CANCELLATION NOTICE: Author John Rousmaniere has unfortunately had to cancel his sailing talk that was scheduled for Sunday, August 16, 2020. In its place, HLFM Director Pierce Rafferty will host a screening of his recorded Illustrated Talk ‘The History of Farming on Fishers Island,’ which was funded by a generous grant from the Jeanann Gray Dunlap Foundation.

Co-directed by Marisela LaGrave, this production chronicles the full sweep of farms and farm activity on Fishers Island by both American Indians and the Winthrop stock farmers that replaced them. Farming was our island’s dominant economic activity for more than two centuries following first European settlement in the 1640s, yielding at the west end in the 1870s when a resort was first established. Even after that development, farming continued on the eastern two thirds of the island for another 50 years. There were dairy farms, gamekeeping farms, and poultry farms. In the late 1890s, Fishers Island was arguably better known around the world for its famous poultry than as a summer resort. Before tennis and golf, there were cows, sheep, and chickens.

A talk by John Rousmaniere.

Challenging, romantic, and (some think) strange—the challenges and appeals of sailing always inspire entertaining discussion. The debate will be reviewed by John Rousmaniere, along with a few sea stories and tips for safe sailing.

A widely experienced sailor, Rousmaniere has written widely about the sport in books that include Fastnet, Force 10 (about a storm he survived), The Annapolis Book of Seamanship (a “boating bible”), and histories of races and organizations, including the Fishers Island Yacht Club.