The "Civilized" Monhegan Island!

Anniversary Trip continued...

Building on the dock where equipment for the dock is stored.

The Island Inn

One of the nicer places to stay on the island...but not open in the off season.  Check out the photo on their website!  islandinnmonhegan

The Monhegan House

This place looked kinda run down but it may have been just winter wear and tear.  Pretty majestic looking though!

Fire Station #1

Fire Station #2

No paved streets or steet lights!

For some reason I didn't get a good picture of the Monhegan Church.  We were on the island on a Wednesday night but, they don't have a midweek service.

Monhegan Island Lighthouse - built in 1824

Monhegan School

There is a funny tradition that the children of the island have.  When someone graduates from 8th grade they go to the mainland for high school.  The day they leave on the boat, all the children go to the dock to see them off.  As the boat is leaving all the kids left behind jump into the water!

Lobster Traps!

And more Lobster Traps!

Besides tourism, the main business of the island is Lobsters!!  This is a very familiar sight on Monhegan.

A picturesque house...

On a picturesque street!

BRRRRRR! Surveyors Rondezvous 2006

(I was looking at some old pictures on the "Ruble, Riggs & Shotts" http://www.rrspls.com website and thought I would try to post some pics from it)

Every year at the first of December, Ruble, Riggs & Shotts, LLC hosts the Surveyors Rendezvous.  Brave, hearty surveyors from the midwest meet and use field equipment like the original General Land Office (GLO) surveyors used (staff compass and Gunters chain), search for original GLO corner evidence and tell old "war stories" at night by the camp fire.  In 2006 it snowed, sleeted, rained and the temperature on Friday morning was 2°!  I always have a great time with my fellow surveyors and we will be braving the elements again this year at Ruble's place in Dent County on Fishwater Creek!  Ya'll Come!

Thursday evening with a skiff of snow on the ground.  I'm on the left in the cowboy hat.

Thursday night - It starts to sleet and snow!

Friday morning - clear and 2°

 

Found the rockpile at the corner - we fought over the shovel to keep warm - I won!

Ralph Kliethermes at the staff compass, I guess I'm pointing toward the witness tree position and Ryan Riggs is in the purple coat on the right

Mike Flowers, at this time the Missouri State Land Surveyor (since retired) at the aluminum monument we set to perpetuate the original GLO corner.

Friday evening - Mike Flowers and Dan Lashley (deceased) relaxing and waiting for the coffee to perk on our original 1840 propane cooker!  In my opinion, two of the best surveyors I know and have known.

Arrival at Monhegan Island

Monhegan is a small, rocky Island ten miles from the nearest mainland and scarcely a square mile in area. It is accessible only by boat and there are no cars or paved roads on the Island. Since long before the explorer John Smith visited it in 1614, it was known to Native Americans as a prime fishing area, and today its economy is still ruled by those who make their living from the sea, fishing and lobstering. The year-round population has seldom exceeded 65 in recent times.

For more than 100 years, Monhegan has been a summer haven for artists and other visitors who appreciate its isolation, the beauty of its wilderness areas, its quiet relaxed atmosphere, and its unhurried pace.

We are just coming into Monhegan Harbor and the captain is welcoming us and giving us the rules!

When we arrived at the dock it was raining...not a hard rain but just a cold, spring rain.  We had raincoats on but it was still pretty miserable.  Our bags had been loaded in the hold last so we figured when they off-loaded the cargo off of the hatch we could grab our bags and run!  Didn't happen!  They unloaded everything off the hatch, off the deck, out of the passengers area...we waited...and waited...shivered...shook...and waited...until they finally opened the hatch and started hauling stuff out!  Then we...waited...and waited (get the picture?) and believe it or not, our bags were among the last ones taken out of the hold!  It was a lesson for the learnin'!  Next time our bags stay with us!

 

 There were no taxis on island so we had to walk to our apartment.  I guess we could have hitched a ride in the back of a pickup but that would have meant more waiting.  So we trudged up the hill, hung a left, then a right and arrived at Tribler Cottage...

Our view from the top of the hill, just up from the dock

Tribler Cottage is center top below the lighthouse

Very quaint and rustic!  Right out of a Norman Duncan novel!

The Laura B...our ride to Monhegan Island!

 (This is a repost from May but it is next in our anniversary trip itinerary)

 We drove our rental car to Port Clyde, ME where I had already purchased tickets to Monhegan Island, ME and parking space rental for three days.  The boat we were going to take to the Island was named the "Laura B"...So...instead of "Sailin' on the sloop John B...Grandpappy and me..."  we were sailing on the ship "Laura B"!  I thought it was a WWII PT Boat but found out I was wrong!

Built in 1943, the 65-foot Laura B is rigged as a heavy-duty work boat. Originally designated a U.S. Army T-57, she spent World War II in the Pacific, where she served as a patrol boat and carried troops and supplies. She came under fire during those days, and carried two 50-caliber machine guns on deck. This rugged vessel was brought to Maine in 1946, and spent the next few years transporting lobsters from Vinalhaven to Boston and New York City.

For the past half century, the beloved Laura B has been ferrying passengers, freight, and mail between Port Clyde and Monhegan Island. A prominent marine surveyor has described her as the best-maintained wooden vessel on the Eastern Seaboard.

Picture of the Laura B from the Monhegan Boat Line website

View of the Laura B from the dock

View from the dock before loading

Except for Tami's handbag, this is the extent of our luggage!  Two backpacks and my computer bag.  They loaded them in the hold with all the other cargo...which was a mistake as we found out when we docked at Monhegan Island....

Leaving the dock

Marshall Point Lighthouse

I will add more pictures and videos in another post