THE BOAT THAT SAVED MY LIFE

Hi Girls and Guys,

This Blurb begins on a cold, blustery, February morning in 2002 on the Falmouth Harbor pier of the Patriot Party Boats and the Vineyard Ferry. I was anxiously awaiting the early morning departure of the ferry M/V QUICK WATER. The QUICK WATER is a small, fast, able vessel, known as the Vineyard Shuttle. She carries light freight and workers commuting to and from the island for day work. Her day begins at 0400 hours. She also carries the Boston Globe 365 days a year, bringing the news to the many Islanders that love to read the paper edition. Unlike the Steamship Authority ferries out of Woods Hole, QUICK WATER runs daily no matter the weather. She will also make emergency trips on call 24/7.

The passage across Nantucket Sound was a bit bumpy, the salt spray coming over the bow had that familiar, distinct smell, feel and taste. It had been years since I lived in Edgartown, setting hooks for cod in the winter months out of Menemsha Harbor onboard F/V LAURA. In the summer months it was shellfishing in the many Great Salt Ponds of Edgartown in a small skiff with a hand rake. When the weather permitted, it was a quick two day trip to Georges Bank for sea scallops onboard F/V LAURA.I felt like a fish out of water when I left Martha's Vineyard my home for over thirty years, not knowing how I was going to fund my existence without fishing. Thanks to Air Force veteran Bill Nicklasson, I had a place to sleep and food. Now here I am returning to the Island foot loose, fancy free, with a degree in law, and a pocketful of money. It occurred to me, what good is money without "A Way of Life"? I had survived two years at Fisher College thanks to the much needed help from air force veteran Bill Nicklasson. Without his understanding of my life's situation and intervening when necessary, I would not be here today. Unfortunately Bill passed away due to Agent Orange exposure at a mere fifty eight years old. He was a wonderful friend and taught Art to school children up to the eight grade.

The passage to the island was quick and uneventful. Slowly walking down the pier, I kept thinking of what I was doing back here other than getting my hair cut and commiserating with old friends? There was no way I could afford to live here. My disabled veterans benefits are limited and commercial fishing was not an option but for me it was the only option in life. At that point in time, life did not have much to offer me, a disabled Vietnam vet with no home, his only way of life taken away by the very government that failed to protect our country's environment, while busy waging war in Vietnam. The government has no problem going to war but never a war to protect the environment. Most Military bases like the one on Cape Cod, Otis Air Base, are responsible for polutting the surrounding area. The Military Industrial Comlex has become exactly what Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about.

Fishermen were blamed for overfishing in all the newspapers, nowhere was the government blamed for the environmental degradation of the water the fish lay their eggs in. The government refuses to blame the big corporate interests that line our shores, instead they blame the defenseless fisherman. The fishermen are all gone now, with big corporations controlling the federal permits and quotas! It is simply go to the area designated by the government to harvest your government allowed quota. Hello $25.00 a pound sea scallops.

It didn't take long for the tears to flow just like in the courtroom in Boston during the hearing in the case of Friends & Fishers of Edgartown Great Pond vs The Town of Edgartown in the administrative law court. During that hearing when the Edgartown shellfish warden told a blatant lie while under oath I realized with my PTSD, it was not possible for me to pursue a career in law. The case ended up in the Massachusetts Supreme Court after ten years in the lower courts. The supreme court awarded the Town of Edgartown a permit to dump two thousand two hundred kilos of pure nitrogen into the ground a mere three thousand feet from Edgartown Great Pond forever sealing the fate of this magnificent resource that had fed islanders for thousands of years. Two thousand two hundred kilos is the equivalent of four thousand pounds. The pond stands no chance of survival, being a microcosm of the worlds ocean. It occurred to me that unless we recycle nitrogen and stop the practice of treating our wastewater our oceans are doomed to the same fate as Edgartown Great Pond.

Picking my head up and looking out at the harbor wiping the tears from my eyes, I was feeling embarrassed, deeply depressed and wondering what is this life all about? Head hung low, dragging my feet on the cement pier, I stumbled when the cement pier turned to wood. There she was, tied to the pier, an ugly duckling dressed in green with a 'For Sale' sign hanging from her boom. I thought to myself "I could live aboard this boat". When I called the the number on the sign the owner, Robert Sanborn, told me where I could find the key. Going aboard, I found the key hanging in the lazarette. Opening the companionway hatch, the odor was a telltale sign that no one had been aboard in a very long time. Going below, first thing I noticed was the cast iron coal stove with FISHERMEN cast in the oven door. I was absolutly sure this was a sign that I had found my new home.

Little did I know how it would take me six long to make this ugly duckling my home. After getting my haircut at Benito's Barbershop, with "Windflower's Poem" whirling around in my head, "IF I WAS A BIRD THAT LIVED ON HIGH, I WOULD LEAN ON THE WIND WHEN THE WIND CAME BY, I WOULD SAY TO THE WIND,THATS WHERE I WANTED TO GO TODAY", I called Bob and offered to buy him lunch at Linda Jeans restaurant on Circuit Ave in Oak Bluffs. During lunch, we talked of our love of sailing and our time in the service. He was a Coast Guard veteran and I was a Navy veteran so we had a lot in common, in our service, in being estranged from our families and drinking too much. This is a common theme among veterans. Finally, we got around to the boat. After I explained her condition to him in a veteran to veteran reality check, he signed the Federal Document over to me for $1 and other considerations. The other considerations were, I buy his lunch, promise to rebuild her and never scrap her for the bronze.

I was now the proud owner of my new home albeit a rotten one. I have to this day kept my word and will give her a dignified decommissioning if my mission to have her serve as a Dedicated Veterans Service Vessel fails to gain community support. Her bronze and other artifacts will be donated to the Fairhaven Maritime Academy and others interested in the maritime history of Fairhaven. My body will no longer support living life under "Windflowers' Poem".

Ciao! For Now,

Mike

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