Vault update Our Feb. 28 "From the Vault" photo showed a teacher from the Marine Academy of Science and Technology (MAST) sliding down on a rope and pulley from the simulated crow's nest of a sinking ship during a demonstration of turn-of-the-century rescue techniques at Sandy Hook. Unfortunately, so many of the photos in our archives have little or no information to put them in context, aside from a date, name or other loose details scribbled on the back. We often use those bits of information as a starting point and go to our microfilm library to fill in the blanks, but that's sometimes not possible. In last week's case, we noted in the caption that the date of the photo could not be determined. However, we're happy to report that the brave woman in that photo reached out to us on Thursday and filled us in on the back story. As she e-mailed us: "In today's Independent, page 40, Feb. 28, I was surprised to see a photo 'From the Vault' - I was (no kidding!) in the process of designing a page for my scrapbook with the original. The date was Aug. 2, 1989, and my name is Christine Burger. I still live in Holmdel and I still teach at the Marine Academy of Science and Technology at Sandy Hook. This is my 20th year there." According to Burger, the National Park Service used to host these reenactments of U.S. Life Saving Service (which became the Coast Guard in 1915) techniques every year at Sandy Hook, but has since stopped. She could not say what the exact height of the crow's nest was, but said it was comparable to a telephone pole. As nervous as she would get climbing to the top of the pole, Burger says she actually misses doing it today. - Karl Vilacoba