Page 24. MAINE COASTAL NEWS July 2015 HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Bangor Daily Commercial - Early 1900s


13 January 1914 Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts,


January 13 – The three-masted schooner JOHN PAUL of Ellsworth, Maine, sank in Nantucket Sound early Tuesday while in tow of the revenue cutter ACUSHNET. Word of the sinking came in the following wireless message from the ACUSHNET. “Schooner JOHN PAUL sunk four and a half miles southeast by east of Hedge Fence lightship. Position only approximate owing unfavorable conditions for taking soundings.”


The message made no mention of the crew of the JOHN PAUL. It was thought here that with the westerly gale and high seas which prevailed all night and early Tuesday, their transfer to the revenue cutter could have been accomplished only with great diffi culty, and danger. The JOHN PAUL ordinarily carried a crew of six men and was in command of Capt. Hutchinson. Early Monday night the ACUSHNET sent word that the JOHN PAUL was leaking badly and that the cutter had taken her in tow for Vineyard Haven. The ACUSHNET had not arrived here early Tuesday forenoon. The JOHN PAUL registered 352 tons net and was built at Franklin, Maine, in 1891. Barges in Trouble


Nantucket, Massachusetts, January


13. – The Lehigh Valley barge No. 738, formerly the BAFFLE, broke adrift from the tug IRVINGTON Monday night and drifted on to the bar off Great Point early Tuesday. An hour after sunrise she was in danger of going to pieces. The COSKATA life saving crew launched their surfboat after reported efforts and started for the stranded craft. The temperature was at zero and the life savers made very slow progress against the 50-mile gale.


No. 788 was one of three light barges which left Boston for New York on Sunday in tow of the IRVINGTON. When abreast of Cross Rip lightship Monday night, the hawser parted. Dropping the other two barges, the IRVINGTON steamed down the Sound in the hope of overtaking her. The tug ran close up under the bow of the barge and succeeded in getting a heaving line on board, but the gale was so fi erce that no one


on the barge could stand on the deck long enough to haul the hawser over the side. The IRVINGTON, fi nding that she was getting in shoal water, was compelled to abandon No. 788 and stream back to the other barges. In the meantime the tug WYOMING had come down from Vineyard Haven, but could render only slight assistance. The barge drifted down the Sound and narrowly missed being swept out to sea, (?) fetching up on Great Point bar, as day was breaking.


The COSKATA patrol sighted her before she struck, the surfboat was launched on the leeward side of the Point and at sunrise the crew started bravely on their pull into the teeth of the gale.


The lifesavers battled for nearly two


hours in an effort to round Great Point and reach the barge but were driven back by the increasing gale. The barge was holding together at 10 o’clock and an effort was being made to send a fi shing steamer out to her, although slush ice extended for nearly half a mile along the northern shore of the island.


The wind shifted to the north northwest, during the forenoon forcing the barge inside of Great Point and to the bar, a mile of two from the entrance to the harbor.


There was considerable anxiety here regarding the fishing schooner TWO BROTHERS which was off Sankaty light Monday just before the storm broke. It was feared that the little vessel had been driven far off shore. The captain of the COSKATA life saving crew reported Tuesday noon that the weather conditions were the worst in his experience. Too Rough for Steamers


Woods Hole, Massachusetts, January


13. – The northwest gale and zero weather compelled a complete suspension of traffi c here Tuesday. The rough seas prevented the Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket steamboats making their trips, and railroad service was abandoned because steam could not be made throughout the night, the wind blew, at a mile a minute velocity, but towards morning began gradually to subside and the mercury dropped lower.


Many calls for assistance for vessels


LITTLE GIRLS Top Racer... Continued from Page 23.


same. In Class J, JENNA MARIE was going up against Carl Gross’ HEY BABY [North- ern Bay 36; 610-hp Volvo], and surprisingly had an easy time. Again there was just one boat in Class K LISA MARIE and one in Class L, MISS KARLEE so they were raced together with MISS KARLEE getting across the line with a two boat length lead. In Class M(A) there was just one entrant, Christopher Knight’s BELLA CRIE [Young Brothers 40, 380-hp Volvo], and one in Class M(B), Cyrus Sleeper’s CENTERFOLD [Mussel Ridge 42, 750-hp John Deere]. They were run together with each getting their respec- tive win in class. BAILEY & BELLA came to the line with KIM CELESTE and this time it was BAILEY & BELLA getting the win. In the Gasoline Free-for-All the same three boats came to the line with the same results: LITTLE GIRLS, BLACK DIA- MOND and MARDON.


Next was the Diesel Free-for-All with an interesting result. Six boats were on the line and we all expected MISS KARLEE to be fi rst over, but at the line by a boat length was TURN THE PAGE with a speed of 40.4 mph. MISS KARLEE and LISA MARIE came over tied for second.


Next up were the wooden boat races, which were again run together as there was


one boat in each class. LITTLE GIRLS won Wooden Boat Class A and WHISTLER won Wooden Boat Class B. Now, the fi nal race of the day, Fastest


Lobster Boat. We radioed down to the start boat to hold while LITTLE GIRLS made a crew change and got down to the start, but apparently they did not hear us and started the race. When they crossed they were told because LITTLE GIRLS had not been al- lowed time to get to the starting line, we were running the race over. With the four boats on the line, LISA MARIE, LITTLE GIRLS, MISS KARLEE and TURN THE PAGE all wondered who would fi nish where. All these boats proved they can do a little better than 40 mph and it was anyone’s guess who would win. At the start the fl ag dropped and Gary Genthner on LISA MARIE was leaning over the side adjusting a fender when the fl ag dropped and instantly the three other competitors were off a mistake he was not going to recover from. LITTLE GIRLS was out in front and the battle was between MISS KARLEE and TURN THE PAGE, and at the line it was MISS KARLEE.


Now it is onto Bass Harbor this Sunday


. Bass Harbor has become a popular race with many racers from the area compet- ing, which makes for some very interesting results.


the 28th


in distress have been received here and forwarded to the revenue cutter ACUSHNET. The cutter had more work than she could handle alone and received a terrible lashing all through the night assisting vessels on the Shoals.


15 January 1914 Bath Schooner Sinks; Crew Safe The GRACE A. MARTIN Goes Down Off Matinicus


Boston, January 15. – A report of the foundering of the Bath schooner GRACE A. MARTIN off the Maine coast Wednesday and the rescue of 17 of her crew from an open boat in which they were being swept to sea, but the steamer A. W. PERRY, Halifax for Boston, was received here Thursday. The battle of the 17 men of the MARTIN against several kinds of death, for nearly 24 hours in an open boat 100 miles off shore and in the bitterest winter conditions, was regarded Thursday almost as remarkable as their rescue by the PERRY.


From the point where the schooner foundered, to the PERRY’s course from Halifax to Boston is 50 miles, which represents the draft of the MARTIN’s long boat from shortly after sunrise Wednesday until about dawn Thursday. The drift carried the boat over unfrequented waters until the course to Halifax was reached, but steamers along that ocean highway are comparatively few at this time of the year. The GRACE A. MARTIN sailed from Norfolk for Portland, heavily loaded with coal, on January 4. She was among the fl eet that was caught in the westerly gale off Cape Cod on Monday, but instead of running back under the ice of the cape her skipper decided to continue across to the main shore. The vessel was driven farther and farther off shore Tuesday, although making some easting, until she was nearly 50 miles off Cape Elizabeth. It is believed that two days of hard pounding opened up her seams forward. The crew probably has suffi cient warning of the disaster to take some provisions and clothing before jumping into their boat. The MARTIN sank Wednesday in nearly 200 fathoms of water well off Matinicus rock, on which are the outermost of the Penobscot Bay lights. The decks watch of the PERRY reported to his


agents by radio that he had the men on board and that they were well. The PERRY is expected to arrive here Thursday afternoon. The GRACE A. MARTIN was a fi ve-masted schooner, registering 2670 tons net. She was built at Bath, Maine in 1904. Was Big Five Master


Bath, January 15. The fi ve-masted schooner, GRACE A.


MARTIN, sunk off Matinicus Rock, was in command of Capt. Herbert H. Wallace of South Portland. She was bound to Portland with a cargo of over 5,000 tons of coal, consigned to a Boston company and intended for distribution in small lots through the state. The MARTIN, one of the biggest fi ve-


masted afl oat, came north with a fl eet of coal carriers and passed Vineyard Haven last Saturday. Capt. Wallace evidently trying to make Portland ahead of the others which had not passed Cape Cod Wednesday. He ran into the continuous gales and the old weather and the foundering of the craft was the result, it was said here.


Percy & Small, who built the MARTIN ten years ago, are the managing owners. She was valued at about $75,000 and was partly insured. Word was received from Portland that a radiogram from Capt. Wallace stated that the steamer A. W. PERRY which rescued the crew, would reach Boston at 3 o’clock Thursday afternoon.


* * * * *


Portland, January 15. Mrs. Herbert H. Wallace of South Portland, wife of the captain of the schooner GRACE A. MARTIN, received a radio message Thursday from Captain Wallace that he and his crew of 17 had been rescued by the steamer A. W. PERRY and would reach Boston within two hours afternoon. Rescue Two by Lines From Sinking Craft


Deer Isle, January 15. The 45-ton gasoline steamer


DELIVERY H, which struck on Stave Island in Eggemoggin reach Tuesday morning and later was fl oated, sank within two rods of the place where she fi rst touched the rocks with a large hole in the hull. The steamer was half out of water at low tide.


If the weather moderates, as expected,


NEWS FROM MAINE DMR Continued from Page 11.


Maine DMR Strongly Encourages Online License Renewals before July 16, When Transition to New, More Effi cient System Begins


June 18, 2015 - The Maine Department of Marine Resources encourages all current license holders planning to renew their license online to do so before July 16, 2015 when the DMR begins transitioning to a new, more effi cient system. After July 16, license holders will need to use paper applications or wait until September to purchase a license or permit with the new online system. Known as LEEDS (Licensing, Enforce- ment and Environmental Data System) the new system will provide easy-to-use online tools for license application, renewal, and landings reporting. Available 24-hours-a- day, the system will allow new information to be automatically integrated so license holder data is always up to date. “This inconvenience to our customers will be temporary, lasting less than 60 days,” said Department of Marine Resources Com- missioner Patrick Keliher. “It was cost pro- hibitive to run two systems simultaneously, so we have timed the transition to occur


during our slowest license sales period of the year.”


Starting July 16, 2015, the DMR will begin the transition by temporarily disabling the current online license renewal system. To avoid any inconvenience, DMR is urging all current license holders who renew their license online to do so before July 16, 2015. Customers and license holders should be aware that the DMR Licensing Division offi ce at 32 Blossom Lane, Augusta will be closed on July 9, 10, and 20, 2015 as the agency transitions from the old system to the new Maine LEEDS system.


New license applications will continue to be available only on paper during the transition, from July 16, 2015 until the new system is launched. DMR will accept paper license renewals either in person at the Au- gusta offi ce, or by mail. Applications can be found on the DMR website.


License renewals and new applications will be available through the new LEEDS system after DMR has conducted internal testing in the coming months. DMR will communicate directly with license holders when the system launch date is confi rmed, and will include links to the new online LEEDS system.


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