by maineseacoast | Oct 29, 2018 | Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
NORTHEAST HARBOR, ME — I met Gail Grandgent last year on Islesford and Great Cranberry. She is a Wednesday Spinner. Gail remembered a trip the Spinners took to IaH aboard Sunbeam IV in the 1980’s. She asked if we could work together to re-create the Sunbeam V trip. That’s what we did.
As I understand it, the Spinners have been meeting weekly, for over forty years, to share their craft, learn from one another, and spend a day together doing something they love. They meet every Wednesday during the Fall, Winter and Spring. In Summer they need the extra day to shear their flocks, card and dye the fleece and spin the wool for their own use or to sell.
The group proved to be hearty, enduring a rough ride to-and-from Isle au Haut (IaH). Once there, the Spinners quickly set-up their wheels in the main hall of IaH’s Town Hall.
Islanders were welcome throughout the day to watch, learn, or sit and spin/knit with the group. The immediate camaraderie and companionship between the Spinners and the islanders was lovely. You would have never guessed they were meeting for the first time. It was like watching old friends come together.
Sunbeam V steward Jillian brought lunch to the Town Hall; a feast of roasted butternut squash soup, scalloped potatoes, salad, and warm bread. Lisa Turner, a wonderful island baker and knitter made peanut butter cookies and chocolate cake for dessert.
Even with the rain, wind, and high seas, it was a perfect day.
Story and photos: Douglas Cornman, Maine Seacoast Mission Island Outreach Director
by maineseacoast | Oct 1, 2018 | Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
Wet coastal Maine weather challenges Sunbeam V dry dock repairs. (Photo by Capt. Michael Johnson)
STONINGTON HARBOR, ME — Update on the Sunbeam V in dry dock at Stonington Harbor, ME. Captain Michael Johnson says he’s crossing his fingers for better weather. Captain Johnson sent this recent shot showing the weather challenges. “Things had been going ahead of schedule since we have a fairly light workload this year, but we can’t take much more of this rain,” he said.
by maineseacoast | Sep 19, 2018 | Island Health, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
A product photo illustrating Island Health Director Daley’s portable telemedicine set-up. (Photo courtesy AMD Global Telemedicine, Inc.)
BAR HARBOR, ME — Maine Seacoast Mission Island Health Director Sharon Daley will soon have portable telemedicine equipment to augment her floating telemedicine room aboard the Sunbeam V. The Sunbeam’s telemedicine room equipment uses videoconferencing and medical devices (i.e. stethoscope, blood pressure cuff) to connect island resident patients in real time with their medical providers. That connectivity relies on a land line for the Sunbeam to lock into.
Health Director Daley’s portable telemedicine gear is web-based, using Windows operating system, and fully usable on the latest Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome web browsers. The portable gear weighs around 12 pounds. Where there is a Maine island private room with an internet connection, Sharon can do her work with island patients.
The new telemedicine gear is especially useful when the Sunbeam is undergoing maintenance, or very high winds are keeping the boat in harbor. Traveling by other boats or airplane, Director Sharon Daley can maintain her island schedule.
by maineseacoast | Sep 19, 2018 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
Sunbeam V arrives in Stonington Harbor, ME on 9-13-18. (Photo by Douglas Cornman)
BAR HARBOR, ME — The Sunbeam V arrived in Stonington, ME on Thursday, September 13 for the boat’s annual routine maintenance. Missing the tide by just 15-minutes, the Sunbeam waited until the next day to be hauled up-and-out of the water and put in dry dock.
With the Sunbeam’s major refitting six months away, Captain Michael Johnson said the crew is focusing this maintenance on “the normal fresh exterior coat of paint and some plumbing work.” Also, the Sunbeam’s engine will have “a tune-up,” just as the family car engine has scheduled tune-ups, to “make sure everything’s within specification,” said Captain Johnson.
Sunbeam Steward Jillian is taking the lead on giving the boat interior a “deep cleaning” in dry dock.
Until the Sunbeam is back in service, the crew — Island Outreach Director Douglas Cornman, Island Health Director Sharon Daley, and Steward Jillian — will continue their work among communities on the Maine islands they serve, relying on island mail boats, water taxis, local island facilities, and Penobscot Island Air.
Even in dry dock, you can rely on the boat online calendar for following the Sunbeam crew’s activities.
by maineseacoast | Aug 12, 2018 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
from Offshore: A Bell, a Conch, a Harmonica — Islanders say good-bye to loved ones
by Eva Murray
Thursday, August 9, 2018 9:00 AM
The Sunbeam delivered the two gravestones to Matinicus last spring, and the local guy who serves informally as a sort of cemetery sexton used the municipal Kubota to move them from the harbor to the cemetery in the middle of the island.
The Maine Seacoast Mission vessel Sunbeam is instrumental when it comes to these things. For over a century the Sunbeam — the current boat is Sunbeam V, by the way — has carried the whole business — coffin, mourners, flowers, overdressed preachers, uneasy relatives, and seasick undertakers to the most distant offshore communities. Full story
by maineseacoast | Aug 6, 2018 | Island Health, Island Outreach, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Sunbeam
knox.villagesoup.com
Maine Boat & Home Show comes to Rockland
Aug 05, 2018
Rockland — Whether it’s to look at boats, or to look for a boat to buy, the Maine Boat & Home Show on the Rockland waterfront Aug. 10 through 12 is the place to be. The show will feature more than 100 craft, displayed both on land and in the water.
Icon Boats, Dock F, will feature a different iconic boat each day:
On Friday, The 72-foot-long Maine Seacoast Mission Ship Sunbeam V will be on the Icon Dock. Built by Washburn & Doughty and launched in 1995, the boat is equipped with state-of-the-art telemedicine equipment and has a salon that serves as a meeting place for fellowship, meals, and meetings. The Sunbeam also sometimes hosts weddings and funerals and serves as an icebreaker. [The Mission] is launching a refit campaign for the vessel.
Full story
