Disasters!

 

A week of high wind, whitecaps in Town Harbour, and student ills and blisters culminated in a more serious setback early Thursday morning. En route to collect volunteers, our boat suffered an electrical engine fire that melted its cables just off the eastern tip of Smith's Island. 

Andre heroically responded to our distress call and towed the boat back to Paget Island and got the team to and from work that day, but since then we have had to run a bare-bones operation with minimal trips and very limited ability to involve Bermudian volunteers.

Calls for the loan or rental of a suitable workboat have gone unanswered, so we will continue to charter the YSR boat for this last week of the season. Andre is a True Bermuda Hero in his steadfast support and encouragement and I don't know what we would do without him!

The weather has not been our friend either; on Sunday, one of our four remaining work days, we had to quit at noon due to heavy rain and return to Paget Island looking like so many drowned rats. When it hasn't been raining, the 90+% humidity makes digging arduous.

We now have just three work days to get through six meter-square units at Oven Site, placed on either side of post holes we found in 2017. Ideally we will find additional post holes that will reveal a wall line, from which we can begin to extrapolate the layout of the captain's house as a whole.

In past years we usually give an end of season public talk sharing our discoveries and a thank you party for everyone who came out to volunteer or otherwise support SIAP, but given our small numbers and severely challenged transportation situation this year we will likely end with a whimper, not a bang. 

Our findings at Smallpox Bay will await a future post. Field school days off are never days off for directors: time for a deep dive in c. 1995 Evinrude 70HP engine schematics, systems diagnoses, and repairs. 

*** As I was finishing this blog entry in the Bermuda Archives, the staff discovered a water leak from the pipes above, prompting a scramble to move wet document boxes and soak up brown water leaking down the shelves.  It seems the Isle of Devils still has a few history- and heritage-hating demons lurking about.  But I do appreciate the wonderful irony that all the affected records belong to the Department of Works and Engineering, which is responsible for ensuring government building pipes do not leak!