I’ve been baffled ever since the Long Island shelter was promptly shut down after the bridge was closed, and equally mystified over the debate concerning a new bridge (“Walsh starts new year with vow,’’ Page A1, Jan. 2). There are over a quarter million registered boats in Massachusetts. People have been living on, and thriving on islands off the New England coast for almost 400 years. It is our legacy. How hard could it be to simply erect a temporary dock while building a more permanent one. We have commuter ferries, we have shuttles to the harbor islands for recreational purposes. A boat trip to Long Island would take a couple minutes. In emergencies we have fireboats, and we have med-flight helicopters that could be at the shelter faster than any ambulance. City officials should have taken the closing of the bridge in stride and not overreacted by shutting down the shelter. A fleet of skiffs should have been roused to service immediately, while a permanent water approach was constructed.

David DeInnocentis

North Andover