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