BELFAST, ME — Thank you again, Front Street Shipyard, for these photos of the Sunbeam refit. The top photo, posted Feb. 4, shows a craftsman “prepping to reinstall the soft patch” in the boat.
The second photo, posted Feb. 5, shows “sandblasting the forward main deck” on the Sunbeam. Amazing work.
BELFAST, ME — “The new Northern Lights Generators were hoisted into the Sunbeam engine room on Wednesday, February 5. These will be a big improvement over the removed units. They are more fuel efficient and have an insulated sound enclosure (not installed yet) that will considerably reduce the noise in the Sunbeam living area,” said Captain Mike Johnson who sent these new refit photo updates.
“Engine noise on a boat has a significant impact on the crew especially in cases where the generators need to run at night,” said Capt. Johnson.
L-R: Island Outreach Director Douglas Cornman, Island Health Director Sharon Daley
www.fishermensvoice.com
February 2020 Volume 25, No. 2
O U T H E R E I N T H E R E A L W O R L D
Truck Calls
by Eva Murray
The history of nursing on Matinicus Island goes way back.
Sharon is on the island.
Even those of us who are pretty convinced that we don’t need anything are on Sharon Daley’s radar. She’s the registered nurse associated with the Maine Seacoast Mission—to most of us, “the Sunbeam”—and she’s the closest thing a few islanders have to a primary care provider. Checking on her island patients she’ll often just stop by to visit, or we’ll drop by aboard the Sunbeam when they’re in the harbor, to visit with her, even if we don’t need anything. That’s how health care ought to work.
At the moment the 75’ vessel Sunbeam is in the shipyard, so our pleasant visits aboard (focused largely on steward Jillian’s cookie jar) will have to wait. The ‘Beam’s telemedicine unit, where a patient on the island—in a private area aboard the boat—can interact in real time with a physician, counselor or other provider over a high-resolution video link, has changed the nature of “isolation.” Folks who don’t go to the mainland much can have greater access to medical care and advice than ever before. Still, a videoconference is not the same as a conversation with a human being, particularly when that human is a trusted friend, an experienced nurse who knows a thing or two about the real world.
BELFAST, ME — Front Street Shipyard, where Sunbeam V is having its routine major refit, posts this photo on January 28 of a craftsman building new doors for Sunbeam cabins.
BELFAST, ME — Front Street Shipyard, where the Sunbeam V is having its routine major refit, today posted these two photos of a welder attaching a metal plate underneath the Sunbeam.
Sunbeam V Captain Mike Johnson explains why. He said, “The plate is replacing an area of the hull under the bilge pumps that suffered corrosion from the constant drip of salt water from the pumps. For a 25 year old boat to only need this small amount of plate replacement is a testament to both the quality of construction and high degree of ongoing maintenance.”
BELFAST, ME — Earlier this month, on a video-conference with Mission Administrators, Program Directors, Program Managers, and others, Sunbeam V Captain Mike Johnson said he is pleased with the way in which the Sunbeam pilothouse — his office on the water — is coming together.
The first photo of the pilothouse during the Sunbeam refit showed everything removed: computers, windows, seats, counters leaving dark areas of surface rust to be sanded and painted.
Mike says these current pilothouse photos don’t do justice to the “nearing completion” feeling he has when standing in the pilothouse. That feeling will be better conveyed in photos when with just the wood and window trim in place.
We look forward to those next photos.