Astrolabe
- Selective Packing March 24, 2021 The nitty-gritty of filming the East Caicos Expedition documentary. By Matthew Matlack ~ Photos by Matthew Matlack and John Galleymore Filming the East Caicos Expedition documentary was a thrilling endeavor. I had not been camping in years, I had just one experience under my belt filming in caves (which had a gift shop with snacks at the ... Read more about this post
- People of the Islands March 24, 2021 Telling “A Caicos Sloop Story.” Story and Photos By Michael P. Pateman, Ph.D. and Vanessa A. Forbes-Pateman In the Summer 2019 Astrolabe, we introduced “People of the Islands.” This project seeks to tell the story of “Islanders” through a first-person narrative. The various interview topics include boat building, food/cooking, bush medicine, island migration, cultural traditions, music, dance, ... Read more about this post
- TCI in World War II January 3, 2021 The Fauna, Part II 1942 By Captain Eric Wiberg In the Summer 2020 issue of the Astrolabe, the author detailed the first part of the tale of the Fauna, a 1,272-ton Dutch steamship. The Fauna left New York on May 6, 1942 destined for Grand Turk with a crew of 29 men and a load of cargo, ... Read more about this post
- Modern Crusoes January 3, 2021 The rest of the story. By Jeffrey Dodge In 2017, the Astrolabe published a story I wrote about 19 Californians who went to East Caicos in 1940 with the intention of establishing a utopian colony there. (See: https://www.timespub.tc/2018/01/modern-crusoes/). Since that article was published, I have been contacted by descendants of the group’s leader, Richard Irvine. They’ve shared ... Read more about this post
- A Salty Mystery October 2, 2020 Why would anyone copy this old picture postcard? By Jeffrey Dodge ~ Images Courtesy Jeffrey Dodge Why, in the early 1920s, would someone on Grand Turk island want to copy a specific 1906 picture postcard that was out of print and no longer obtainable? Was the picture on this 1906 postcard of special interest to someone? Most ... Read more about this post
- Lucayan Legacies October 2, 2020 Images of the past. By Joanna Ostapkowicz ~ Images By Merald Clark (copyright) In 2017 during a visit to the National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, I came across a temporary exhibit filled with children’s paintings focusing on island history, both past and present. At the very start of the exhibition were several paintings showing Columbus laying ... Read more about this post
- TCI in World War II June 25, 2020 The Fauna, Part I, 1942 By Captain Eric Wiberg, Boston, MA What is remarkable about the sinking and the loss of the Fauna off the Turks & Caicos Islands is that her destination was the TCI, and her survivors spent nearly three weeks essentially circumnavigating the Islands in a lifeboat and a local sailboat over the course ... Read more about this post
- Foodways, Life and Archaeology June 25, 2020 How ancient people cooked on Providenciales. Story & Photos By Dr. Andy J. Ciofalo Food is a social lubricant, which means it brings us together, gets people talking and is a central point of gatherings, holidays and life. Do you remember cooking your last meal? The way you sliced, pounded, boiled or roasted the vegetables damaged small ... Read more about this post
- The Layers of History March 24, 2020 East Caicos is a treasure trove of relics. Story & Photos By John Galleymore When I was very young, I was shown at school a very basic picture depicting “How History Works.” It showed layers of the Earth with the oldest relics the deepest and those more recent near the surface. I soon came to discover this ... Read more about this post
- Cave Art March 24, 2020 The Lucayan petroglyphs of East Caicos. By Dr. Michael P. Pateman Archaeological studies of the Lucayan Islands (which includes The Bahamas and Turks & Caicos Islands) have mainly focused on settlement surveys and large scale village excavations. However, early archaeologists (late 19th and early 20th century) focused most of their efforts on the cave systems of these ... Read more about this post
- TCI in WWII December 4, 2019 Survivors of U-Boats: Vineland in 1942, Part II By Captain Eric Wiberg In the Fall 2019 issue of Astrolabe, the author detailed the sinking of the Canadian dry-bulk ship Vineland, on April 20, 1942 by the German submarine U-154 while it was roughly 90 miles north of North Caicos. The survivors voyaged in three lifeboats until they ... Read more about this post
- Going Under December 4, 2019 Searching lost wrecks on Salt Cay. Story & Photos By Dr. Joost Morsink and Dr. Ruud Stelten South of Grand Turk, a small and sleepy island rests in the Atlantic Ocean: Salt Cay. With approximately 90 inhabitants on 2.6 square miles, this is the least populated of the main inhabited islands in the Turks & Caicos Islands. ... Read more about this post
- TCI in WWI and WWII September 13, 2019 Survivors of U-Boat strikes on Stifinder (1918) and Vineland (1942). By Capt. Eric Wiberg ~ Images Courtesy Eric Wiberg Recently, the topic of German and Italian submarine depredations in the Turks & Caicos Islands, Bahamas, Caribbean and US has risen to the surface more often. This includes knowledge of the discovery of the arrival of German naval ... Read more about this post
- To the Rescue July 11, 2019 Community teamwork investigates early island culture. By Dr. Shaun D. Sullivan and Dr. Michael P. Pateman ~ Photos Courtesy Turks & Caicos National Museum In the fall of 2018, local volunteers and students came together in a community effort to record a key part of the culture of early Turks & Caicos Islanders. They came from nearby ... Read more about this post
- Bold & Unapologetic July 11, 2019 People of the Islands in front of the lens. By Michael P. Pateman and Vanessa A. Pateman “People of the Islands” is the National Museum’s new oral history/ethnography program. This project seeks to tell the story of “Islanders” of the Bahama Archipelago through their own voice, with a first person narrative. Oral histories are stories that living ... Read more about this post
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Marta Morton, our ace photographer for all things beautiful in nature photographed this little female Bahama woodstar hummingbird collecting nectar from Ixora flowers by the pool at Harbour Club. View more of her images at www.harbourclubvillas.com
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