Thacher Island boats carried 725 visitors this summer; Rockport panel backs predator removal to protect rare rabbits

Rockport's town boats made 216 round trips to Thacher Island this summer, carried 725 passengers and sent $9,427 in ticket money to the town's general fund, the Thacher and Straitsmouth Island Town Committee heard at its Oct. 1 meeting.

The volunteer committee runs the town owned island, its twin lighthouses and the boats that take visitors out from Granite Pier. Members spent most of the meeting on how to run next summer better, and voted to back a federal plan to remove raccoons and mink that threaten a colony of rare New England cottontail rabbits.

What happened

• The season's numbers: 216 round trips, 725 passengers, 256 tickets sold, $9,427 to the town. Weather canceled 28 Thacher trips and 10 Straitsmouth trips, and no boat reached Straitsmouth in July.
• Of 195 people whose trips were canceled, 67 were rebooked, 40 of them on rain dates.
• Tentative 2027 plan: the season runs June 2 to Aug. 25, with a rain date boat every three weeks on a Thursday instead of once a month.
• The committee voted to endorse the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's plan to remove predators from Thacher Island next spring.
• Only four active boat captains remain. Two volunteers plan to take the licensing course this winter.

How the summer went

The volunteer who handles bookings said the boats had enough seats, but weather was the problem. She counted 124 trips to Thacher with 28 canceled, and only 7 trips to Straitsmouth with 10 canceled. When a trip was canceled she called everyone and offered a rebooking before opening seats to the wait list. The three rain date boats, one a month, filled up. On one July rain date, all but one person from the canceled trip the day before came back.

Chair Syd Wedmore proposed a rain date every three weeks on a Thursday for 2027. One boat would make three trips, to Thacher, to Straitsmouth or both, filled first by people whose trips were canceled and then from the wait list. A fourth trip would run only if four or more people were waiting. Boat captain Bob Krause said two boatloads, about 12 paying passengers, should be the minimum to send a crew out. George Langer, who was on another town Zoom call at the same time, said the rain dates should not start as early as June.

The tentative 2027 schedule: the first Thacher trip Wednesday, June 2; Straitsmouth trips starting June 8 and running every other Tuesday; the first rain date June 24; the last Thacher trip Aug. 25, with a rain date Aug. 26.

Free trips for groups

Several groups went out free this year: Cub Scouts, the Council on Aging, the Annisquam Yacht Club, the Rockport Rotary Club and a Salem Maritime group. Patty Wegmann asked the committee to set rules for which groups ride free, so the boat crews and docents are not overloaded by requests passed from one group to the next. The chair said the practice has been to carry town groups, nonprofits and civic groups at no charge, but some requests now fall in a gray area. He suggested that anyone sponsoring a group bring it to the committee and the island association for a vote. The committee also reviewed its donor policy as the chair described it: a donor of $1,000 or more can be fitted onto a scheduled trip, and a donor of $5,000 or more on a day of their choosing. No vote was taken; the chair said the rules will be refined.

Docents and the gift cart

Docents put in 126 days this season at the pier, on the island and in the lighthouse. The chair floated moving the gift cart from the boathouse to the island museum so sales would not get in the way of landing boats. A volunteer who works with the docents said she had called five of them and all opposed it. Visitors buy shirts while waiting for the boat home, she said, and a docent alone in the museum would have no backup when the card reader fails. Members suggested keeping a few sizes of each shirt on the cart instead, or moving the cart a short distance from the boathouse.

The chair closed the discussion with a decision: the boat crews, not the docents, will be responsible for counting passengers out and back, and the docents will focus on visitors and sales. Krause said every boat already carries a printed manifest from the booking system. The details will be worked out in the spring.

Captains and licenses

Krause said he has four active captains, counting himself, and two spend the winter in Florida. Two volunteers plan to take the course for a six passenger captain's license over the winter and are being cross trained. The license, course and exam cost more than $1,000, which the committee helps with, and the course runs seven days. Krause said the current captains have perhaps one or two years left and the island will need more.

Rabbits and predators

A Fish and Wildlife Service representative said a crew would go to the island Oct. 2 to release seven more New England cottontail rabbits fitted with radio collars, track the ones already there and collect the memory cards from the game cameras. The cameras have shown at least two raccoons and two mink on the island. After talking with other biologists who manage cottontail colonies, the refuge wants to contract with the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to remove the predators, starting next spring, over a few days and nights on the island.

The committee voted to endorse the plan. Wegmann voted yes but asked for background material on how the animals would be removed or relocated.

Money and the boats

The chair read the treasurer's report: $1,330.22 available for fuel and operating costs, $801.86 in the wages account, $1,099.95 in the Thacher Island gift account and $2,753.68 in the capital projects reserve. He said the treasurer's gift account figure and the town's do not match.

Both boats were still in the water for a final volunteer outing Oct. 2. After that the crew will recover seven moorings and their pickup lines, and within about a week both boats should be hauled, trailered and sent to Crocker's for winterizing.

The association's meeting

After the town committee adjourned, the Thacher Island Association, the nonprofit that supports the islands, held its own meeting on the same call. Its officer reported total assets of about $1.326 million, with about $450,000 set aside for the south tower renovation. Through Aug. 31 the association had taken in about $87,000 of its $133,000 income budget and spent about $107,000 of its $176,000 expense budget. He thanked the town's Community Preservation Committee for $200,000 a year in town funds for three years running. An Amelia Peabody grant application was rejected; a state cultural grant application is next. The association will sell merchandise at Rockport's Harvest Fest on Oct. 17.

What was decided

• Minutes of Aug. 20: approved by roll call, six ayes heard, none opposed.
• Treasurer's report: accepted by roll call, eight yes, none opposed.
• Endorse the Fish and Wildlife Service plan to remove raccoons, mink and other predators from Thacher Island: approved by roll call, seven ayes heard, none opposed.
• Boat crews take over the passenger count; docents focus on visitors and sales: decided by the chair, to be worked out in the spring.
• Send the island newsletter to every Community Preservation Committee member and the Select Board: agreed.
• Adjourn: by unanimous consent at about 8:10 p.m.

What happens next

• Rabbit release and camera check on the island Oct. 2; a report on any rabbit kits is expected at the next meeting.
• Boats hauled for the winter within about a week of the meeting.
• Free trip rules and the docent and boat crew duties come back for more discussion.
• The 2027 schedule is tentative until the committee confirms it.

Where to find the records

• Thacher and Straitsmouth Islands Committee page on the town website.
• Oct. 1 agenda in the town's document portal.
• Recorded Zoom meetings, where the town posts the recording.

Earlier coverage: Gloucester planners take up Sargent Street subdivision Thursday as council panels weigh police grants (Oct. 1), which listed this meeting.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online and checked item names against the agenda. Figures are as stated on the recording; the committee's minutes will carry the official record. These are our meeting notes, not the committee's minutes.