orable excursion out of
Cataumet in 1916. Uncle Gus, his son Andy, myself, Captain Gibbs,
Hannah, Posey, and Uncle Andrew all set forth in a sailboat early one
morning. We sailed down Buzzards Bay, through the Elizabeth Islands at
Quick's Hole, then anchored off Gay Head on
Martha's Vinyard, rowed ashore and climbed to the top of the great clay
cliff where we visited a little tourist shop and bought a few
oddments made by local Indians.
After leaving Gay Head we sailed into Tarpaulin Cove on Naushon
Island, dropped anchor again, and spent an hour on the beach picking up
souvenirs that had washed ashore from boats wrecked in 'The Graveyard'.
Our next stop was at Woods Hole where we left Uncle Andrew to take
a train to Boston. Afterwards, going through the hole, a strong current
against us reduced our speed to a fraction of a knot. We
hardly seemed to move as the engine struggled valiantly and Captain
Gibbs played the eddies wherever he could. The usual
afternoon southwester was in its final stages as we entered the
last leg of our journey and we finally got back to Cataumet lighted into
the harbor by the moon.
Gertrude, the oldest of Uncle Andrew's children, was an
excellent golfer in her younger days and won several tourna-
ments. Later she became a well known artist and her paintings were
awarded many prizes in important exhibitions. One day I heard my father
telling someone about how she had just received a large sum
for painting a picture of a lobster. I decided to see what I could
do in that line and acquired some oil paints and a piece of canvas, and
a few days later, when we moved to South Orleans for the summer, bought
a lobster at the local fish market |