Articles
Doing Good Overseas – Once you go, you can’t wait to go back
“It’s too intense to maintain for more than two weeks,” said Islesford lobsterman Ted Spurling, Jr. of his volunteer work as a translator for a medical mission. That goes for many of the people on the Maine coast who give their time to help those less fortunate. Some do their volunteering through churches, others through
Lobsters by Mail – Just be sure the prospective recipient(s) will be home
What do you do when someone you went to school with from second grade on tells you he misses the taste of those wonderful Maine lobsters he remembers and asks you to have some top-notch ones shipped to where he now lives? (On him, of course.) You want to make sure he gets the best
Winter lobster- Understanding the “held” market
From January to spring is a poor time of year to order a shipment of lobster. It’s too cold. Lobsters don’t crawl until the water is 42 degrees F. on the ocean bottom and 46 degrees F. at the surface. By February, pretty much everyone has taken up his gear and is dubbing around in
Ingrid Bengis Seafood – An innovator improvises her way to success
It started with chanterelles, those frilly yellow mushrooms with pleated throats like the jabots women used to wear. By 1984, Ingrid Bengis, a finalist for the 1972 National Book Award for her searingly honest memoir, Combat in The Erogenous Zone: Writings on Love, Hate, and Sex (Alfred A. Knopf), had gone through the money earned
A Turkish import joins Maine’s boat scene
Sam Teel has a lot of energy. In addition to chairing the Marine Transportation department at Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) since 1992 he has been a visiting professor at the Turkish Maritime Academy and at a maritime component to one of the colleges within Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir, Turkey; and he has started two
“High-tech blacksmiths”- Using technology to improve propeller performance
It’s one thing to haul a boat out of the water periodically to remove encrusted marine life from the hull and propeller, but today’s high-performance engines call for high-tech methods to balance and tune propellers for maximum efficiency. Two companies use computers to fix boat propellers: Hale MRI and Prop Scan, an Australian propeller inspection
Hunger and Thirst
St. Martin’s Press, $23.95 Messing Things Up, as Only Families Can With all the good books out there waiting to be read, why would somebody from Maine want to read a book about a Jewish family in 1950s Chicago? Because Daniela Kuper’s Hunger and Thirst is about a lot more than just the Trout family,
Holiday Shopping: One Woman’s Solutions
Around September of each year I begin to worry about holiday gifts for family and friends. Because I’ve written a number of stories for The Working Waterfront about coastal and island craftspeople who make interesting and unusual products, I thought I might do some research and write up some suggestions for marine-oriented presents. Below is
Falling Dominoes – How little things add up to a big problem
Recently, the Coast Guard concluded its investigation into why the five-year-old, 35-foot mussel dragger LITTLE RASPY, of Jonesport, capsized and sank on Dec. 14, 2000, and why Capt. Dwayne A. Smith, 21, of West Jonesport; Dawson E. Allen, 22, of Jonesport; and Michael A. Laytart, 39, of Addison; the three fishermen aboard her, lost their
Damariscotta firm helps fishermen finance their businesses
Fishermen, like most people, need to borrow money to buy houses. But unlike the general population, they also need to borrow to buy fishing gear, trucks and fishing boats. Those fishermen who work hard at what they do make a good living, but almost all are self-employed and don’t bring home the weekly paycheck that’s