Page 4. MAINE COASTAL NEWS December 2015


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.


T e 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.


In the last issue we covered the disap- pearance of EL FARO and the sad loss of her entire crew, fi ve of whom had ties to Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. I was not impressed with the Monday morning quarterbacking covered by the media. If you do not know all the facts, which none of them did, why give an opinion as to whether she should have sailed, or not? She left in a storm that was not upgraded to a hurricane until she was out to sea; the storm took a turn towards them; there were no obvious problems with the vessel when she left; and as they neared the storm things began to go wrong. There was a problem with a hatch and the main engines went down. There are a lot of questions about what was transpiring on board as these problems occurred and the hope was that these questions would be answered by locating the black box, but unfortunately that was not found. So maybe these questions will never be adequately answered.


Publisher Editor-in-Chief


Jon B. Johansen Rachel Elward


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


mainecoastalnewsads@gmail.com


Advertising Deadlines: T e deadline for the January issue is December 11. T e deadline for the February issue is January 8.


MCN's Calendar


On-Going Exhibits: – 15 May 2016 Wavelength: The Story of Signals at Sea


Maine Maritime Museum Bath


Info: (207) 443-1316


NOVEMBER 3-7 – 5th


World Maritime Technology Conference


RI Convention Center & Omni Hotel


Providence Info: www.sname.org/2015 wmtc/ home


7 - SailMaine Regatta - Frosty Series 58 Fore Street Portland


Info: (207) 772-7245


14 - SailMaine Regatta - Frosty Series 58 Fore Street Portland


Info: (207) 772-7245


21 - SailMaine Regatta - Frosty Series 58 Fore Street Portland


Info: (207) 772-7245


28 - SailMaine Regatta - Frosty Series 58 Fore Street Portland


Info: (207) 772-7245 DECEMBER 1-3 - NEFMC Meeting


Holiday Inn by the Bay Portland


10 Maine Built Boats Global Outreach Conference


“Yacht Designer’s Forum” Maine Maritime Museum Bath


Info: (207) 899-7570 2016


JANUARY


26-28 - NEFMC Meeting Sheraton Harborside Portsmouth, NH


MARCH 18-20 Maine Boatbuilder’s Show Portland Yacht Service 58 Fore Street Portland


Info: (207) 774-1067 APRIL


19-21 - NEFMC Meeting Hilton Hotel Mystic, CT


JUNE 18 Boothbay Harbor Lobster Boat Races


Boothbay Harbor


Info: Marshall Farnham (207) 380-5892


19 Rockland Lobster Boat Races Rockland Harbor @ Breakwater Rockland


Info: Dot Black


21-23 - NEFMC Meeting Holiday Inn by the Bay Portland, ME


Remember 40 years ago when the bulk carrier EDMUND FITZGERALD went missing with 29 crew members? Still today, the exact reason for her loss is debated. Yes, we have more sophisticated electronics and weather forecasting and that can give us a false sense of security. Even the best prepared can have a visit by Murphy (of Murphy’s Law) and when combined with an angered Mother Nature you might be left holding the short end of the stick. Sorry, it just happens.


What is interesting there is a coffee mug on my desk that holds pens, pencils and markers. This mug is from the USS APACHE, which is the Navy tug that searched and found the wreckage of EL FARO.


* * * * * Sometimes people stay doing things the


old way, or using outdated items, because it is easier. If it works why change it or why spend money? Use it until you cannot use it anymore.


Over the years I have realized that there are times I could have saved myself a lot of aggravation by upgrading. Computers are the fi rst thing that comes to mind. For a num- ber of years I stayed with an old system until fi nally I began getting nervous that one day it would crash and burn and I would have to rebuild all the fi les, which could have taken hundreds of hours. With the upgrade came realizations that the programs I was using were old, a couple so old that they did not even exist anymore.


Software is constantly changing too and I do not stay as up to date as I should. I must admit there are some things software will do that certainly makes my job a little easier. I guess the one that seems to be the most helpful is Dragon. I am an okay typist, with two to three fi ngers on each hand, but it is much easier to speak to the computer and watch it type out. An added benefi t is that by reading it some of it sinks in. Let us not talk about my love of running a vehicle until it breaths its last. There was the Jeep that went over 607,000 miles, a GMC pickup with 372,000 and now another GMC pickup with 327,000. This truck has


been unbelievable in that it just keeps going, needing few repairs. It still has its original spark plugs. Hopefully I just did not jinx it! Over the years I have been using micro cassette tapes to do my interviews, but now I have switched to a digital system. Again, I should have done this years ago. I was a little nervous wondering if it was actually work- ing and then how was I going to transcribe it? After a couple of times I found that the digital recordings were a lot easier to use, hear and I did fi nd software that allows me to transcribe it. Yes, with me it is all about documenting history and that does not mean something that happened years and years ago. Too many times I go looking for information and fi nd that it was never written down, thus it is gone forever. I also know from doing re- search what a historian might want to know in the future. One of the most important things to do is interviews and over the years I have done quite a few, but not nearly as many as I should have. All these tapes have been transcribed and the tapes saved, which should be valuable historically.


There are a lot of changes happening in the world and the way we get our news is one of the biggest changes. You can stay in-touch so you almost know the minute any- thing happens. My issue with this is you can spend so much time watching Facebook and Twitter that you actually get a lot less accom- plished. What is the future of a newspaper in today’s world of instant news? You have to be different and we do that by actually being out on the road and documenting items that are missed by other publications. Getting back to documenting, as many of you know I have been working on ship databases for a number of years. It is great to get a question about a vessel and be able to instantly call it up in the computer. What gets a little frustrating is to know exactly what program to write it in. Right now I am re-inputting everything into Microsoft Excel and that will take all winter to get done. Once the ships are in then I can start on the sea captains, and hopefully I can do that this spring.


It seems like a never ending process, and I am hopefully to get it done before I buy the farm. Inputting the basic informa- tion needs to be done so you know where the holes are. Then going through all the coastal newspapers, other publications and documents might be beyond my life span, but I hope not.


* * * * *


One should know their limitations and I have not been very good at that over the years. There is a saying about Norwegians: “You can always tell a Norwegian, who just can’t tell them much.” We are some of the most stubborn people on the plant. Over the last couple of years I have realized that the tug SATURN needs much more time than I can give. I have this paper, a home and yard which needs care, and a massive research project that each demand a vast amount of time to accomplish. The plan was to get SATURN renovated and get her to make enough money in order to pay for her pres- ervation. Over the years a lot of work has been done, but she really needs to come out of the water, be surveyed and a plan devised as to what needs to be done on her hull and mechanical systems. For awhile she was receiving some good donations, but they have slowed up. She needs someone with a lot of time to come to her rescue. They say that the happiest days in a boat


owner’s life is the day he bought the boat and the day he sold her and that will not be the case with me. I really do not want to let go, but to be honest to the situation it is not fair to SATURN.


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