MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

The port-a-potty at the Point was dragged out from behind the sand piles and set upright again, then the machines and men started arriving, and the lines of plastic pipe reappeared next to the main road and in the ferry line pullout area. Bay State Piping is back on the job for NStar, and act two of the under-harbor cable installment has begun — or is it a reenactment of act one?

The drilling equipment has arrived on the Edgartown side, and set up on Dock street: the giant mud unit that mixes the bentonite used for lining the hole and separates out the sand so the water can be reused, and the almost equally enormous horizontal drill machine. The mud unit waited in Woods Hole overnight and into the next day for the right tide. The bottom of the unit is only a couple inches off the road, so the ferry ramp can’t be too steep or it bottoms out while loading onto the ferry. Last time it came, they waited two days to get the right tide.

By the time you read this, the drilling for the four new conduits under the harbor should have begun. Hemlock Directional Boring, who do the under-harbor drilling part of the job, couldn’t get the same person to direct the drill point, and a different system will be used with the new driller. He gets information about where he’s going directly from the drill head, whereas the last time a big antenna was set up on the road on the Chappy side to control the direction of the drilling. The conduit pipes are different this time, too — twice as thick as the last ones that stretched like taffy when they were installed under the harbor. There is some talk of one of the previously installed conduits being available for a Comcast cable. Some people think Comcast will be over here about the same time pigs fly.

Meanwhile, we are back to one electric cable — the old one. The new cable that was installed this winter — which was never actually hooked up — has been pulled out of the conduit and is coiled up on the Chappy side. Evidently the end was in the way of the new project. The crew on Chappy is at work welding together the long plastic conduit pipes to prepare for installation when the new holes are drilled.

As of Tuesday, the police were back at work on North Water street directing traffic as Daggett street is once more the way off the ferry as well as the way on. Ferry lines are already noticeably longer — time to leave home early and bring a good book, leave your car on Chappy, or don’t go anywhere and don’t invite anyone over here. The whole job should take shorter than last time because the cable up the main road is already installed. Also, they’ve already had a trial run. It is inconvenient but it’s entertaining — for March.

Adult and Community Education (ACE MV) is offering a Creative Teaching Techniques workshop on Saturday, March 26. A History and Science seminar on Brazil (March 30) and Intro to General Relativity (April 9) are taught by experienced professors. Don’t miss the Power of E-mail Marketing workshop; Latin American Delights (sponsored by Vineyard Grocer); or The Art of Cake Decorating (April 7, cosponsored by Featherstone Center for the Arts) that will inspire both professionals and novice cooks. Beginning in early May, professional development courses include Introduction to Children’s Literature through Cape Cod Community College, ServSafe Food Sanitation Training and Recertification, and a Food Safety Mini-course. Online preregistration is required; spots fill quickly. For more information, call ACE MV 508-693-1033, extension 240; e-mail lynn@acemv.org; or go online to acemv.org.

A four-week series of classes in the Alexander Technique will begin on Monday, March 21, 4:30 to 5:30 at Church and Main Natural Therapies in Vineyard Haven, taught by myself. You can enroll in one or more classes to find out how the Alexander Technique can make a change in your life. This mind-body approach to self-discovery helps to change movement habits, and helps with posture and alignment, recovery from injury, and relief from chronic pain and stress. The class is for all levels, and will apply the technique to special skills and activities, such as yoga, playing an instrument or working at a computer, as well as everyday activities like walking and sitting. For information, call me at 508 627-8894, or e-mail at margaret02539@yahoo.com.

The last of the Edgartown Public Library’s Small Wonders film series of great performances by child actors is the New Zealand film The Piano, shown on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 p.m. The library has plans and lots of information about the proposed new building available. They are also looking for your input on what to do with the old Carnegie building.