On the Ferry to Matinicus, With a Garbage Truck
Eva Murray
(page 1 of 3)
As I write, I’m sitting in the cab of a rental truck, with the notebook in my lap. It is Ferry Day, and it is Dump Day. Matinicus Island is served by the Maine State Ferry Service, but we get only 30-some-odd trips a year. No matter how many times we try to explain this, there is always somebody calling up from the mainland and asking “So, what time's the morning boat?” as if every morning we...well, you understand. Sometimes this question even comes out of the mouths of reporters, writers, and well-intentioned experts who claim to speak for the island communities, but that is a rant for another time. Suffice it to say that unlike Vinalhaven, North Haven and Islesboro, there is no sequence of daily commuter ferry options. Some folks on those larger islands find themselves ill-used when they are shorted one trip a day. We, with our scattered and merely occasional vehicle ferry runs, sometimes roll our eyes at that, but to be fair, once you have plans around a certain schedule, interrupting it is more than just an inconvenience...it could potentially mean not making it to school or work on time, or not making it home at night. We are not talking about the vacationers here.This time, I have been up since the wee hours, as has everybody else who rides out to Matinicus on this particular ferry. The ferry vessel North Haven loaded in Rockland at 7a.m.. The passengers have driven up from Wiscasset and Durham and Mount Vernon and who knows where else. I spent the night before on a relative's couch in South Thomaston. We all met in the ticket line at 6:45; the ferry service doesn't like to give us our tickets until the day of the trip. Still, we've had our vehicle reservations for weeks or even months; in my case, three months. This boat can only carry about seven vehicles, and only three of them can be trucks which require the center line, as does mine; ferry day is no time for taking chances. Of course, that early hour is not the regular load time...there is no regular load time. Our ferry schedule, which looks strangely random to the uninitiated, is based on the tides, as the Matinicus wharf cannot be accessed at low tide. No ferry captain is willing to chance a grounding, of course, and the ferry just barely fits into our harbor, and Dexter’s Ledge is right in the way, and the fog, sometimes...so the plans are as a rule to get here on a still-coming tide, unload and re-load as quickly as is humanly possible, and get, as hastily as can be managed, the heck out of Dodge.
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Reader Comments:
Must say some good news from Matinicus! How rare, but good is good.
The Island could have had there own dock and a ferry that the State would have bought for them the dock would have been down on Harbor point near Ken Ames's house but at the time, lets see that was thirty years ago the people of the Island voted it down. After we had it all arranged, I must say there are some real short sighted people out there and at the time there was alot of short sighted people!
Just think if they had a regular ferry they could have had paved roads and a store and the people could have had small shops that could make a living 6 months out of the year selling art and other Island made things and they could have had alot of vistors that would stay in the bed and breakfast places that there could have been more of but instead they have no store and really no way to make a living but fish.
They instead voted to have what they have now >> Not much! What say You Vance Bunker?? Clayton Philbrook??
There were others but those were the ring leaders at the time. They didn't want the traffic!
To bad they didn't put all the people that have been there for 20 years on the garbage truck!
That way they could start from scratch and see if they couldn't get a decent blood line going out there!
To the June 25 and June 29 commenters:
Sheesh! I can't speak for Messrs. Philbrook or Bunker, but I am glad we don't have paved roads and more visitors. Call us short-sighted, but why are we supposed to make our livings selling art and other "island made things" to tourists? Providing food for the tables of America seems a more noble pursuit than selling tacky trinkets to the tourists. I make a fine living -- all 12 months.
As for the bloodline - bitter much?
If you hate the island and the people so much, why are you reading this blog? Your smarmy attempts at superiority are rather unattractive.
To the July 11th post,
That is why you have what you have, nothing becouse you think that lobster is providing food for the table of America.
That is something that people get when they have extra money, with the price of gas and other things sky rocketing, lobsters may take a back seat, so be prepared.
That's why if you had a good ferry system and had bed and breakfast places and trinket shops and hotels you would attact a crowd that might help you and your family buy the things you need.
Shot sighted people like your self just think of one thing.
The fires you have had, you may have been better prepared if you had more income coming to the Island then just what you get from the lobster fisherman.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket!
To the July 11th post:
Didn't know anyone new such big words out there,you sound very POMPUS!
july 15th post,
You mean POMPOUS! :)
yes that i right Pompous! Thanks for the help on the spelling.
To the July 11th writer:
Interesting that you would think that Lobster is a food staple like corn or wheat.
Someone has been blowing smoke up your, you no where.
Lobster is so expensive that maybe the same people that buy new york steak buy lobster but not the normal American Family.
Good try!
I never said, or implied that lobster was a staple food. It is a food, and as such often served on a table - often in America.
Pompous? Moi? Yeah, probably;) Evidently, I am not alone.
Eggs in one basket? Nope.
Bowing and scraping to tourists? Not here, no thank you.
It seems as if you feel wronged somehow by the island and its residents. I am sorry if we wronged you. I can't speak for anyone but myself; I just want to be left alone to sink or swim on my own terms. The economy is in terrible shape; this hurts everyone in almost every industry. If you take delight in my potential misfortunes, so be it.
Thank you for complimenting my vocabulary! I guess my word-a-day calendar is really working! Phenomenal!
To July 21st reply:
I'd say that was a good answer back!
The world is not a fair place but how we react to the the hurts is what counts.
Make a good day!