Time is flying by. The eighth grade graduation is next Friday, June 15. The rest of the kids get out a week later at noon on Friday, June 22, one day after the first day of summer. A mere week and a half later is the Fourth of July on a Wednesday. Less than nine weeks later comes Labor Day. Whew! Not much time for doing all of the things that you might hope to do this summer.

Activities get into full swing at the Chappy Community Center the last week of June. Now is the time to sign up for sailing and tennis. The CCC website has all of the forms that you will need. Better get after it quick.

There are lots of great events planned, among them a couple of concerts, lots of ice cream, lobster rolls, Mah Jong, yoga, farmer’s markets, the CCC fair and of course the photo contest for the 2019 calendar.

Not surprisingly, there was a huge turnout for Edo Welch Potter’s memorial service last Saturday. I’m guessing that there were at least 300 people there. Whatever the number actually was, her family guessed it right because there were just as many chairs as there were attendees. Often at a person’s funeral I am surprised at how many folks the person knew and how varied are the ages, personalities and occupations of those folks. Not so with Edo. There were only a very few that I didn’t know. Pimpneymouse Farm is a wonderful place to visit. All of those folks were invited to experience her world and they all funneled through the Chappy Ferry. The range of her friendships and acquaintances is truly remarkable. Her family, friends and associates spoke of the validation and encouragement that they received through their relationship with Edo.

My own perception of her life was that she was a very busy person with many goals and accomplishments. Since being at the celebration of her life, my impression now is that she was at least five times busier than I thought. Her legacy lives on in the preservation of open space across both islands. I know that she was proud of her contributions in accomplishing a walking trail that spans Chappaquiddick.

The Chappy ferry boat, On Time 3 got her new propellers successfully installed last Sunday. Conditions for getting her up to Vineyard Haven, out of the water and back down to Edgartown were adverse to say the least. I set out at 5 a.m. It took an hour to get her out to buoy number 4 where you turn the corner to head for East Chop staying safely clear of the rocks strewn across the Middle Flats.

The wind was strong out of the northeast. The square bow of the ferry makes it necessary to approach the swells at a 45-degree angle or green water will wash the length of the deck. So, I had to tack out of the harbor just as if it were a sailing vessel. Nevertheless, she took a half dozen dousings. On the run up to East Chop the waves were broadside and sometimes three feet high. The whole voyage up took two hours with the help of a gushing fair tide.

At the marine railway, there were rollers coming in a foot high which is not good news for settling a 32-ton boat onto a cradle. We decided to wait until noon to let the wind veer a bit as forecast. It did. The waves subsided and the boat came out of the water easy as you please. We removed the propellers with some powerful hydraulic gizmos. Its sounds like a gunshot when they pop loose from the shaft. You want them to be a very tight fit. With the new props on it’s my task to tighten the propeller nuts with my full weight on the end of a wrench with a six-foot long handle. Like I said, you want them to be a very tight fit. The boat went back in the water at 4 p.m. I had no choice but to get her back to Edgartown by Monday morning. The wind was now east and would only increase over the next days. It was a wild ride home against a foul tide and big waves. But she has her new props on and her deck got a thorough rinsing.

Send Chappy news to peterchappyferry@gmail.com.