Sailors who visited Eastport for the Fourth of July voiced their amazement at the pilot who guided their U.S. Navy destroyer vessel at the Breakwater pier in some very dense fog.
They could hear the conversational voices of humans on the pier and shoreline but couldn’t see a thing. We could hear them but not see them, too.
And then they were landed, gently and safely.
They told us he was a magician, and from my angle of observation, it was true. Even the commanding officer was most amazed, in what became a memorable experience.
For the first time since the outbreak of Covid, Eastport is being graced by the presence of a U.S. naval vessel at the Breakwater for the city’s big Fourth of July festivities.
The USS Oscar Austin arrived in heavy fog Friday morning and will depart for Norfolk on the 5th.
The community rolls out a big small-town welcome mat for the crewmen, especially when the landing gives them their first taste of American soil in many months. (Not so, this time; they instead sailed up the coast.) The arrival is rather quaint, actually, even if their focus sometimes seems to be on the local bars. There is a basketball game between the sailors and the high school alum, too, though I doubt the stakes are high.
Eastport does claim to have the biggest Independence Day bash in the state, and the Navy’s destroyer is just part of it. .
Many of the sailors are being joined by their families, who will then continue with them on the final leg of this voyage.
Bringing such a vessel to dock is no small venture. The skipper of such a ship doesn’t just spin the compass to see where he’s going next. Rather, the itinerary is planned months in advance, with many protocols to be observed. In our case, that includes both U.S. and Canadian officials. The pilot’s plan document reads like a small phone book, minute by minute, and it’s not just about tides and currents at the expected time of arrival.
Heavy fog was a complicating factor, and we could hear the ship’s bold horn booming long before we could see the massive vessel emerge nearly alongside the Breakwater.
It materialized out of the fog and a very loud booming horn.Details, including the crew, slowly came into view.The ship was pushed to the dock by tugboats.
Despite nearly 60 years of writing, I’m still not accustomed to having readers come up to me in public with enthusiastic reactions.
My book Quaking Dover just may change that.
Here are two recent examples.
“It’s like you’re speaking right to me! It’s not like a history at all!”
That’s from a city councilor far from Dover.
I do hope that doesn’t put off history book addicts, though.
On the other hand, a Dover history buff said this:
“The clearest presentation of George Burdet I’ve read. Usually the histories of him are convoluted and hard to follow.”
When she first mentioned him, I felt some trepidation. Burdet wasn’t a Quaker and in fact predated them. He was one of those side details that could trip up the central argument if I had misread something.
More important than any praise is the confirmation. Or correction, too, for moving forward.
For those of you living in New Hampshire or southern Maine, here’s an invitation to Dover Friends’ annual Arts & Letters event now rescheduled for 2 pm Saturday, March 18.
It’s one way to sample the local Quaker community as members of all ages display their artistic talents, from painting, drawing, weaving, and photography to original music, poetry, and fiction, perhaps even dance or furniture-making.
The mix each year is different. I remember our amazement when we first saw the museum-quality quilts a newly retired English teacher had begun creating as well as the array of Sculpey figures one of the kids produced. The afternoon even includes a potluck, billed as culinary arts.
The historic meetinghouse is at 141 Central Avenue, just south of the downtown.
Jnana's Red Barn 