The dogs are still on daylight saving time. They sit by their bowls with a forlorn expression in their eyes for one whole hour before feeding time. All summer long their biological clocks were adjusted to within a few minutes of the time that dog food magically appeared from the pantry. The practice of changing the clocks to take advantage of the daylight oddly is an attempt to make better use of the long summer days. Now is the time that we need better use of what little daylight we have in the winter months. Wouldn’t it be useful to be able to see what we’re doing right through quitting time – 5 p.m.?

Instead the sunsets are at a quarter past 4. The sun comes up now at about 7 a.m. If we stayed on daylight saving’s, even on the shortest day of the year, sunrise would be at just after 8 p.m. and sunset just after 5 p.m. That would light up the normal outdoor work day. It’s wonderful to have an extra hour of sleep in the fall, but it gets snatched painfully back in the spring. When I run for congress that will be my very first goal.

We’ve turned the corner on the repair work on the On Time 3 which is hauled out in Vineyard Haven. We’re no longer pulling material off. Now we’re gluing and bolting things back together. Cutting out the old wood and fiberglass takes longer than putting in the new. We surgically remove the tired old plywood and fiberglass a few inches at a time until we’re sure that we’ve reached the undamaged material. It’s dusty grimy work. Then the new plywood goes down in nearly full sheets. The fiberglass layers then get adhered to a sound surface. There’s lot of sticky goop involved and it ends up on the tools, ladder rungs and truck door handles. We use lots of nitrile gloves and Tyvek suits. Acetone is the wonderful stuff that cleans everything up. Warm dry weather is critical to using the epoxies and adhesives required in the process of repairing wooden ferry boats properly. Fingers crossed for good weather.

The recent Chappy Island Association (CIA) resident survey concluded that climate change, wildfire and tick-borne illness rank as the second most important concerns on Chappy. The CIA Environmental Committee was established in 2019 and has disseminated a great deal of information related to Chappy.

The committee believes that it is time to reorganize and to re-clarify its mission. Anyone interested in joining the committee should send an email to Alan Feldman, the chair of the committee at ([email protected]). Indicate why you would like to be involved and outline any relevant qualifications or experience you have.

Since it may be necessary to limit the size of the committee to a workable number, this information will be helpful. Once the new committee is constituted, a series of Zoom meetings will be planned to talk about reorganizing the group, establishing both short-term and long-term goals and to determine the focus for the next few years. Among the matters that will be addressed are soil contamination, sewage, composting, EV charging, organic gardening and wildlife management. Bring your ideas and opinions!