The Makers Issue
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RHODE ISLAND'S OCEAN AND COASTAL MAGAZINE VOL 14 NO 1 SPRING/SUMMER 2021 41°N THE MAKERS ISSUE A PUBLICATION OF RHODE ISLAND SEA GRANT & THE COASTAL INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND41˚N spring • A /SEAsummer GRANT 2021 INSTITUTIONFC FROM THE EDITOR 41°N EDITORIAL STAFF Monica Allard Cox, Editor Judith Swift Alan Desbonnet Meredith Haas Amber Neville ART DIRECTOR Ernesto Aparicio PROOFREADER Lesley Squillante MAKING “THE MAKERS” PUBLICATIONS MANAGER Tracy Kennedy not wanting the art of quahog tong making to be “lost to history,” Ben Goetsch, Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council COVER aquaculture coordinator, reached out to us a while ago to ask if we Portrait of Ned Miller by Jesse Burke would be interested in writing about the few remaining local craftsmen sup- ABOUT 41°N plying equipment to dwindling numbers of quahog tongers. That request 41° N is published twice per year by the Rhode led to our cover story (page 8) as well as got us thinking about other makers Island Sea Grant College Program and the connected to the oceans—like wampum artists, salt makers, and boat Coastal Institute at the University of Rhode builders. We also looked more broadly at less tangible creations, like commu- Island (URI). The name refers to the latitude at nities being built and strengthened, as we see in “Cold Water Women” which Rhode Island lies. (page 2) and “Solidarity Through Seafood” (page 36). Rhode Island Sea Grant is a part of the And speaking of makers, we want to thank the writers and photographers National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- who make each issue possible—many are longtime contributors whose tration and was established to promote the names you see issue after issue and you come to know through their work. conservation and sustainable development of We are grateful they share their gifts with us, capturing stories from all marine resources for the public benefit through corners of our coastline and helping us to appreciate the many facets of research, outreach, and education Rhode Island’s ocean and coastal places and people. The URI Coastal Institute works in partner- ships to provide a neutral setting where knowl- While we recognize that our oceans and coasts, their resources, and the com- edge is advanced, issues discussed, information munities that depend on them are still facing challenges from climate change synthesized, and solutions developed for the to covid, we wanted in this issue to celebrate the beauty of the things sustainable use and management of coastal that people make from the ocean and for (and with) their neighbors. We hope ecosystems. The Coastal Institute works across these stories will give you a moment of respite amid the daily fray. and beyond traditional structures to encourage new approaches to problem solving. —MONICA ALLARD COX Change of address, subscription informa- Editor tion, or editorial correspondence: 41° N, Rhode Island Sea Grant, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett Bay Campus, Narragansett, RI 02882-1197. Telephone: (401) 874-6805. E-mail: [email protected] Reprinting material from 41° N is encour- aged, but we request that you notify us of your SUBSCRIPTIONS TO 41° N ARE FREE intentions, give credit to 41° N and the article’s author(s), and send us a copy of your final publication. Sign up online at 41Nmagazine.org IFC 41˚N spring/summer 2021 Contents COLD WATER WOMEN 2 Building connections in a niche surfing community by meredith haas FORGING ON 8 The last of the quahog tong makers by ellen liberman REVIVING THE ANCIENT CRAFT 18 OF SALT MAKING by meredith haas WAMPUM CRAFT 22 The power of a purple shell by sarah schumann BOOSTING THE BAND OF BOATBUILDERS 30 by todd mcleish SOLIDARITY THROUGH SEAFOOD 36 by kate masury LIBERIAN-STYLE FRIED FISH WITH 38 SWEET POTATO GREENS OR SPINACH WHALING CAPTAINS OF COLOR: 44 AMERICA’S FIRST MERITOCRACY By Skip Finley Reviewed by monica allard cox 41˚N spring/summer 2021 1 COLD WATER WOMEN BUILDING CONNECTIONS IN A NICHE SURFING COMMUNITY 2 41˚N spring/summer 2021 COLD WATER WOMEN BUILDING CONNECTIONS IN A NICHE SURFING COMMUNITY by Meredith Haas Photographs by Cate Brown 41˚N spring/summer 2021 3 FOCUS ON MAKERS it’s 7:30 a.m., and i don’t feel much like waiting in the lineup for their turn. As a set rolls in, I pulling myself from my warm bed on a Saturday morn- see one pop up and then another, gently cruising down ing, even though the sun is shining brightly through the line of a wave. With everyone all hooded up, it’s the window and the surf is up. The soft ping from my not easy to determine who is who until they’re under- phone on the nightstand summons me. way and I can see the color of their wetsuit or board, or I’m heading out now is all it reads. With a huff of the way they move on it. At the end of her ride, exertion, I roll out of bed and begin the process. my friend sees me and waves with a big smile. I’m glad It’s mid-March, which means the air is in the mid- she texted. 30s to 40s with water temperatures about the same. I pull on my knee-high wetsuit socks that make the next There’s a demographic of women you don’t see much part of pulling on the wetsuit 100 times easier. Win- of when it comes to surfing. Women consumed head ter wetsuits are not as flexible as their warm-weather to toe in thick neoprene, surfing in colder regions that counterparts, owing to a substantially thicker con- require wetsuits at least two-thirds of the year. struction of neoprene that provides protection from “You just never see representation like that,” says the painful cold. The socks reduce the friction, helping Abby Boone, a pediatric nurse and Wakefield-based the wetsuit glide on until my knees. From there, it’s a surfer. “Growing up and working at a surf shop, I just shimmy dance to get it over the rest of my body. can’t remember seeing magazines, TV, or movies Once encased and with booties on, I toss my showing women surfing in hoods. They were always in gloves, a handful of towels, a mug of coffee, and a surf- bikinis or short wetsuits.” board into a sand-filled car and head to the shore. At Boone, a cold-water surfer from York, Maine, has the break, I stuff my hair down the back of my wetsuit, been surfing for nearly 20 years and says there’s a pull over the hood that binds tightly around my head, whole community of women who surf cold conditions which mutes most ambient sounds, and pull on my day in and day out year-round who haven’t been rep- gloves—leaving only my face exposed. resented. “I felt like women in the Northeast were a My feet are protected from the periwinkle-studded demographic left out.” rocks as I wade out towards the surf—the wetsuit This drove Boone to start the Cold Water Women doing its job in keeping the cold water at bay. As the Instagram account as a way to celebrate this small water deepens and I begin to paddle, any stiffness niche within the surfing community and connect like- wears away. Eight other heads are bobbing in the water, minded women. Photograph by Onne van der Wal 4 41˚N spring/summer 2021 FACING ADVERSITY “I just wanted to celebrate real women in real con- Chrissy Duffy, left, and Abby Boone have bonded over ditions because this is just life for us. Many of us have a shared love of surfing. jobs we have to go to, [children], or other responsi- bilities, and are just stoked to surf when we can, even something so different about having a group of women when it’s hard,” she says. “I wanted to create a space for in the lineup. There’s a level of support and camara- us to connect and share that bond.” derie that’s truly organic and wonderful, and the more “The surfing may not be as flashy or aggressive as women who can feel that ... is a win in my book.” our male counterparts,” says Chrissy Duffy, a pharma- For Medelise Reifsteck, a real estate agent and cist and Narragansett-based surfer who helped inspire Matunuck-based surfer, it was the first time she had Boone to start Cold Water Women. “But there is grace, seen anyone in the New England surfing community beauty, and a sense of light heartedness that comes highlighting women. “It was really nice to see someone with these women.” focusing on the women. That’s what I love about [Cold To capture that grace and beauty, Boone has relied Water Women].” on the support of many photographers up and down In the two years since it launched, Cold Water the New England coast who have contributed a number Women has expanded its reach beyond New England to of images to the account, says Boone, noting that the other cold-water communities of women from all over quality of images pays tribute to the women that are the world, whether it’s the Pacific Northwest, Nova passionate about surfing. Scotia, the U.K., or Denmark. “When Abby reached out to start this online com- “It has definitely helped to build connections in munity, I was totally supportive of her, her mission, Rhode Island and elsewhere,” says Boone, explaining and I certainly had content to contribute,” says Cate that Cold Water Women still only covers a fraction of Brown, a Rhode Island-based photographer who can the women out in the water but that it is has helped often be found as a bobbing head amongst the surfers, connect her personally to more women surfers locally, geared with her fins and camera ready to capture those and she hopes to connect with those abroad once the nose rides, party waves, or steep drops.