MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

The shortest day has passed, and although Chappaquiddick is decked out in winter white as a result of the snow storm on Monday, with the ponds and swamps frozen, we’re already heading back towards summer — it’s an odd fact about the beginning of winter. Many thanks to Brad Woodger for his stint as alternate columnist during the past six months. His particular Brad’s-eye view of the world — at least the part of it that counts — has entertained us and given me a break from writing deadlines. We plan to share the column in the future, with him taking over again next summer. Hopefully that will give Annie Heywood time to recover.

The big news on Chappaquiddick is manholes. This may not sound like much elsewhere but we’ve never had any — manholes are a town kind of thing. They have covers on them, luckily, but that’s what’s so strange: driving over a manhole cover on the Chappaquiddick Road! Granted, we only got to drive over one cover before it was dug up again and cordoned off for more work by the crew installing the underground electric lines. But eventually we will be driving over about eight manhole covers in the stretch of road between the ferry and Litchfield Road, where most of the work on our side is being done.

Actually, the suburbanization of the Chappy Road has been well balanced by the sand, hay and mud appearing everywhere as a result of the work: the sand dug out for the underground conduit, the hay to contain it from the wetlands, and the mud from the side of the road where we’ve been driving around all the work sites. The road looks like Vermont at the end of mud season.

For nearly the past month and a half Chappaquiddickers have been playing chicken on the first half-mile of road from the ferry, where much of it is one-way due to the underground drilling. As far as I know, no one has had a head-on collision, although I have heard of road rage and rude gestures. It’s probably too complicated, with the constantly shifting work arenas — often five or six or more sites at a time — but it seems as if anywhere else the police would be there directing traffic. I’m not complaining — they’re busy trying to figure out how to direct traffic onto and off of the ferry, with Daggett street two ways, and we’re busy trying to figure out what the heck they want us to do. Occasionally, the ferry line gets long, as equipment is constantly being moved back and forth between the Memorial Wharf site and Chappy. Waits of more than an hour and a half have been experienced.

All that is scheduled to change somewhat in the near future as Hemlock Directional Boring, the company putting the conduits under the harbor, expects to be done and gone by the time you read this. They worked until 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning widening the hole that had already been dug under the channel, in order to widen it. Peter was on duty captaining the ferry to take people and machines back and forth after regular hours. On Wednesday, they cleaned the hole with something like a giant metal Q-tip, and lined it with more bentonite clay (Barra-Kade) which will hold the hole open. Wednesday night, they planned to start installing the lines of conduit. The conduit has been lying in four lines along the Chappy road almost the whole way from the ferry to the Beach Club. Installing the conduit promised to be an all-night job: once the work begins, it can’t be stopped. The four plastic tubes, which will hold the electric and phone lines, will be hauled through the prepared hole, which is about 25 feet below the harbor sea bed.

It’s hard to imagine the complexity of this project if you haven’t seen all the different types of equipment, the number of men working, and the various subcontractors involved. There are unusual machines like the “Guzzler” and the “Ring-O-Matic,” which have some particular purpose known to someone, as well as the huge directional boring machines, and all sorts of backhoes, bobcats, front-end loaders, etc. All the trucks, machines, and storage containers, and the lines of eight-foot tall metal spools that held the conduit, make it look like a carnival is coming to the wharf. At least three Island companies have been sub-contracting on the project, several more from off-island, plus NStar. In charge of the whole project is Bay State Piping from Middleboro. These people are all incredibly hard workers, often still at it into the evening hours.

Despite the cold and long hours, one BSP worker I spoke with said the hardest part of the job was not being able to get home. (They do go home some, but mostly just for short weekends.) Some of the BSP workers came to a potluck at the Chappy Community Center in the beginning of December, including this worker. He said he figured the drilling project was big news here until Lady Gaga was heard to be buying a place on the island. No doubt the work will continue for several more weeks, as the electric cable has to be installed inside the conduits.

The community center held its second annual Ferry Captain and Crew Appreciation potluck on Dec. 8. Besides the honored guests, there were probably 80 people feasting and enjoying their wintertime neighbors. Capt. Charlie Ross received a standing ovation when he arrived. He was in good spirits and well rested. He’s working on getting his feet moving the way he’d like them to after his illness. Peter Wells handed out door prizes to the holders of the winning tickets drawn by Mary Spencer, organizer of the evening.

A community dinner will be served on Christmas Eve starting at 6 p.m. at the community center. Everyone on Chappy is invited, including your guests. A feast will be laid out, so come and enjoy it. If you want to bring something, you could bring an appetizer or dessert, but it’s not required.

On Christmas Day, the Chappy ferry will run hourly, on the hour, from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. after which time it will return to the regular schedule, starting at 6 p.m.