I remember well my trip to Machias Seal Island with Captain Purcell Corbett in the early 60s. I never thought I would hear his name again. After he took us out, my father and I camped on the island at the base of the lighthouse for a week!
What a thrill for me, a young birder. Puffins everywhere. We spent countless hours in the one and only blind taking photographs, many through my BALscope (which I still use). Razorbills were not numerous but I still recall their daffodil yellow mouths when they yawned. One of my most enduring memories is seeing the painted faces of the Puffins. We watched them for hours on end from only a few feet away and the detail in their "makeup" is astonishing. Of course that is true of many birds. I remember going through the tern colony took courage. They were relentless in their attacks. We loved the petrels that showed up every night. They would flash brightly as they flitted through the multiple beams of the lighthouse. My recollection is there were 12 beams radiating like the spokes of a slowly turning wheel.
The foghorn was reportedly the second biggest in the Bay of Fundy at that time. You could NOT stand in front of that horn when it blew. It would literally rattle your guts. Whenever we walked around the island in the fog we had to time the blasts on a watch. We were careful to duck down in the rocks and cover our heads when it blew. It was an impressive horn. Mr Hatt called it the "whistle".
Roy Hatt was the light keeper at that time. We used to have tea with him and his wife. Fond memory.
The steel ladder inside the lighthouse was very steep. Mr Hatt told us a story about one ferocious storm. Two light keepers were on the island in that era to tend the light 24 hours a day. A wave reportedly came over the island and boiled into the bottom of the lighthouse. Story is one keeper went up the front of the ladder and one went up the back. No surprise!
Sent from my iPhone (forgive the typos)
> On May 18, 2015, at 9:03 PM, Peter Vickery <crescentchest@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I remember in the mid-70s leading a Maine Audubon trip out to MSI with Capt Corbett. He didn't truck with radar back then, new stuff you know.
>
> On this foggy trip out, he cut off the engine after 45 minutes and listened to the fog horn on MSI.
>
> In we went a little closer and by-and-by, after 3 or 4 of those silent moments, he steered into, not onto, the island, which was sunny and bright and loaded with all the puffins and terns one could imagine. The experience all seemed damned near close to magical to me.
>
> Sadly, when we returned the Coast Guard was there to check his equipment, etc… I'm guessing things didn't go so well for the Capt. but it was sure one memorable boat trip out to MSI.
>
> Cheers to one hell of a seaman.
>
> Best, Peter
>
>
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