March –Project USE

We started our 2008 season with an overnight stay of staff members from Project USE. Because they came so early in the season, the group had no running water or electricity. They also had to paddle their own boats to Sedge because our pontoon boat is not yet in the water. Unusually cold spring weather continued with below freezing temperatures the morning of their arrival. Although it warmed up somewhat on the second day, our standard uniform, both inside the house and out, was ski jackets and wool hats.

Some of the twelve participants were new staff who had only been with the group for several days. In spite of their lack of time together they worked very well as a team. After moving their things into the McLain House, they divided into work groups. Some cleaned the inside of the house. Some moved the kayaks and swept out the boathouse. But the major work project was construction of a new osprey platform.

On the morning of the second day we moved the prefabricated osprey platform across the thorofare to a salt marsh island south of the house. We dug a three and a half foot hole in one of the higher places on the marsh. Then we raised the pole into place. This requires good coordination of several teams pulling on guy ropes to make sure the top heavy tower does not fall when it is almost up. We finished the job by filling in around the pole with sand and mud. We were very pleased to see an osprey fly over to inspect our work and then land on one corner of the new nest platform as we paddled away.