Articles
Audubon shutters Hog Island bird camp
Birdwatchers won’t be flocking to Hog Island next summer, despite its reputation as an idyllic place to enjoy Muscongus Bay’s wildlife. After 70 years, this celebrated Audubon retreat is closing its summer camp. The cause is financial, according to Maine Audubon, and the future of the camp, a five-minute boat-ride from the mainland, is uncertain.
Pumpkin boats a smashing success
Four years ago a Damariscotta nurseryman thought it would be cool to start a regatta of giant pumpkins, hollowed out and afloat, if not altogether seaworthy. Still, to venture forth on Columbus Day in a pumpkin that once weighed more than 1,000 pounds is proof of something. Nobody is quite sure what, but the idea
Chair made out of trap stock catches tourists, lobstermen
Lobsterman Tom Bernardi, like a lot of us, bought those cheap plastic chairs for sale at big box stores. Trouble was, the wind on Matinicus blew them right off the wharf where he lives. “You have to go down and fetch ’em in the weeds and rocks,” said Bernardi, 43, a Waldoboro native working as
Sunken sardine carrier going nowhere
Visitors to the Rockland breakwater might see a curious site at ebb tide. Not far from shore is the wheelhouse of a 65-foot fishing boat that sank some 18 months ago. The Lauren T., formerly known as the Novelty, sits on the bottom, neglected, a reminder of an era when sardines were big business and
Monhegan store owner seeks sustainable island living
Running any kind of store on an island is a big challenge, what with ordering from the mainland, paying the freight for the boat, and making sure the produce is fresh. For Tara Hire of Monhegan, there is the added hurdle of obtaining and marketing organic foods, preferably as locally grown as possible. In this
Friendship man is still lobstering at 84
Six years ago Carl Simmons lost his wife, Glenys, after 54 years of marriage. Five years ago, his shop burned down, taking his owner-built lobster boat and all his tools with it. That might be enough to stop any man in his tracks, or at least kick him into retirement. Not Simmons. He’s still fishing
Kids’ sailing program brings locals, summer folk together
Oops. Over she goes. Another dinghy has capsized in a puff of wind in Tenants Harbor, but the young skipper isn’t fazed. She shifts her weight, swiftly rights her craft and is on her way again, tacking up and running down wind, none the worse for a capsize. Up to 20 kids at a time,
Matinicus post office “totaled” by fire
UPDATE May 2, 2008 – A fire that destroyed the Matinicus island post office on Monday re-ignited early Tuesday, and local firefighters spent more than three hours extinguishing the second blaze. Rain failed to stop several “hot spots” from re-starting a fire at the waterfront site of the 19th century building, originally a chandlery and later
Befriending a Friendship
An old Friendship native has come home. Eagle, built by Wilbur Morse of Friendship in 1915, is now undergoing repairs at Spruce Head. And the latest owner, Dick Rapalyea of Thomaston, is finding out that an old boat, like his 18th century house, requires a lot of time and energy, not to mention money. Rapalyea
New device helps haul moorings
arbormaster Steve Pixley has been hauling mooring chain in Camden harbor for the past seven years, one short section at a time, to see if it needs replacing. There’s got to be a better system, he remembers thinking. “I was tired of hauling chain the old way.” So he invented The Harbor Master Tool, a