Post by Oakley Jackson, Program Instructor
The Hurricane fleet has grown! We now have a boat for every purpose and, let me tell you, they are all fine vessels. Our most recent additions to the fleet are three fiberglass sea kayaks, soon to be named Flicker, Redstart, and Heron. These brand new kayaks were generously donated to the foundation and everyone on the staff is grateful for the all the opportunities they offer.
Oakley on Greased Lightning with Reliance in the background
Also new to our dock is Grease Lightning, a 15’ foot long aluminum utility outboard. Grease Lightning’s rugged build makes her an ideal workboat and she is the perfect size for zipping into Vinalhaven to pick up our farm share, fill water jugs or do whatever else we may need. Perhaps the best part about Grease Lightning is her name and her highly fashionable new yellow lightning bolts (thanks Foxi Printworks!) down her sides indicating the immense speeds she is capable of traveling…
The next step up from Grease Lightning is the vessel that is my personal favorite, Fifth Generation, a Banks Cove lobster boat with an inboard diesel Volkswagen engine and pot hauler. Fifth Generation is highly efficient on fuel and is a huge help with the handful of lobster traps we have set off the shore of Hurricane. Sam has a recreational license for five traps and the bounty of these goes on our table in the form of lobster rolls. So far the catch has been minimal, with many of the lobsters being just under the measure. Yesterday Sam caught thirty-one bugs out of the five traps and not a one of them was of legal size. HIF also possesses a special research license for twenty traps, but these have yet to go in the water.
Up from Fifth Generation there is Eastern Flyer, our speedboat for jetting to and from Rockland. Eastern Flyer gets her name from John Steinbeck and Dr. Ed Ricketts’s research vessel, Western Flyer, which they used to collect specimens around the Sea of Cortez. We thought the name was a good fit as Eastern Flyer is also used for oceanic research, such as filming lobster cannibalism and setting scallop spat bags. Eastern Flyer can be used to transport six students at a time with one of our licensed captains driving. With groups that are too large for the Flyer we have Reliance, a 37’ long transport vessel which we are leasing from Outward Bound. Reliance can carry twenty-five passengers and is capable of managing some sizable seas as we have experienced this spring.
One of The Twins (Pollux) out for a sail to Spectacle Island in 2013
We also have twin sailboats, Castor and Pollux, which we are leasing from The Apprenticeshop in Rockland. These beautiful vessels will be used during our ISLE programs to teach team building and seamanship skills, as well as explore the nearby White Islands. All in all it is a complete fleet and one that we are very proud of.
