Wrecks

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • February 21, 2023

Nantucket is famous, or I should say infamous, for the wrecks around its shore and upon its shoals. Graveyard of the Atlantic is a more than fair moniker. I’ve done my share of research into the US Lifesaving Service and the Humane Society over the years. Living on an island and being a historian, I am always curious and learning, how could I not? (Though you may only associated me with Maria, the Mitchells and Nantucket women.)


So the other day, I finally trudged out to take a look at the wreck portions that they now believe are the Warren Sawyer which was wrecked along the south shore in 1884. While it was very warm for February, I, of course, chose the windiest day and brought my 8-year old son along as I thought he may not have such an opportunity again. We trudged, my glasses became covered in salt spray, and we both wished we had brought an entire box of tissues. However, that wind, even though it was only gusting to maybe 40 MPH out of the west, gave you a small impression of what it would have been like for a ship wrecked along Nantucket. But we had the benefit of being on land, in warm winter coats, and with the sun shining. It was not blowing seventy-five, pitch black, and we were not freezing and soaked to the bone in fear of washing over board, a mile off shore or laying just along the shore.


For me, that’s what I try and do. While I marvel at the craftsmanship and point out the “pins” and ship’s knee to my son, I think about the people and what they went through on the Warren Sawyer and what they all went through during all those many wrecks. The fear, the cold, the wet, the wind, and the absolutely mind-blowing place of being (many, but not all times) in sight of flickering lights on land or the fuzzy view of houses in the distance and perhaps, hopefully, people trying to come to your aid from the shore. Perhaps that is why one of my favorite paintings, though a sad one and one that garnered some controversy at the time it was exhibited, is Winslow Homer’s “The Lifeline” (oil on canvas, 1884). As an aside, note it was painted the same year as the Sawyer was lost. I love Homer’s work and this piece illustrates the dangerous job of a US Lifesaving Service member rescuing a woman from a shipwreck in a breeches buoy. I could put my art history cap on to explain the controversy but sometimes delving too much “ruins” the image and I just want you to think about the harrowing task and the brave people who were lifesavers; the people who were terrified and hopefully rescued, and those who were terrified and perished. Thankfully, all on the Sawyer were rescued.


Our shores are the losts’ graveyard. Remember them when you look out across the water when calm or stormy.


JNLF

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Heat and Humidity

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 20, 2026
Being Nantucket, we tend to stay cooler than the mainland in the summer though the humidity is often over the top. It often makes me think about people in the nineteenth century and earlier – heck, even well into the mid 1900s, and how they handled the weather. With climate change, we have warmed and our weather is more severe and volatile at times. Instead of a nice gentle rain, we get a deluge and the ground has trouble absorbing that sort of onslaught. But they did did still have heat and humidity – and think of a fire in the hearth all day and the bake oven – if it was a baking day. And now, think of the women standing in front of the firebox and bake oven, or even a cook stove later on. I am sure if the confines of their home, alone, les could be worn but for the most part, those women still had a lot of layers on. I am sure that a cloth dipped into or run under the mouth of the pump and wrung out gently – to keep as much as the cool, moisture as possible – was tied around a neck or stuffed down a dress front (or even in addition to the wet neckerchief).  At the Mitchell House, we get a little of the feeling for this. We have no HVAC in the House so we rely on doors being open – with screens to keep the bugs out – and the roofwalk opened (also with a screen) so that air circulates throughout the House. Air can move nicely through – the heat rises, the air moves up and out of the roofwalk hatch very much as it might have in Maria Mitchell’s day. While we do not have the added (somewhat) drying benefit of the heat of the fire in the kitchen, we do have all of the original horsehair plaster, so the House does remain somewhat cooler and drier overall. But some days, the relative humidity does get up into the 90s in the House – that’s when I say, “Get out your umbrellas!” JNLF

Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Nantucket Harbor Water-Quality Monitoring Buoy Joins Regional Coastal Observing Network

July 17, 2026
NANTUCKET, MA— The Maria Mitchell Association’s (MMA’s) Nantucket Harbor water-quality monitoring buoy is now part of the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems, known as NERACOOS. NERACOOS is one of eleven regional associations that make up the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System, or IOOS, NOAA’s national ocean-observing network for gathering and sharing ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes data. This connection means that real-time data from Nantucket Harbor are no longer held only within a local monitoring program. They are now available through the NERACOOS Mariners Dashboard, where scientists, resource managers, educators, mariners, and the public can view Nantucket Harbor conditions alongside other coastal observing sites from Long Island Sound through the Gulf of Maine. The monitoring buoy carries a suite of sensors that track changing conditions such as temperature, oxygen, acidity, nutrients, and underwater light. These measurements show what eelgrass, bay scallops, and other marine organisms are actually experiencing over time. “This is an important step because Nantucket Harbor is now part of a larger coastal observing system,” said Dr. Betsy Sherman, the Maria Mitchell Association’s Senior Marine Science Advisor. “Our data can be compared with data from other sites, used in regional analyses, and placed in a broader environmental context. We are not just looking at Nantucket Harbor in isolation.” The Nantucket Harbor buoy project has been supported by the Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation, whose early investment helped make continuous water-quality monitoring in Nantucket Harbor possible. Additional support has been provided by the Remain Nantucket Fund at the Community Foundation for Nantucket, the Osceola Foundation, the Sociable Weaver Foundation, and through collaboration with the Town of Nantucket Harbormaster. The timing is especially relevant for coastal communities because NERACOOS is also leading the newly funded NSF Seafood Engine in New England, a regional effort focused on strengthening fisheries, aquaculture, seafood technology, and coastal economies. For an island community facing changes in water quality, habitat, fisheries, and climate, joining this regional network strengthens the scientific foundation for understanding and protecting Nantucket Harbor. The Maria Mitchell Association was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. After she discovered a comet in 1847, Mitchell’s international fame led to many achievements and awards, including an appointment as the first professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Maria Mitchell believed in “learning by doing” and today that philosophy is reflected in the MMA’s mission statement, programs, research projects, and other activities. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.  ####

Walk Accompli!

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 13, 2026
Finished. Finis. Completed. Done. Accomplished. The Mitchell House roofwalk is now done. Back to looking a bit more normal up on the ridgeline. But as I may have noted in the other post about the roofwalk, the one that was removed due to its condition and how it sat on the roof’s ridge was far from the original – or even a nineteenth century one. I am including an image from about 1908 or so in order for you to see the Mitchell House without a walk – even then. Now, an interesting fact is that I am able to date the undated photo because in the west image – where you see the open year – you can actually see the shadow of the Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory – at the backside of the 1825 Kitchen. And given that shadow you also know its late afternoon since that side of the House, as noted, faces West. Another interesting feature is the long downspout – more like a side spout – that takes water from the front gutter, along the upper West façade of the House and across a window and then over the 1825 Kitchen roof where it terminated in a cistern – still in existence under the ground today. JNLF
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