(from theCape Codder)
The Orleans Sea Scouts did themselves right proud Tuesday when they accomplished the amazing feat of rowing in two pulling boats from Monomoy to Nantucket across some ten miles of the most treacherous waters along the coast. Apparently this is the first time the feat has been accomplished since the days of the Indians, who were reported to have paddled the course. The fifteen explorers; with Skipper Moncrieff M. Cochran, Jr. and Mates Stanley Boynton and Paul P. Henson, Jr., left the tip of Monomoy at 9:30 a.m. and rounded Great Point, Nantucket at 4:05 p.m. The Coast Guard powered life boat from Nantucket then took the two boats in tow for the rest of the trip into the harbor. Scout Executive Dan Johnson had ordered the explorers to accept the tow.
The exploits of the local explorers of SES Nauset are due to receive national attention. Accompanying the trip in the party boat owned by Harold Claflin of Chatham were two representatives of LIFE - ace photographer Peter Stackpole and reporter George Shiras -- who are scheduled to chronicle the event by pictures and story in the pages of that magazine.
The two picturesque pulling boats formerly used in the life saving at Race Point -- and their crews received a big hand from the residents of Nantucket who crowded around the pier late Tuesday. Skipper Cochran and his young crew had made the trip to take part in the investiture of a new Sea Explorer Ship on Nantucket Tuesday night.
Gets Rough
The boats nosed out into the tricky currents at a time when the tide was in their favor. When a reporter from The Cape Codder circled around them shortly after 11 a.m. in a plane from Skymeadow airfield piloted by Bill Ketchen, the boats were about four miles out. About noon a strong Southwest wind came up which slowed down their progress considerably and mounted some rough seas. Two of the boys became slightly seasick, but the crews remained able-bodied enough to keep going. Dramamine had been issued all around. The Chatham station sent a powered Coast Guard life boat to escort the boats, and the Nantucket boat took over half way.
The young crews used a rotating rowing plan so that each of their five oarsmen per boat received half hour rest periods and coxswain duty periodically. Skipper Cochran, reporting by phone from Nantucket Tuesday night, said that the boys ended up in good shape and were not too tired.
Originally, the explorers had hoped to have their lunch on Great Point.
But, when the rough going slowed them down, the boys grabbed snacks during their rest periods. Highlights of their diet were Girl Scout cookies donated by the Orleans Girl Scout Association and tonic driven out to them the night before on the tip of Monomoy by Richard Rich of South Orleans.
No Complaints
The boys had been in training for the trip for some time. They had been made fully aware of the difficulty of the row and as a result their officers report that no complaints came from the boys as they strained muscles on the long pull. The two boats left the Narrows in South Orleans early Monday morning, went through the cut at Stage Harbor and rowed along the inside of Monomoy to make camp at the tip Monday night. Five of the boys, with the help of Life reporter Shiras, were introduced to the snipe hunt that night.
The Cape Codder had assigned 15 year-old Sea Explorer George Hand to take pictures of the trip. George faced a crisis early in the voyage when he dropped the back of his camera overboard in Pleasant Bay. Jumping ashore at the cut-through he phoned the paper of his plight and a replacement back was rushed to the fish pier at Chatham as the boats waited.
The explorers who took part in the row were young Hand, George Doyle, Bert Clapp, John MacKenzie, Don MacKenzie, Edwin Jones, Robert Neece, Philip Richardson, Richard Ryder, Parky Hammatt, Otis Thompson, Lawson Sencabaugh, Pete Reed, Lee Babbitt and Paul Fitzpatrick.
Yesterday morning the boats were towed out of Nantucket harbor for the trip back.
It was an occasion which will, justifiably, be remembered by the boys for the rest of their lives.
