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Saturday, July 2nd, 2010
 With light southerlies blowing , a field of 9 craft of varying class & design, and representing several communities around the Pond, competed for the coveted EGP Trophy, ending in an unprecedented two way tie for first place. Liz Potter, with first mate Joe Bower, steered their new Sturdy-Cat to handily take the first two of three races. Apparently unaware of a third race in the series, they sailed to the Cut, eagerly anticipating the post-race festivities and award ceremonies. This left the field wide open to perennial contender Martha Cohan (who last year suffered a series of disasters: capsizing, near-drowning of her faithful crew - her dog - and a mast impaled in the soft bottom of the pond). Having finished 2nd in each of the series thus far, she easily took a first in the third. Race officials, calling on Solomon-like wisdom, declared a tie, leaving the winners to arrange sharing of the trophy during the coming year. A post-race barbecue with a mini-keg and other beverages appropriate to the occasion preceded the award ceremonies and drew a record number of participants. The race course,officiating and beach festivities was supervised by Jeremy Henderson, EGPYC Commodore, and his first mate Catherine Samuels, assisted by a number of BoldWater residents. |
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| Don't be surprised if you see oranges floating across the Pond this summer! Or an occasional red plume of water. (No, it's NOT 'red tide'). What you're seeing is the work of our consulting hydrologist Craig Saunders assisted by our Science and Education Coordinator, Bob Woodruff, engaged in Phase I of a two-year study of currents in the Pond. They will be experimenting with the use of oranges (a very effective tool for tracing currents because they float with little of their mass above the water - thus unaffected by wind). The red dye is fluoroscein, widely used for circulation studies in both water bodies and humans and considered safe for both. The objective of the study is to learn how currents in the Pond are influenced by the pond being open; with a flood tide; with an ebbing tide; when closed; when windy; and when calm. In addition to using the new dredge for maintaining the channel through the delta on the pond side for the cut, we are going to need circulation studies of any areas within the pond that may need dredging in the future. See the 2010 Annual Report for more details. |
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 As this is being written, veteran Edgartown shellfisherman William 'Boo' Bassett and GPF student intern Bruce Dew, a senior at Holy Cross, are hard at work capturing hundreds of thousands of oyster 'spat' recently hatched in the Pond. The young pinhead-sized oysters have just 'set' on some three hundred chicken wire cages filled with scallop shells for the oysters to cling to as they sit on the Pond bottom. When retrieved, Boo and his interns remove the spat-covered scallop shells and place them in large cages suspended on the familiar rafts located at strategic places in the Pond. This fall, when the oysters have reached the size of a quarter, they will be released into the Pond and hopefully will have a good chance of surviving to breeding size and age. The Oyster Restoration Project, now in its third year, is headed by Rick Karney, Director of the MV Shellfish Group, and is supported by a grant from the Jewish Communal Fund. See the 2010 Annual Report for more details. |
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| A lot has happened over the past year, Nessie was built, delivered and operated... Nessie was acquired to dredge the delta that forms inside the Edgartown Great Pond at the 'Cut'. Four times a year the Town of Edgartown 'cuts' the barrier beach, opening the Pond to the sea. This is done to flush the Pond and improve water quality.  One unfortunate byproduct of this important task is the introduction of sand into the Pond. Over time a large sand delta has been created that limits the productivity of each successive opening. Nessie's goal is to take a bite out of the delta to allow for a better exchange with the sea and improve the productivity of future openings.In the early Spring of 2009, Tony Gramkowski of Aquamarine, Steve Ewing's company that operates the dredge, traveled to California to participate in the final assembly of the dredge at Keene Engineering. While the Foundation's intent was to send him for a week of familiarization, Keene Engineering was so impressed with his work, they asked him to stay for almost three months!  Tony now knows the dredge inside and out which will help in maintaining the equipment and troubleshooting any problems that may arise in the future.The dredge was delivered to the Island in August and launched to undergo testing in the Pond on September 1, 2009. A crowd of riparian owners, Island residents and Edgartown officials were on-hand to christen and launch the dredge at Wilson's Landing. The launch was filmed and aired on MVTV Channel 13 and can be viewed here. The video also provides a narrative of why we are dredging and how it will help. In early March of this year, the time had finally arrived to dredge the delta. Steve and his team spent three weeks dredging the delta and pumping the sand to the barrier beach as nourishment.  While March storms at times made the operation difficult, Steve and his team felt that the project was a success but that wouldn't be truly known until the next cut and opening to the sea. In early May, the cut was made to the sea and the Pond was open. Through a combination of favorable tides, good weather and most importantly, the recent dredging of the delta, the Pond remained open for three weeks. This was the longest opening since the one that was created by Hurricane Bob in 1991.Nessie will be back in the Pond in November to perform additional dredging of the delta with the hope that future openings will be equally as productive.  |
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 July 20 ~ ANNUAL BEACH CLEAN-UP: Meet at the cut. Clean-up will proceed westward to Pond's end. Gloves advised. Bags will be provided. [4:00 pm]August 7 ~ 2010 GREAT POND OPEN-CLASS REGATTA: This summer, the annual race for the Edgartown Great Pond Trophy will be followed by an awards ceremony and BBQ at the beach, just east of the cut. As in previous years, all craft are eligible (windsurfers, Lasers, Sunfish, O'Days, Lightnings, et al). For those attending the BBQ, donation is suggested. Please RSVP by Aug 4 to Jeremy Henderson (627-7667) or Martha Cohan (627-8750) EGP race committee co-chairmen. [10:30 am] August 17 ~ ANNUAL BEACH CLEAN-UP: Followed by BBQ. Donation suggested. [4:00 pm] |
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