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Home » Columnists

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Sea changes

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Fri, Apr 8

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Picture a beautiful building tumbling down the south-facing bluff on Block Island. This scenario did not play out in real life, because in August of 1993, after 10 years of planning and fundraising, the Southeast Lighthouse was moved 300 feet away from the bluffs. It had to be done; the endgame was...
Point Judith

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, Apr 4

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Are we in Point Judith?” “Is this Narragansett or Galilee?” “Does the ferry leave from here?” “Where’s the bridge?” These are a few of the questions that were asked by visitors to the Point Judith ferry docks — mostly before cell phones. Back in the day some people — on the cusp of road rage —...
Justin Abrams

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Sat, Mar 26

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Back in those days we’d sail our Pearson Triton out from Greenwich Bay, we’d take the kids out to Block Island, and that’s how we came to buy The 1661 Inn,” said Justin Abrams. In the latter part of the summer of 1970, I worked for the Abram’s family. They had a little sandwich shop next to The...
Docks

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Mar 12

Category:

News, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In 1938, on Sept. 9, a storm was forming off the coast of Africa. Subsequently, it developed into a Category 5 hurricane, and it spun up the east coast of the United States. After this storm crossed the Atlantic, it hit the coasts of Haiti and Cuba. Then, it changed course off the tip of Florida...
The big con

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Fri, Mar 4

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

A baseball-hatted man dressed in black is walking with a subtle degree of swagger–cocky. He is being escorted into a building while being hounded by photographers — it’s an aggressive scene. Suddenly, he nudges a photographer and he gets jolted back — hard — by another man with a camera. It was an...
A memorable professor

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Feb 26

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Yon can’t focus in class and your head is all over the place. Your work is showing me nothing. Why are you taking my class?” said Professor David Gustafson. It was my final semester as a theater student at Rhode Island College, and this guy had just come down from Canada to teach an acting class...
2016, two weeks in

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Jan 16

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

From the jump, things have been good with the New Year. The weather has been very forgiving at the docks, especially when we roll in to work at 0530 hours for the Monday and Thursday ferry trip. However, make no mistake, it’s still bleak at the docks at that Godforsaken hour of the day; Paradise...
Mary Norris, the comma queen

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Jan 9

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.” — Robert Louis Stevenson We are in the digital age and there is no turning back, and if u r in agreement with this, 4 sure u r a person who has...
Letting go

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Jan 8

Category:

News, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

One morning a few weeks ago at the docks, there was a draft on the back of my left leg. It felt damp. Had I sat in water? I pondered this while checking in a car for the eleven o’clock ferry. The draft was a result of a rip in my pants in an embarrassing place ― not acceptable. Moreover, for a...
A rantum scoot

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, Nov 30

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Wandering around with no agenda is one of life’s little perks as we get on in years. When we’re young we need to hustle and make our way in the world. We need to conform to certain protocols and do our jobs. Moreover, bills, kids, cars, houses and other things foster a sense of responsibility, and...
Sailorwoman

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sun, Nov 15

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Ok, I’ve had a stroke, broke my back or maybe had a heart attack, now get us back to the mooring in Edgartown harbor.” At the age of 11, Cindy Alten-Delotto’s father said this to her while sailing off Cape Pogue on Chappaquiddick Island. She and her dad were sailing a 38-foot sloop, and Cindy was...
Fall

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sun, Oct 4

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The fall season began at 4:21 in the early morning of Sept. 23. It’s the designated time for this shifting of seasonal gears. It’s a date and time ― simple digits. However, it is many other little parts that make up the whole of the seasonal transformation called fall. I flopped aboard my boat in...
Sailboats, a fine obsession

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Sep 18

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“If a man must be obsessed by something, I suppose a boat is as good as anything, perhaps a bit better than most. A small boat is not only beautiful; it is seductive and full of strange promise and a hint of trouble.” — E.B. White While sailing earlier this summer, the clew at the foot of...
Incoming!

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Sep 4

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

We’re inundated on a daily basis with incoming information. Our gadgets have taken over both lobes of our brains with a relentless barrage of facts, figures and scads of minutiae. Once we get Facebooking or tweeting and texting and emailing, it is a wonder that we can think in a coherent manner. It...
Setting the hook

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Aug 7

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

I had a punitive writing assignment in the ninth grade. It was 1964. The deal was this, I either stayed after school and wrote what my teacher wanted or my folks were getting a phone call — not a good thing. Let’s just say that I wasn’t what you would call a good student — by any means — and school...
Bob Dylan and Newport: 50 years on

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Fri, Jul 24

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The Newport Folk Festival starts on Friday, July 24 and runs through the weekend, marking a half century since Bob Dylan performed his genre-challenging show. Fifty years ago Bob Dylan strapped on an electric Fender guitar at the Newport Folk Festival, and tore into his songs —...
Tuppence

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Jul 10

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

A month ago I was making a donation to a great organization when I stumbled upon a group on Facebook that helps kids in foster families hopefully get placed in a loving and nurturing home. Our donation will send a kid to camp for a week this summer in upstate New York. This camp was founded by two...
Gravity, Lift, Drag, Velocity, Flight

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Jul 2

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

A very small percentage of people who climb into a sleek, shiny and very heavy commercial airliner have any idea how the machine stays in the air. Answers will vary: engines, clouds, air currents, and wings are some of the things people will say when asked how an airplane flies. The title of this...
An old school Coastie

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, May 29

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“You know, out on Block Island news can travel pretty fast,” says Bill Muessel, “so when I heard of what was going on out at the Coast Guard Station, well, I had to go out there to investigate.” Many years ago, Bill Muessel was Group Commander of the United States Coast Guard, and was based in...
The Highlanders

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr

Fri, May 15

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“I have a Scottie. In him I find consolation and diversion…he is the one person to whom I can talk without the conversation coming back war." — Dwight D. Eisenhower We recently lost our tough and tenacious Scottish Highland Terrier, MacTavish, in a tragic accident. He...
Yada Yada Data

By

JV. Houlihan

Fri, Mar 20

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The “Seinfeld” show gave us loads of inanity and banality on a weekly basis. For example, dating: good dates, bad dates, awkward dates. I mean dates this and dates that, what’s with these dates, dates, dates! Enough with the dates already! No dates! We met the “The Mumbler,” “The Lip Reader,” and...
Hot Tips

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Mon, Mar 9

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The Narragansett Park grandstand was empty; it had an eerie silence. Cold stillness and a fuzzy ground mist covered the track and in-field. The parking lots were slowly filling as small groups of people milled about. Week after week the same old crusty, careworn characters huddled against fences...
Valor

By

J.V. Houlihan

Fri, Feb 20

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." ("It is a sweet thing to lay down one's life for one's country.") — Horace “I want you all to close your eyes now, and picture eight people who are near and dear to you, people that you love,” said Air Cavalry Scout helicopter pilot Tom Suprock. He...
Geezers and gadgets redux

By

J.V Houlihan

Fri, Jan 23

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In my recent column, “Geezers and Gadgets,” I praised my current gadgets. This geezer has made an alliance of a Kindle Fire HD, and an IPhone 6. These are great tools for a scribbler. Co-existing with these new-fangled writing tools is a longing for the old school implements of learning and writing...
Geezers and Gadgets

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, Dec 29

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

While sitting on my sailboat crunching out this column on a bulky old-school Dell laptop that was procured for short money several years ago, Larry David, the king of the curmudgeons can be heard yammering away with Jay Leno ― on a Kindle Fire HD! In addition to the new Kindle rig, which was won at...
A Christmas Memory

By

J. V. Houlihan

Wed, Dec 24

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Back in the day when I taught at Narragansett High School, I directed “A Christmas Carol,” by playwright Israel Horovitz (the father of Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys). This play was a compressed version of Charles Dickens’s original script; however, it followed the narrative very closely. The kid...
Away Off Shore, with Nat Philbrick

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Fri, Dec 12

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The November day was frigid and pristine, and the ferry M/V Eagle made her approach to the island of Nantucket. The island is a low slung and austere affair lying 30 miles offshore. Shoal water surrounds this island of 52 square miles — its highest point...
Peter Pan, live!

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, Dec 8

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“L’audace, l’audace, toujours l’aduace!” Napoleon and Gen. George Patton shared this mindset. This translates to “Audacity, audacity, always audacity." It’s a great way to look at life. Why not; no guts no glory, right? Charge! NBC was indeed audacious with the recent live performance of “Peter Pan...
How to get away with making a hit television show

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Tue, Nov 18

Category:

News, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“True! — nervous — very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am, but why do you say that I am mad?” Right out of the gate, in Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell Tale Heart,” we know that we’re dealing with a twisted guy, and soon after we know he committed a crime. There is no mystery. However, in “Cask...
The Tilly Hat

By

J. V. Houliham Jr.

Mon, Nov 10

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Three years ago, one very hot day at the ferry dock in Point Judith, a local cop I know came over to me and showed me a hat. “Look at this thing, Joe,” he said. “Is this a cool hat or what?” continued the smiling cop. Then he went on to explain the merits of said hat: lightness of the fabric,...
“The Comeback”

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, Oct 20

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In the hit sitcom “Friends,” Lisa Kudrow played a guitar in a coffeehouse, and sings, “Oh smelly cat, oh smelly cat, what are they feeding you, oh smelly cat oh smelly cat, it’s not your fault.” That’s all I remember of the show; wasn’t a fan — at all. Moreover, Lisa Kudrow was on Letterman one...
Lines

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, Oct 13

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

While drifting in my sailboat in slack wind this summer, I was reading a collection of E. B. White’s essays. These circumstances, and a quick iPhone google search about White’s sailboat, Martha , (E. B. loved to sail) led me to a book titled “A Unit of Water, A Unit of Time,” subtitled, “...
Around and around we go

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Wed, Oct 1

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

At the north end of Prudence Island, in Narragansett Bay, lies a quiet anchorage that I frequent in my fall sailing slack time. It’s called Potter’s Cove. A few weeks back I went up there to read and walk the island’s roads. There’s no noise; however, you can hear cows mooing — a family of Belted...
Ed Early, a citizen of the world

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Tue, Sep 2

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Ed Early grew up in Virginia. He started surfing the Outer Banks of North Carolina when he was eight. After high school he received a B.A. from Virginia Tech, and then went on to serve in a top secret capacity during the Vietnam War ― he dressed in civilian clothes, was strapped with a pistol, and...
50/50

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, Aug 11

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Sometimes we stumble into things in life for which there is neither rhyme nor reason. It’s just life as it is. Fifty years ago, as a result of doing something wrong in ninth grade, I had to write something for a teacher. It was purely punitive; academia had nothing to do with this after school...
"Read"

By

J. V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, Jul 28

Category:

News, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The cheapest yet most valuable behavior a human being can do is read. Born from this paradox comes the evolution of intelligence. From this act, we can be entertained, informed and persuaded. Without participating in this act, our brains will not be exercised, and will not expand. Critical thinking...
Nautical tales: The Whaleship, Charles W. Morgan

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Mon, Jul 14

Category:

News, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

According to Nat Philbrick, author of “In the Heart of the Sea,” subtitled, The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" (soon to be a major motion picture), “The Charles W. Morgan , was a true state-of-the-art vessel, not built for speed, but what counted, providing a safe and effective...
Galilee’s Steve Hull

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Tue, Jun 3

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Galilee resident Steve Hull has been working the docks lumping out fishing draggers for the past 34 years. Being what is known as a “lumpa” involves getting down in the hold of a boat, and unloading the fish. “It’s basically humping the fish out of the hold as fast as you can,” says Hull, smiling...
Writer's Block

Schlepping

By

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Mon, May 5

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Sometimes a simple word can inspire further examination for a topic for this scribbler. A few months ago, while giving a musician friend a ride to rehearsal for a gig, she made an observation. “Ya know, it can be quite a schlep" — it was dark and stormy that night — "getting ready for a show, but...
Dog drama on land or by sea

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Tue, Apr 15

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

It’s been said that some clueless guys could screw up a taxi ride. I’m that guy; never wanted to be that guy, but recently a couple of things happened that cemented my reputation of being that guy. My latest good intentions involved our dogs, Sailor the cockapoo, and MacTavish the Scottie. Sailor...
10,000 hours

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Tue, Apr 8

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In 2008, Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book called “Outliers.” His thesis is basically this: if you work at something for 10,000 hours, then you have a shot at mastery and maybe even some success. More to the point is the old adage, “practice makes perfect.” Two interesting examples in his book deal...
The Dock Master

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Mon, Mar 10

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“This is the motor vessel Muggs, and we’re approaching the marina presently,” says an assertive voice. “Yeah cap, you’ll be making your portside approach to Dock C, please have a bow, spring and stern line ready, and your bumpers rigged. We’ll be at the dock waiting for you,” says Mark Holden, the...
The Folklorist

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Mar 1

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Peter Bartis was my next door neighbor when we were kids growing up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He got me reading books, taught me stuff on the guitar, and nudged me forward academically. Peter always wanted to know where things originated. We were talking about a Bob Dylan song once. “But where...
Mark Twain’s Shed

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Feb 8

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In my new book, “Sheds,” I explored the places where some very interesting people create their work. My boat is my shed. In fact, I’m writing this column in said shed right now. This is also where I wrote the original “Sheds” piece for The Block Island Times ; then the...
Muckraking

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Jan 25

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

This season, a perfect storm of stimuli informed this column. My daughter Emily gave me a book for Christmas by Jessica Mitford called “Poison Penmanship, The Gentle Art of Muckraking.” In addition to this, I read snatches of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s new book on Theodore Roosevelt, “Bully Pulpit.”...
The Chappy Ferry

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Dec 28

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The Chappaquiddick Ferry, a.k.a. the Chappy Ferry, is punctual. The On Time II, runs between Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard and Chappaquiddick Island. The trip takes one minute. Back and forth she goes every day. Here’s the drill: the 55-foot ferry leaves the dock after crewmember; Maddie...
Mike Plant, an ocean adventurer, lost at sea

Sat, Dec 21

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In 1991, I met a solo racing sailor named Mike Plant in Newport while he was working on his 60-foot ocean racer Duracell . He had just sailed around the world in a race called the BOC Challenge. The 27,000 mile race is done in four legs: Newport to Cape Town, South Africa to Sydney to Rio...
A bikeabout

By

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Nov 30

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Fifteen years ago, a guy and a girl came tearing into the Block Island ferry parking lot in Point Judith on bicycles ― heavily laden with gear. “Hey mate, I guess we missed the boat, eh,” said the guy. “Yes you did, and uh, it’s the last ferry,” said I. The guy Tom, and his fiancée, Jodi, had been...
Baby-Boomers beware, this could happen to you

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Nov 1

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

If you’re a baby-boomer sans grandkids — or with, for that matter — then you probably have a pet of some kind: a dog, cat, ferret, parrot, snake or some type of exotic fish. You get my drift here? Bottom line is, by the time we reach our golden years there is a good chance we will still...
A fictional battle from the Civil War

By

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sat, Oct 19

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Wendy Jo Cohen is a filmmaker from New York City. Her mom and dad sailed aboard the sloop Clearwater , which was spearheaded by the folksinger and activist Pete Seeger. The mission of the Clearwater was to bring environmental awareness regarding the condition of the Hudson River...

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