Meet the HIF Fleet

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. 

First Impressions of Hurricane Island: Alyssa

Post by Alyssa Hall, summer intern.

I consider myself to be pretty environmentally savvy. I religiously recycle, I bring my own bags to the grocery store, I attend my local farmers market as much as I can (probably twice a month or so) and I’m even pursuing my Masters degree in Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. As such, I am constantly inundated with the concept of sustainability. So much so that I think I had forgotten what it really meant—that is, until I walked ashore on Hurricane Island. As soon as I arrived, I was instantly reminded that it isn’t just a concept. In fact, with just a little bit of focus, it’s achievable.

When I found out I was hired by the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership in March, I needed some way to try and get my bearings. Having never been to Maine before, I poured over the foundation’s website to learn as much as I could about where I was going to be spending my summer. It was very apparent to me that this community took pride in their sustainability efforts on the island. And as soon as I got here, I knew that was true.

It is amazing for an organization like Hurricane Island to be so excited by the opportunity to be sustainable even in today’s world, which is so focused on practicality. They really have thought of everything. From the multitudes of solar panels and water heaters, composting toilets, constructed wastewater treatment wetlands, Hurricane Island has done everything it can to create a sustainable community. Sustainability has become an inner mantra and is engrained in everything we do here.

My job this summer is to work with this amazing group of people to develop the educational programs that we offer. But really, my job is already done. All that I need to do is show you what this amazing island community is all about and I can guarantee you’ll want come here. No matter what you do this summer, make sure you get here. Come visit with an open mind and an open heart, and it will be an experience to remember. Keep your eyes and ears open, and I’ll see you on the island.

How do our gardens grow?

Post by Josie Gates

It is with great enthusiasm that we are pushing forward with growing more of our own food on Hurricane Island this summer. Along with some in-ground beds and above-ground planters we are testing our green thumb by trying a straw bale garden in an old granite foundation that is close to the galley. The bales are a great above-ground option for growing vegetables and flowers, and you can grow almost anything in them! On Hurricane we are interested in comparing how our food grows in the bales compared to our in ground plots. Here are some things we have learned about straw bale gardens:

Our newly planted straw bale garden! Can you spy the nasturtiums growing out the side of the bales?

To get the straw bales to start decomposing and ready for planting you have to go through a conditioning process. For ten days we conditioned our bales by each day putting about half a cup of fertilizer high in nitrogen on top and then soaking them completely through with water. This process gets the bales to start “cooking,” by breaking down the straw and starting the decomposing process. Once the bales have started to decompose they are a great holder for plants, allowing root systems to grow down into the bale just like they would in soil.

Our garden up in the meadow past the ice pond.

After the bales have been conditioned you can either transplant directly into the bale or plant seeds on top. We have decided to put transplants into our straw bales. To plant transplants we carved out a spot within the soil on top of the bale for the transplant and its roots and covered it with sterile potting soil. We have then watered and cared for them as usual.  So far everything seems to be growing happily, despite some regular raccoon visits...

A special thank you to all of our community members who have donated seeds, seedlings, and flowers to our gardens this year. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

Here’s to a fruitful season of growing food and flowers on Hurricane! 

June 2014 Volunteer Day

After an evening of torrential downpour and heavy winds, our June 14 volunteer proved to be a beautiful AND productive day! We welcomed new faces and old friends out to the island, where we managed to set up our four canvas wall tents for the summer, re-shingle one side of the dockhouse, and finish digging a ditch to connect our solar system to the lab and the clivus bathrooms, among other projects! As always, we couldn't have done it without the great enthusiasm and hard work of our volunteers! Thanks a billion!

Vinalhaven Land Trust

Students try their hand at carving granite

In mid June seventh grade students from Vinalhaven sponsored by the Vinalhaven Land Trust came out to Hurricane for a two-day exploration of the island and its history. Educators Alice Anderson, Josie Gates, and Oakley Jackson led students in a history hike around the island, talking about different important historical spots and helping students create a picture of what quarrying looked like on Hurricane over a century ago. Despite Hurricane’s close proximity to Vinalhaven, only one student had visited the island before, but several had family members who had lived and quarried on Hurricane.

The evening on island was filled with learning about sustainable energy and how Hurricane strives to operate as its own sustainable island community. Being from Vinalhaven the students already had great insight as to the efforts, triumphs, and struggles it takes to live on a small island in Maine. Students also participated in leadership activities and games, and had possibly the best strategy the Hurricane staff has ever seen to complete the Helium Stick challenge. They executed great communication and teamwork!

VH students sit in at the foundation of the old catholic church and make observations and educated guesses about what else might have been in this area during the quarry era

After a cozy night spent in our new bunkhouse, students spent the morning learning about Leave No Trace ethics and principles. They played a game identifying proper durable surfaces to camp and hike on, practiced digging a cat hole, and made up fun skits about different LNT principles to act out for their classmates. After lunch they played a game of Island Jeopardy, which put them to the test to remember facts and information that they had learned during their time on Hurricane. They all did a great job! Thanks for joining us on Hurricane Vinalhaven seventh graders; it’s always a joy to host other islanders. Happy summer vacation!

Masonry Oven Building Workshop

We had a great week at the end of May with some incredibly talented artisans building a new masonry brick oven for Hurricane.  The oven is located in the old quarry-era foundation (which used to be the bank) across from the kitchen and mess hall on Hurricane Island. The instructor for this workshop, Pat Manley, has built all of the major bread ovens in Maine restaurants (you may have enjoyed had some delicious food cooked in one of his ovens at Cafe Miranda in Rockland) and Pat even goes abroad with Mason's on a Mission to build safe masonry cook stoves for families in Guatemala. The group benefited from his expertise, and we are benefiting from their hard work! Our next big project is to face the oven in granite blocks so that it can last for many seasons to come! 

Pat Manley helps masonry workshop participants lay the last of the fire brick over the arched roof of the oven.

What's so great about a masonry oven? A masonry oven uses all of the cooking methods: convection, conduction, and radiant heat to cook your food, so pizzas end up with perfect crusts, bread-baking is a breeze, and we can roast a delicious chicken. Hungry yet? The best news is that we are looking forward to having Ladleah Dunn, of Sailor's Rest Farm in Lincolnville, ME teach a masonry oven baking course in the Fall. This course will be jam-packed with information and tips on the art and science of cooking using brick ovens, but more importantly participants will help make some amazing meals for everyone to enjoy. Stay tuned!

Cambridge School of Weston

The Cambridge School of Weston (CSW) Marine Biology program from Weston, MA came out to Hurricane for a 10-day intensive field program where students learned about the scallop and lobster fisheries of Maine, the rocky intertidal zone, and also designed their own independent research projects using the marine environment around Hurricane Island. We look forward to working with the Marine Biology class on an annual basis: new students will be able to look back and build on previous years projects, and hopefully create some ongoing research initiatives!

You can read more about their program in this article, published by the Boston Globe.

Gould Academy

Students and staff from Gould Academy joined us on Hurricane Island for a few days of fun and exploration. Upon their arrival they participated in leadership initiatives, a long hike around the island, and a chilly plunge into the ocean off of the pier. A cook out dinner on the South end was followed by a journey through “the crack” and board games illuminated by headlamps. Luckily the rain held off the next morning and students were able to take charge in a massive beach clean up around Gibbon’s Point on the Northern side of Hurricane, coming back with over 500 pieces of marine debris and dozens of lobster buoys. Science Educator Alice Anderson led a discussion about Maine’s lobster industry and lobster anatomy, and students got a chance to try hauling one of Hurricane’s lobster traps by hand. Thank you Gould Academy students for toughing out the wet spring weather! 

Gould students, still smiling after a polar plunge into the Atlantic