The three-sub reference came from a number of sources, but we'll go with the official PNSY four-launch record. It is summarized in Richiard Winslow's new 200-year history of the Navy Yard called "Do Your Job!" The book contains an appendix with every Portsmouth-built ship listed by commission date - different from launching dates. We quote from page 157:

"On January 24 (1944) the Yard launched four submarines -- the Redfish, Ronquil, Razorback, and Scabbordfish - to establish a one-day record that still holds." We'll have our web site sanitized in a few minutes.
http://www.seacoaststore.com/store.cfm?StoreID=42
http://www.seacoastnh.com/navyyard/index.html

A tip for photographing when reflections are present, such as on the photo you dub "your worst" with C. Thaxter. Carry a LARGE black umbrella with you, and have someone hold it to block out reflections from windows or bright lights that fall upon other objects, such as the glassed picture you were photographing This also works if you are photographing outdoors and want to shoot into a display window. Place the umbrella behind you to eliminate bright sky reflections that appear on the window surface.

If you need extra light on a subject, have someone hold a BIG white umbrella or a large piece of white tagboard and that will reflect some light into a more shaded area. Covering a large piece of tagboard with shiny tinfoil will add even more light. Using the dull side of tinfoil will give a more subdued light. These techniques are also used by nature photographers who photograph flowers and plants and need some extra light on the subject..

Never stand squarely in front of any object that would reflect, such as a glass window, picture, metal, or even shiny wall surface, as your flash will reflect right back into your camera . Stand at an angle to your subject and the flash's reflection will bounce off at an opposite angle rather than appearing as a hot spot in the middle of your photo.
Barbara Hupp, New England Lighthouse Lovers
fotofriend@webtv.net

EDITOR'S REPLY: We use whatever camera comes our way, usually an "old" Epson Photo PC 600. Sometimes, when the batteries run dry, we grab a disposable, but actually paying to develop crummy photo images is now hard to do after years with a rechargeable "free" digital. Our camera takes nearly 250 images in low-res mode, about 75 in medium-resolution which we tend to use on our Disposable Camera Tours. Then the images is dumbed down to 72-dpt web resolution for use online.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/dct/whittier1.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/camtour.html

I would love to see stills of that if you could find them. This is so nice to know that I have an important movie producer in the family. Years ago before she died, I used to correspond with Virginia as she had helped me extensively with the deRochemont history. I have been doing the genealogy for some 25 years. If you have any other important information on the family de Rochemont I would love to see or hear from you. What I'm looking for is the ship that Maximillian deRochemont came over on in 1803. Supposedly he sailed from Demerary and landed in Portsmouth, NH on its way to NY. Everything that I've looked at is after 1890's & nothing that I can find from Demerary. if you can be of any help I'd be forever grateful.
Betty Amirault
eana@mediaone.net

EDITOR'S REPLY: The basic answer to your first question is right on the Louis de Rochemont page on our site. The 1958 film is called "Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich." The films was year-long documentary about the journey of a Norwegian square-rigger ship directed in part by son Louis de Rochemont III. On our web page you will see the cover of a hardcover photo book about the making of the film Windjammer. We have that "rare" book (which you can get for about a dollar any time on eBay) and we even have the 33 1/3 RPM soundtrack of the film. We're trying to figure out how to obtain cyber rights to put some of this info online for our readers. The film, sadly, has never been released on video.

Looks like your gram was slightly mistaken about Arthur Fiedler. Morton Gould actually composed the music. Fiedler appears in a segment when the ship was on the last leg of its journey and stopped by New England. Here's a diary entry from the journey from the book mentioned above.

OFF PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 208TH DAY: "We are on our way home with a fair, cold wind, but it will take a lot more than cold air to cool off our excitement after yesterday's performance by Sven Erik Libaek of the Grieg concerto with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra. The rest of us had forgotten about Sven Erik's resolve to audition for Mr. Fiedler, and we NEVER expected the maestro to bring the whole orchestra to the dock! We were proud of Even Erik, proud of our ship, proud of our country - and very proud of the friendships we have made in America." - Captain Yngvar Kjelstrup.

As to genealogy of the de Rochemont family, we'll take a pass. That's a job for experts. Born in Chelmsford, MA, Louis de Rochemont often noted that it was his family link to Seacoast NH that caused him to build his home in Newington at Blueberry Hill where he lived with his wife Virginia Shaler. Our hope is to eventually pull together a de Rochemont Film Festival to highlight the work of this formerly well known local filmmaker, best known for his March of Time cinema newsreels prior to the advent of TV.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/louis/filmography.html

Appledore Academy: I don't have any specific information on the academy, supposedly on Appledore during the 1600s. "They say" there was one, but I have never seen any primary source for the statement. Given that legends have some basis in fact, it may well be that there was one. However, I find it hard to believe that a bustling fishing community would be a suitable setting for an academy.

Curing of fish: You might find something of interest in a book by Raymond McFarland, History of New England Fisheries, published in 1911. Also, The Maritime History of Massachusetts - 1783-1863 by Samuel Eliot Morrison, published in 1921. Pages 13, 303 (and the accompanying footnote). Celia Thaxter, in her book, Among the Isles of Shoals, published in 1873, has a good description of the process on page 83. There is some good information in The Eastern Frontier: The Settlement of Northern New England 1610-1763 by Charles E. Clark, published in 1983 and which has an extensive bibliography.

I don't have good references for life on the Shoals in the early days. One source is the early volumes of the Maine Province and Court Records. Some of the court records give some into daily life. Another source for information on life at fishing village is the Trelawney Papers. These consist of letters exchanged concerning activities at a fishing station on Richmond Island off the coast of Maine in the 1630s. The reference is: The Trelawney Papers, edited by J.P. Baxter (1884) and are in the Maine Historical Society Collection. Faith did not have a more specific reference.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/shoals/index.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please091000.html