A Unique Kind of Boat
To the editor:
Your reporter did a nice job on the obituary for my sister, June Finch [July 1, page A21], but I want to correct a couple of things:
“Eskimo boats,” to anybody not familiar with the history of Provincetown, means kayaks or umiaks. But in Provincetown, “Eskimo boats” were sailboats, 22 to 23 feet in length, lapstrake, flat-bottomed, with a shallow keel. They were designed by Jot Small, who went north with MacMillan and liked the design of the boats they saw there (probably, the umiak). The length, he thought, was ideal for the waves in Cape Cod Bay.
There were nine of them built, and they raced in the 1930s until World War II. Our great-aunt, Margaret “Margie” Seaver, owned #7, the Ipah, built in 1930. They all had Inuit names. “Ipah,” as I recall, means “friend.” I believe that #1, originally the Akpah and renamed Ipah II, now sits somewhere on dry land in North Truro.
Also, June’s brother Robert never played the piano. He played the banjo and the guitar.
Robert S. Gebelein
Durham, N.C.
The writer was a Provincetown resident for 50 summers and 20 winters.
An ‘Egregious Omission’
To the editor:
Your article “Ice Cream, Soft Serve, and Gelato: We Take Our Licks” [July 1, page A16) was welcome, useful, and generally accurate, but it had one egregious omission: Bob’s Sub and Cone at 814 Route 6 in Wellfleet.
The article tended to focus on the yuppie ice cream shops that have popped up in the area in the past few years. All are indeed excellent. Bob’s, however, is one of the last old-time family-run joints with soft serve (and Gifford’s Ice Cream) left on the Outer Cape.
The ice cream may not be as elegant as most of the ones you list, but for the experience of summertime ice cream on the roadside, surrounded by sticky children and locals, this place tops them all, and it’s the only one with both chocolate and butterscotch dips. For shame!
Nicky Moore
Truro
A Maple Walnut Fan
To the editor:
Thank you for the generous scoop on ice cream parlors in last week’s issue. A small point: One of the treasures of being on the Outer Cape is the presence of maple walnut ice cream. This quintessential New England flavor is rapidly becoming extinct. I encourage everyone to try it. It is New England summer!
Keep up the great work keeping us in the food loop.
Robert S Johnson
New York City and Wellfleet