Witches and Websites and Eelgrass, oh my!
The autumnal colors are upon us. The weather is riveting. And, as ever, the water is warm and inviting. Here are a couple of updates to whet your whistle for fall.
Witches for Clean Water!
Last weekend, APC board members joined Paddle Diva X Wych’s Bloom for the 2nd annual Witches’ Paddle on Three Mile Harbor benefitting the Eastern Long Island Chapter of Surfrider’s Blue Water Task Force. It was a gorgeous, late fall afternoon with sparkling sunlight and a light breeze as 40 or more witches took to the water at the head of the harbor by the Paddle Diva launching ramp.
Paddling as a witch? Why, yes! It’s fun and it brings our community together to protect our waters, a cause for which the APC always has time. Pointed hats and costumes abound to celebrate Surfrider’s clean water initiatives at Three Mile Harbor and across eastern Long Island. Did you know that Surfrider’s Blue Water Task Force has the most extensive water testing program of any non-profit, testing our local waters 2X weekly in summer, and 1X weekly in winter to constantly monitor what is happening locally? More importantly, one of those testing sites is Accabonac Harbor which gives the APC regular updates on how water quality is fairing in the harbor. You can find Surfrider’s water testing results on their website.
And, if you’d like to help, volunteer water testers are welcomed. The commitment involves taking a water sample on Monday morning and dropping it off at Main Beach by 9AM. They do the rest. Volunteers can contact Brody Eggert, the Eastern LI Chapter Manager: beggert@easternli.surfrider.org
Meanwhile, back on the water, our witches and warlocks paddled together to the opening of the harbor much to the excitement of local passerbys. Gina Bradley, our resident Paddle Diva, and Christina Blaustein, of Wych’s Bloom, led the procession and kept the spell casting to a minimum.
APC Launches New Website
We are excited to share a new development that has been in the works for over a year: Accabonac Protection Committee’s website!
Please visit our updated website created through the hard work of our current board members in order to bring APC’s news to you in a cleaner, more dynamic format. Now, you can navigate our most recent news, find out how to get involved and the history of APC’s work around the harbor.
Find out who serves on our board of directors, get the weather with just one click from our local Accabonac weather station, or learn the daily tides all in the same place! We are excited to serve you in all the ways to keep you connected to the water while also protecting it too.
Keep reading to find out about an interesting new volunteer opportunity.
Oyster Farmers! Looking for Volunteers
John Barley Dunn of the EH Hatchery who spoke at our annual member’s end-of-summer gathering this year is looking for volunteers to help Rob Vasiluth in the growing of eelgrass.
Rob has developed a novel method for eelgrass restoration that involves gluing eelgrass seeds to clams, then seeding the clams in order to give the eelgrass a foundation from which to grow. He will be at the nursery this weekend, October 31 & November 01, and is looking for any extra help he can find in completing this. He has about 20,000 clams and 100,000 seeds to get done this weekend.
If anyone has any time to spare he’d greatly appreciate the help. He will be there from 10-2 both Saturday and Sunday and the weather looks pretty good. Feel free to reply to him directly rvasiluth@gmail.com if you’re able to assist.