham (207) 380-5892


14 Rockland Lobster Boat Races Rockland Harbor @ Breakwater Rockland


Info: Dot Black


16-18 NEFMC Meeting Viking Hotel Newport, RI


28 Bass Harbor Lobster Boat Races Bass Harbor Info: Wayne Rich (207) 244-9623


JULY 4 Moosebec Lobster Boat Races U. S. Coast Guard Station Jonesport


11 Searsport Lobster Boat Races Searsport Town Dock Searsport


Info: Keith Otis (207) 548-6362


12 Stonington Lobster Boat Races Town Dock Stonington Info: Nick Wiberg, (207) 348-2375


19 Friendship Lobster Boat Races Barge middle of harbor Friendship Info: Wes Lash, Jr. (207) 832-7807


26 Harpswell Lobster Boat Races Harpswell Info: Albert Rose (207) 844-0346


AUGUST 8 Winter Harbor Lobster Boat Races Town Dock Winter Harbor Info: N/A


9 Merritt Brackett Lobster Boat Races State Park Restaurant Pemaquid


Info: Don Drisko & Laurie Crane (207) 677-2432


15 Long Island Lobster Boat Races Long Island


Info: Lisa Kimball (207) 332-3968


16 MS Harborfest Lobster Boat Races Portland Yacht Services Portland


Info: Jon Johansen (207) 223-8846


SEPTEMBER 17-20 Newport International Boat Show Newport, RI Info: www.newportboatshow.com


29-1 NEFMC Meeting Radisson Plymouth, MA


OCTOBER 24 Awards Banquet & Dinner Location – TBA


There are a lot of advantages to the advances in technology of today. My great grandmother lived more than a century and I always marveled at the changes she saw. However the changes in the last half century probably are equally as fascinating. She saw the advent of the gasoline and diesel engines and their uses in automobiles, trucks and boats. She watched as the coastal schoo- ners were replaced with the steamers and then the steamers were replaced by vessels with combustible engines. She was just a young girl when the airplane came into existence and watched it evolve into the jet. She saw the development of the telephone; television, and so many other helpful home appliances. She lived through the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam and all the developments associated with military armament. Before she passed away in the mid- 1980s she did know about the computer, but never saw what it evolved into and how much it would change our lives in such a short time. Wonder what my great-grandmother would have thought about the cell-phone, cable television and the Internet? However have we lost sight of their down fall? Have we become too compla- cent? I always feel that Murphy is standing right behind me. Working on the ocean has always been romanticized, but anyone who has been out there when mother-nature throws her worst at you knows, it is defi nite- ly not romantic. At times it can be boring, but that can change in an instant and death could be just a slip away. If you do not have respect for what Mother Nature can dish out you could very easily be her next victim. Technology has helped us immensely with better forecasts and knowing where you are now can be found with the press of a button. However with all this knowledge you still have to make the right decision. Is it smart that certain courses are being eliminated as the digital age replaces old practices? What about the removal of celes- tial navigation from the maritime academies and even from the Coast Guard exams? If you lose power you lose all the electronics, but you still can take a sight with a sextant


and fi gure out where you are.


Changes from mechanical to electronic engines pose the problem that when the electronics fail the engine is dead, which was not usually true with a mechanic one. I understand the positive aspects of the elec- tronic engine, but do not like the downside. I have always felt that more education should be done in the school systems that could potential make decisions easier and save lives. A couple of weeks ago I was at H&H Marine in Steuben talking with Bruce Grindle and we were joined by Terry Savage of H&H Propeller. We got into a discussion about a teacher, Ed Biggie, at Maine Mari- time Academy, who made a huge impression on most of his students. He taught Ocean Survival and I wonder if anyone could have taught it better? How many working along the coast do not know the simple techniques that might just save their life when Murphy makes an appearance. Too many people lose their lives on coastal waters and our rivers and lakes and may be a course like this taught in high schools could help prevent needless loss of life.


Also what happened to the industrial arts programs? How stupid has the school systems been eliminating these programs? Even dumber was the stripping of the tech- nical colleges turning them into community colleges with little to no trades taught. Class- es that were eliminated could not only create better jobs for a number of people, but also allow others to do better.


Another aspect that some people have


forgot is preventive maintenance and that it can go a long way to making life a little easier and less expensive. I was talking with some diesel mechanics and they are surprised by how many fi shermen do not take care of their engines. I was showed a fi lter the other day that was completely black with oil and dirt and the owner wondered why his engine was smoking. Mechanics say another neglected item is the after-cooler.


I guess I would lean towards compli-


ancy, but I am not sure that development of technology is to blame. No matter what we need to do a better job at realizing the environment, our limitations and what to do when problems arise.


Les Thurston Obituary “Honest Les From Southwest” Passes at 93


By Lee S. Wilbur


Leslie W. Thurston, popular salesman for many years with now defunct Manset Marine Supply died November 16, 2014 at MDI Hospital. Les, born August 25, 1921 was the son of Elfrieda (Brown) and Fred Victor Thurston of Bass Harbor and grad- uated Class of 1940 from Pemetic High School in Southwest Harbor.


Graduating from Communications school in Connecticut, He served with the United States Army in WWII as a proud member of the 132nd Gun Battalion in Eu- rope.


Returning to Southwest Harbor at


war’s end, he worked briefl y at Jackson’s market, then was recruited by one of the partners of newly formed Manset Marine Supply, Wallace Birlem, where he soon be- came a salesman on the road, said career which would last some 46 years. In 1946 Les married Geraldine “Ger- rie” Hopkins and had two daughters and cared for Gerrie’s sister (who became like a daughter) before Gerrie’s death in 1961. A short time later he married again to Ma- rie Isabelle Gray, adopted her daughter and together had a son before her death in 1971. In 1976 Les and Mildred “Millie” Sherman Young married, bringing a 5th


“daughter” into Les’ expanded family. Millie and Les enjoyed 38 years together. Leslie was a great community and fam-


ily man. Always seemed to have a smile, attended many sports functions, town meetings, and was an active member of the Congregational Church and the Republican Party.


Coastal businesses from Eastport to at one time New Hampshire, remember Les from his calling card, “Honest Les from Southwest” with the spoken part, “All the boys they lie like hell but Honest Les the truth will tell”. Les was fortunate to have served the boating and fi shing industries during the “Golden Age” when both were in their heyday. He knew everyone on a fi rst name basis. Learned early on from one of his customers “Sell yourself and your products will sell themselves”. Les looked out for his many accountholders. Put in a good word in the accounts receivables Dept. when money was tight, made sure as best he could, orders would arrive when needed, to the point of bringing some crit- ical part in his signature vehicles, a green “town and country” Ford station wagon. Les received a “Knights of the Road award for driving over a million miles during his career on the road.


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