Neighbors nudge floating island
SPRINGFIELD -- When Kenneth Crimmins moved here from Vermont years ago, he thought he was settling on the edge of a small patch of woods. He didn't know that he had waterfront property and that the woods were actually a rare floating island that had docked in his backyard.
This month, the 10,000-square-foot island settled on a different shore on Island Pond. Yesterday, Crimmins and others watched as workers once again hauled it to the middle of the pond. It took eight men using two cables capable of pulling 45 tons three hours to ''re-float" the island.
The island, though an interesting oddity, is a bit of an eyesore and has a funny smell, Crimmins said. With no island in his backyard, he has a better view and fewer mosquitoes, he said.
William Lodi has lived on the edge of Island Pond for about 20 years and said he's seen the island get stuck a dozen or so times.
''It doesn't bother anybody in the middle -- they like to see it go back and forth," Lodi said.
Specialists say the floating island is one of few in the country and perhaps dates back centuries.
Scientists suggest that the island is, at its base, made up of a webbing of tree roots and other organic material. Methane gas is believed to contribute to its ability to float. The trees on it act as sails and routinely send it on a slow careen around the pond.
Every few years, according to neighbors, it crashes into someone's backyard, sometimes taking out a tree or fence.
''It's been all over," said Philip Cote, who has lived in the neighborhood for 44 years.
C.J. Morel, of CJ's Towing in Springfield, said his crew hooked straps around four of the island's biggest trees and attached them to cables. Then a truck on the opposite end of the pond pulled until the island came free.
A worker stationed on the island whooped when he felt the island move underneath him, as it sailed back to the center of the 10-acre pond.
The pond and island are owned by Cathedral High School, which paid about $5,000 for the island to be towed. That money, principal John Miller said, is coming out of the school's operating budget. The school is funded by the Springfield Diocese.
