A large number of beaches in West Tisbury and Oak Bluffs were closed to swimming this week due to high levels of enterococcus bacteria found during routine water testing. Health agents in those two towns put out notices about the closures.

Then some, but not all, of the beaches were opened again.

At press time Thursday the following beaches remained closed: Lambert’s Cove and the ocean side of Long Point in West Tisbury; and Inkwell Beach, Pay Beach, Madeiros Cove (near the drawbridge on the Lagoon Pond) and Eastville Beach in Oak Bluffs.

Moviegoers hoping to secure tickets to the Island premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 may have wished for a Time-Turner or two yesterday, after the lone midnight showing sold out less than 20 minutes after the box office at Edgartown Cinemas opened at 2 p.m.

Learning how to tie a knot is part of learning the ABCs of seamanship, and at Sail Martha’s Vineyard you are never too old to learn.

What began as one volunteer and a handful of boats has grown into a thriving organization of 14 experienced instructors and 72 boats, year-round programs for children and adults and a summer camp dedicated to teaching Island children to sail at affordable rates.

The 20-year old organization has taken its mission far beyond what the founders could have imagined.

Chelsea McCarthy’s house burned down when she was 24 years old. She had paid off her credit card debt earlier that month, mailed her rent payment on her Christiantown home that morning, and had no money in the bank. At the end of the day all she was left with was some jewelry, perfume, her birth certificate (somehow it survived the fire), the clothes she had on and one of her two cats.

So much for having her life sorted out.

He’s lived most of his life as the guy you couldn’t help but notice. Marc Elliot estimates that he has “tic-ed” 21 million times in his life. Two weeks ago he stopped.

Mr. Elliot, who was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome at the age of nine, tours the country speaking to audiences about tolerance and understanding. But Tourette’s isn’t his only hardship. Mr. Elliot was also diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s disease, which left him with only four feet of small intestine (the usual is 19 feet) and no large intestine.