The Cape Cod Canal was still an idea. And it would be years before the advent of navigational tools that are taken for granted today such as radar and global positioning systems. Mariners could only communicate with each other and the shore by sight and sound, and they established their location in the huge expanse of ocean with the aid of a sextant, clock and compass if the sky was clear.

The Rev. Vincent G. (Chip) Seadale has been the rector at the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown only since last November and already the 49-year-old and his wife, Colleen, have immersed themselves in Island life.

“The whole thing is a blessing. I am in a honeymoon. Everything here is wonderful. Colleen and I are happy here,” he said.

When Joseph Dockter, 35, interviewed for the position of pastor at the Vineyard Assembly of God in Tisbury late last August, he talked about the spiritual story of Rev. Thomas Mayhew, who brought Christianity to the Vineyard in the 1600s. It was an inspirational story for him, and he couldn’t help but draw a connection between the old story and the work he wanted to do on the Vineyard.

That conversation and interview on Monday, August 31, earned him the job. He was offered the position that night.

After nearly two centuries, the Lambert’s Cove Church became but a memory last Sunday.

It was the worst weather year in memory. Summer didn’t arrive until August and there was rainfall, record-breaking rainfall. The Vineyard received, as of Wednesday morning, 53.68 inches of rain in 2009, which is almost eight inches more than its annual average.