Escapade in Somesville, MDI

John Singer Sargent

Schooner Catherine, Somesville, Maine

1920 - 1925

I was excited to discover this John Singer Sargent watercolor.  I've spent a lot of time in museums and galleries, and pouring over books and the internet looking at 19th - 20th C. paintings of Maine and of course I still have so much more to see, but this is one that surprised me - and it's Somesville!

I guess it shouldn't be so surprising because Sargent did spend time on Mount Desert Island with his cousin, Mary Hale, at her summer home in Bar Harbor and also with an artist-friend, Dwight Blaney, on Ironbound.  I do get star-struck, though, even 100 years later, discovering that John Singer Sargent was right here, right where I live, on MDI.

Schooner Catherine, Somesville, c1950
MDI Historical Society

"The lumber schooner Catherine was reported by Virginia Somes Sanderson to have been built in 1833 and abandoned in Somes Cove in 1935. The Mystic Seaport Ship's Register documents a schooner Catherine built in 1848 in Belfast with a port of Ellsworth. It was traditional for sailing vessels to be repaired while grounded out in the harbors of Mount Desert Island. As of 2012, her timbers can still be seen at low tide. The back of the Somesville Library is visible on the left. Fernald's Store; later A.J. Whiting Store, then Port-in-a-Storm Bookstore, presently Frenchman's Bay Gallery; is second from left. Nathan Salisbury house is third from left. The Lewis Some house is fourth from left. The Somes House Inn is on the right, covered by trees across the Cove. On the back of the photo are the words, "The Sunken Schooner Catherine after people dismantled her."" (MDI Historical Society)


"As of 2012, her timbers can still be seen at low tide."  Hmmm.  OK, let's see if I can see them at low tide today . . .

. . . So, at about 3:30 pm today, which was low tide, I drove into Somesville on my way to play tennis in Ellsworth.  I stopped and parked at the Somesville Library and saw that it was, in fact, extremely low tide.  From the library lawn I looked out and felt sure that I spotted the wreck of the Catherine.  It was far away though, and I wanted to get closer, which meant that I had to trek along the shore of the inlet below the high water line over rocks, seaweed, marsh grass, and mud and sand.  It looked doable.

Timbers of the Catherine from the Somesville Library (photo taken with telephoto)

I started out around the shoreline, hesitating because the footing was precarious.  I was wearing my tennis clothes, including my shoes, which was a mistake - made very clear when I stepped into mud - damn, too late, but I kept going, slowly, not letting go of my camera.  "yikes" - "whoa" - "shit"

Made it - how cool the wreck looked.

Standing with the Catherine looking back toward the Somesville Library (upper left)

  

Looking in the direction of Somes Pond

Catherine's frames and ribs

Looking east

It was time to leave and trek back to my car.  I was concerned about the time and the traffic I would inevitably face leaving the island at 4:00 pm.  (August on MDI)  I tripped and slipped most of the way along the shore, but I felt I had it figured out.  I wondered if anyone was watching me or if anyone would tell me I shouldn't be there.  No one seemed to care.

Good thing.  Because just as I was about to finally step to secure ground, my foot slid into a hollow hidden underneath the marsh grass and I lost my balance, cracking my shin on a rock and falling into a complete backward somersault landing on my back.  I just laid there for awhile staring into the sky, not even believing what had just happened.  As I stood up eventually, camera still in my grip, I looked at my shin and then my muddy shoes and clothes, and then, cried for a minute.  I felt alone, kind of like a little kid needing a hug - and I thought, "Damn . . . these pictures better be good."

It's really much, much worse than it looks, honest.

So I drove to Ellsworth, put my adventure aside, played tennis for two hours, and now I'm home.  The pictures came out OK, but I can't move without aching - the result of two hours of tennis plus gymnastics on the Somesville shore. 

My poor K-Swiss

I have to remember that my escapade was inspired by John Singer Sargent's watercolor of the Catherine.  His painting of light and the white of the sails, tenders, water, and atmosphere, and of the physicality and elegance of the Catherine is so beautiful to me.  It's remarkable, too, that the Catherine remains in the same location that John Singer Sargent stood to observe her and find the beauty of that moment almost 100 years ago.  I'm so excited to have been able to share that, in a way, and I have the bruises to prove it.