by maineseacoast | Jun 19, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
June 01, 2019 01:00 AM
Healthcare comes via boat to Maine’s most remote islanders
Modern Healthcare
Twenty-two miles from the rocky coast of Maine sits 720-acre Matinicus Isle—the state’s most seaward island—with a year-round population of less than 100. Even when the weather is at its best, accessing healthcare services is a challenge for residents.
That’s where Maine Seacoast Mission comes in. Headquartered on the mainland in Bar Harbor, the not-for-profit has provided islanders with healthcare services via boat for more than 100 years. Its fiscal 2018 $3.5 million budget is funded by an endowment, donations and grants.
The Sunbeam and its crew of five take three-day trips out to the islands to provide healthcare services every two weeks, and while they have a schedule for when they’ll visit certain islands, a trip rarely goes as planned, said Sharon Daley, a registered nurse who works on the boat and is director of island health services. The schedule depends on the wind, weather, tides and the various schedules of providers. “There is really no typical,” she said.
Full story
by maineseacoast | Jun 13, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
BAR HARBOR, ME — Last year we were contacted by the present owner of the Sunbeam V’s predecessor, the Sunbeam IV which was operating as a fishing boat in Ketchikan, Alaska.
This year, about two weeks after the Sunbeam V started its refitting process, we received an email from Rebecca Peterson with St. Paul Shipwrights, St. Paul, MN. That entity has, and is restoring for a private owner, Maine Seacoast Mission’s 1905 predecessor boat to the first Sunbeam.
Ms. Peterson is trying to answer still pending questions about the Morning Star‘s history. We include an edited version of her email, including the missing pieces of history. Perhaps someone reading this will be able to fill in the blanks.
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Hello –
I am contacting you in hopes of gaining further information about a boat we are restoring in our shop in St. Paul, Minnesota. This launch, named Virginia, was the second boat used by the Maine Seacoast Missionary Society, donated to the mission in 1905 by Alexander Mackay Smith. The boat was named after his wife, Virginia Stuart Mackay Smith.
The boat’s name was changed to Morning Star. There is a photo of it on your website on the occasion of your 110th Anniversary. The Morning Star was replaced in 1912 by the first of the Sunbeam ships. I made contact with descendants of the Mackay Smith family who told me more about their family’s ownership of the boat. It is truly a fascinating life she has had, first having ferried the likes of the Vanderbilts, and then used to serve the needs of the poor on the Maine seacoast.
It is a 1898 (or so) 45’ Launch built by the Gas Engine & Power Co, of Morris Heights, New York. This is a beautiful gilded age launch whose cabin still retains finely detailed mahogany woodwork, once powered by a naphtha engine. Here is a link to our website if you have an interest in seeing the progress in our restoration.
I would like to find out what happened to the boat subsequent to its use by the Missionary Society. Who bought it and what was done with it? Eventually she ended up on Moosehead Lake in Greenville, Maine, was renamed Virginia, and was used for passenger and mail service. More recently, the boat was attached to Sandbar Island in Moosehead Lake, and passed from owner to owner of the island.
I would be grateful for any old archives that shed further light on the “staunch little launch,” as she was called by the Rev. MacDonald, your organization’s founder.
My sincerest thanks.
Rebecca Peterson, Office Manager
St Paul Shipwrights
643 Ohio Street
St Paul, MN 55107
[email protected]
651-227-7069
by maineseacoast | Jun 12, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam, Uncategorized
BELFAST, ME — As Sunbeam Captain Michael Johnson says, “We’re getting into the nitty gritty now.”
The one photo, courtesy Front Street Shipyard in Belfast, ME, shows the Sunbeam V inside, out of the elements, ready for refit.
The second photo, courtesy Capt. Johnson, is the “nitty gritty” refit work underway in the Sunbeam salon.
by maineseacoast | Jun 4, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
Photo by Fran Gonzalez
VillageSoup.com
Front Street Shipyard refits Sunbeam V
A floating health clinic with a mission
By Fran Gonzalez | Jun 03, 2019
BELFAST — The first thing you notice when looking at the Sunbeam V, a black and white 74-foot steel boat docked at Front Street Shipyard, is the large cross painted on the bow.
According to Graham Fitch, shipyard project manager, the vessel is a telemedicine missionary vessel with the Maine Seacoast Mission, which serves remote islands east of Boothbay Harbor where health care access and mainland resources are limited.
The Mission’s website says the large cross dates from the late 1930s, when the international situation made it necessary to designate the vessel a mercy ship.
Built by Washburn and Doughty in East Boothbay, Sunbeam V was launched in 1995. A 250-horsepower single-screw diesel engine powers the vessel, which cruises at 10 knots. With its steel hull, the ship also has been called on to serve as an icebreaker, clearing harbors and protecting moored boats from damage.
Full story and photos
by maineseacoast | May 31, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — Captain Michael Johnson sent this photo with a note: “I always think of the Sunbeam as being a decent sized vessel, but she is dwarfed by Front Street Shipyard’s lift.”
The Sunbeam is having a routine major refit. It is scheduled to be back in Mission service by Christmas 2019.
Meanwhile, the Sunbeam crew will keep up their island work aboard the new Moonbeam and on airplanes.
by maineseacoast | May 1, 2019 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
Moving day in the ‘Sunbeam’ salon.
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — Anyone who has ever experienced the bliss of packing for a move from one house or apartment to another will understand this short email message from Sunbeam V Captain Mike Johnson:
“Decommissioning has commenced. Boats always amaze me with their limitless nooks and crannies.”
Except for items needed for the run to Front Street Shipyard from Northeast Harbor, this first decommissioning of the Sunbeam means removing everything else accumulated on the boat over the last 25 years.
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