Unexpected Windfalls
One of Barb's coworkers had a windstorm a couple of months ago that took out a lot of his trees, including a number of Black and Honey Locusts. He has offered them to us if we want to come get them out. Hey you nuns, wanna meet the Pope? Locust wood doesn't rot easily and is perfect for certain aspects of boatbuilding. There are at least three trees that have not been broken up, just knocked over. At least one of them is suitable for a full-length keel made from a single tree. Boards from locust go for $4.50 a board foot. Ekk points out that small pieces (1.5" x 2" x 14") sell on eBay to the specialty woodworker market for $10-15 or so. Needless to say, you now know what our spare-time plans are. This literal windfall will cut the cost of the next vessel in half.
The other one is more dorky - Ekk was talking to the guy we buy hay from, and got to talking about sailing out to the Shoals. Between the two of them, the fact that there is a hotel on Star Island came up, and the guy remembered that he'd had a great-aunt who'd worked out at it - "The Oceano, or something?" Her diary survives. Just for context, the guy's father was a WWII vet, meaning this diary could easily be WWI-era. The guy is willing to let me read it. (All together now: "It's a small fjord, after all; It's a small fjord, after all...")
I'm really excited because there's next to nothing in terms of primary sources regarding hotel staff pre-WWII. I know of a handful of letters found between the walls during renovations on the main Hotel a summer or two ago (and those are terribly poignant - a chambermaid ca 1910 writing to her sister on the mainland, also a chambermaid at a hotel in Rye or Hampton, and saying that she'd heard from their third sister that their mother wasn't expected to last the week but that she was not able to get time off to go home), but that's it. If this diary is really from a hotel worker on Star prior to the Second World War, the number of primary sources on this topic has just doubled. It's not directly relevant to my thesis, but boy am I psyched to read it!
The other one is more dorky - Ekk was talking to the guy we buy hay from, and got to talking about sailing out to the Shoals. Between the two of them, the fact that there is a hotel on Star Island came up, and the guy remembered that he'd had a great-aunt who'd worked out at it - "The Oceano, or something?" Her diary survives. Just for context, the guy's father was a WWII vet, meaning this diary could easily be WWI-era. The guy is willing to let me read it. (All together now: "It's a small fjord, after all; It's a small fjord, after all...")
I'm really excited because there's next to nothing in terms of primary sources regarding hotel staff pre-WWII. I know of a handful of letters found between the walls during renovations on the main Hotel a summer or two ago (and those are terribly poignant - a chambermaid ca 1910 writing to her sister on the mainland, also a chambermaid at a hotel in Rye or Hampton, and saying that she'd heard from their third sister that their mother wasn't expected to last the week but that she was not able to get time off to go home), but that's it. If this diary is really from a hotel worker on Star prior to the Second World War, the number of primary sources on this topic has just doubled. It's not directly relevant to my thesis, but boy am I psyched to read it!