28 June 2011 Everybody Poops

During every tour of Seguin, the large, square patch of grass with the brick “H” in the middle of it is always a point of curiosity.  I than duly explain that it was, and is, a helicopter pad, which prompts the question, how many helicopters land here?  Not many I reply, maybe one or two a year, but we keep it ready for emergencies.

So there we were, on a bright sunny day, madly trying to wolf down some lunch, plucking some of the 25-odd tourists that Ethan brought out, out of the museum until we could man it, when I heard a helo very close in.   I ran outside just in time to see USCG Helo 6004 lining up for a landing- thankfully I had just mowed it the day before.

Keeping tourists out of the museum was hard, keeping them away from a landing helo was almost impossible.  We had no idea why the USCG was here, could it be for the light? Or the cable? Was somebody hurt & I didn’t know about it?  A pilot and an aircrew jumped out, walked towards us, looking imposing in the flight suits, ditch gear, and sidearms, took off their glasses, and very seriously enquired if I was the caretaker (at this point I was getting that feeling you get when you’re pulled over on the highway “I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?  How fast was I going?”).  When I replied in the affirmative, a look of pure relief came of their faces, and they said “Thank God, we’ve been on patrol for hours.  Do you have a bathroom we can use?”  Apparently, even the Coast Guard needs to poop.

Honestly, they were nice guys, talking to the tourists briefly as the helo was still turning, even offering to take one woman for a ride when asked.  “Yup” said LCDR Steve “All you need to do is go jump off that ledge over there into the water and start yelling for help, we’ll come find you and give you a ride”.  They left abruptly as they came, leaving us with a fantastic story; hopefully they come back for a longer stay the next time around.

Helicopter antics aside, it was still a busy day.  Ethan’s guests were a large group, but we had two other boats plus two kayakers over the course of the day.   The crew of the ketch Northwind, who overnighted in The Cove, came ashore early for a tour.   George, Doc, Tim, & Ryck, were bringing the boat from her spring home in Penobscot Bay down to Cape Cod for the rest of the fall.  They were very nice gentlemen (with a beautiful boat); Amy & I had a very good time showing them the place.

In between tours we still managed to dismantle parts of the front porch in preparation for a mini work party tomorrow, mow the bottom of the island, determine Frankenmower is finally dead (a rock strike bent the drive shaft in addition to the blade, I almost tore my arm off trying to start it after removing the blade), and got the first coat of stain on parts of my dory.  I also used the sunny day to exacerbate the sunburn I started yesterday.  So ends another awesome week on Seguin.