Day 43

Hello! It's day 43 on Monhegan Island, and it's been an exciting one! I woke up on the earlier side and went to the early boat with Alex. I met my parents at their hotel and had breakfast with them, then talked and sat near the wharf with them for an hour or so. Soon, it was time for them to catch their ferry and I sent them off. It is hard to believe that I will see them in just over a week now, as I'm nearing the end of my time on Monhegan. 

Afterwards, I went back up to the Yew and put a couple finishing touches on our boat. It was named MAXIMUS, after the extremely large sailing yacht that has visited the harbor here a few times this summer. I put some the name on the sides in large sharpie, and added her home harbor, Monhegan, as well. Then, I put a couple motivational quotes inside, including:
  • ROW, ROW HARDER, ROW FASTER!
  • THIS IS NOT A CRUISE, GET TO WORK
  • NO STOPS, NO BREAKS
Then Maizy and David and I worked to patch a couple spots on her hull. Work called, though, and I helped carry the museum's boat (M.S. Ewe-nicorn) to Swim Beach. Here's the finished boat:


Once I got back to the Yew, I rallied for us to carry MAXIMUS to the beach as well to secure a good spot on the shore. You have a small advantage if you're on the inside, as the course is the quick jaunt left around the rocks to Fish Beach.


We carried MAXIMUS over our heads on down the road, chanting "Trailing who?! Trailing Yew!" We then realized that our chant made it sound like we were the ones behind in the race, but we kept going with it. At the beach, we discussed a lineup, and there ended up being nine (I think) people in our boat. I was placed in the bow with a kayak paddle, and everyone else paired up side to side with oars. Our boat was clearly the largest, and we clearly had the most spirit. 

The race went as well as it could have. We lacked some of the necessary communication that a team needs when rowing a large vessel, including which side to row on when calls were made. I would call "Hard on left" and some people interpreted that as "turn to the left". Nobody's fault, but everyone's problem (to quote my high school band director). The course had us rounding a moored boat, but because of our communication issues, we rammed right into it. At that point, I was made aware that we were taking on water. Apparently, the stern had been half-submerged for a good 10 yards. 


We passed the boat, but then the code word was called "ICEBERG" this meant that we were sinking, and to make it as dramatic as possible. We flailed, paddled, and Jorgie even jumped ship. I was the last onboard, sinking with the hull as we went under. We had made it just over halfway. We quickly grabbed hold of MAXIMUS and swam her to shore, which was very, very hard because she was nearly a hundred boxes of waterlogged cardboard with 9 rolls worth of duct tape. 


As we landed at the beach, we flopped down on top of the crushed hull for dramatic effect. I was pretty impressed that we got as far as we did. We were the leading boat for quite a while, thanks to the sheer power we had. In the end, we did not win the race, but we earned the coveted 'Titanic' trophy for most dramatic sinking. There were probably 30 boats that participated in the race, but only three trophies to be given out: he Titanic, most creative, and fastest. To hold one of those honors is historic, and I am proud of the whole Yew crew. We took a photo with the trophy for the county newspaper, and one atop our wreck. 


Afterwards, we dragged out boat up to the road and put it on the truck, and I helped move the museum boat back. They did... OK. The Ewe-nicorn capsized right off the bat, and they restarted the race back from the beach. I didn't see any of it because I was far ahead in MAXIMUS. 

Then, we took the rest of the afternoon for a beach day. I went to Fish Beach and swam over to Swim Beach to meet the rest of the crew. Soon, I had to part to take a shower then go to the schoolhouse to set up for tonight's talk. It was exploring mapping of Monhegan over the centuries. I've always loved maps and geography, and this was incredibly interesting to hear, and I have even more appreciation for maps now. 

A busy day calls for a treat, and I've just finished up enjoying a large sundae with leftover ice cream and caramel sauce from an event.

Catch yew tomorrow! More pictures of the regatta to come, for sure!

Love, Me

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