Articles
Surprise
On summer days on the water, we see what we are used to seeing: lobstermen about their work; little power boats buzzing here and there, soon come, soon gone; sailing yachts of various sizes and rigs. We see seals, porpoises, the occasional whale, gulls, ospreys, once in a while an eagle or a tern. These
FROM THE DECK:Images
Images. That is the photographer’s name for what we ordinary people call pictures, photographs. Most of us take pictures with a “blink box,” an ordinary camera or perhaps one of those disposable creatures with automatic focus, automatic exposure and a simple flash. Aim your blink box at your boat. Two hours later you will have
Hot Pursuit
In the last days of July, 1914, Europe resounded with saber rattling, mobilizations, counter mobilizations and ultimata back and forth – and with sincere efforts for peaceful solutions to insoluble problems. However, no one was at war when the North German Lloyd liner KRONPRINZESSIN CECILE sailed from New York for Southampton, England. She carried 1,1216
From the Deck: Sea Trials
As soon as a new boat is fit to move, she is taken out for sea trials. I saw the USS BOISE lashing Penobscot Bay into suds from Owls Head across to Stand In Point by shifting abruptly from full ahead to full reverse. And I pushed my five-year-old son off for a sea trial
From the Deck: A Remote Outpost with a Fiery History
Seal Island lies about eight miles southwest of Isle au Haut, nine miles south of Vinalhaven and six miles east of Matinicus in the mouth of Penobscot Bay. As we approached from Vinalhaven on a calm, cloudy day in early September, we saw it first as a dark crayon mark on the southern horizon with
From the Deck: Some launching!
On a foggy September 27, Hodgdon Yachts of East Boothbay launched the 154-foot ketch SCHEHERAZADE for Bill and Barbara Stewart of New York and Mt. Desert. She is the largest sailing yacht in New England, indeed on the east coast and some say in the western hemisphere. She has been four years a-building and she
From the Deck: Volunteer help
A wise old man told me, “If you haven’t been aground, you haven’t been anywhere.” I have proven him right a number of times and one of those times I hit the old sloop a very hard whack on a very hard rock and started a seam, squished the cotton right out of it. So
Portland Pipeline undertakes its own dredging project
In August, Portland Pipeline submitted an application to dredge the approach to Portland Harbor from inside Cushing Island to the Portland Pipeline pier. While the ramifications of this plan could be huge, David Cyr, President of Portland Pipeline said, “We feel we’ve been able to address all the concerns of the community.” Others agree. “Portland
The Admiral’s Daughter
A quiet, cloudy day on Boothbay Harbor and a light, southeasterly air, barely enough to fill the sails of our Friendship sloop EASTWARD but enough to please our one passenger, who was now at the wheel. She was a durable-looking lady, perhaps in her 50s and she spoke with a strong European accent, which I
From the Deck The loss of K-14
Early in July 1944, near the end of World War II, a German submarine had been reported near Mt. Desert Rock. Besides the patrol craft assigned to the area, the blimp K-14 was sent from Lakehurst, New Jersey, useful because it could hover over one spot and direct a surface attack. On the night of