Articles
HOTCAKES: Island women bare up well for church-benefit calendar
On Matinicus, even summer sea breezes can be cool. But one day last summer 12 island women not only took off their clothes, they let a photographer record their images for a 2007 calendar, now selling like, well, hotcakes. The full-color, 12-month calendar reveals no more than you’d see on a trip to a public
Borrowing on the house can lead to big losses
You wouldn’t dive into the water if you saw a shark fins. But a lot of low-income and older Mainers take the plunge into a sea of debt, at the mercy of unscrupulous mortgage brokers. Typically, these people no longer qualify for a straight-ahead loan at their local bank so they turn to less accountable
Coastal development add a twist of “green”
Picture a summer cottage on a Muscongus Bay island with traditional shingled walls and six-over-six windows. Or picture a woodsy, compact and energy-efficient home near other houses, within walking distance of Tenants Harbor village, where there is post office, store, restaurant, plus a town pier and float for boat access to Penobscot Bay. Nostalgia for
Fuel price drives up ferry rates
On July 1, the fares for state ferry trips to Penobscot Bay Islands will jump 10 percent, which isn’t so bad considering the price of diesel fuel has doubled in the past two years. “We’ve held off to see if we could weather the storm, but we can’t,” said Jim MacLeod, in charge of ferries
Group appeals ruling on gated beach
The Friends of Martinsville Beach has appealed a judge’s decision that the public has no right to use this broad, sandy crescent at the end of a private road. In late April, Knox County Superior Court judge Joyce Wheeler concluded that beach owners Amy and David Morey and John Hupper had the right to exclude
Coastal developments add a twist of green
Picture a summer cottage on a Muscongus Bay island with traditional shingled walls and six-over-six windows. Or picture a woodsy, compact and energy-efficient home near other houses, within walking distance of Tenants Harbor village, where there is post office, store, restaurant, plus a town pier and float for boat access to Penobscot Bay. Nostalgia for
GODSPEED recreated in Rockport
The GODSPEED sailed from England to what became Jamestown, Virginia, nearly four centuries ago. Now a replica of the little two-master has been launched in Rockport, and will make its way south after sea trials. But in 1607 the boatload of would-be settlers had no modern navigation gear and certainly no diesel engines. All of
Reverse Sheer
From his home at the head of Somes Sound, E. Farnham Butler can see his life’s work, the Mount Desert Yacht Yard, and out to the sea that still calls to him. At 96, he is still sharp and willing to discuss the boatbuilding that sustained him for a lifetime. From his living room he
APHRODITE revs up again
The Brooklin Boat on Blue Hill Bay has rebuilt the APHRODITE, a 74-foot speedboat originally constructed in 1937 for financier Jock Whitney, whose family philanthropy extends to Maine’s art treasures. He used this sleek, torpedo-stern launch to commute from his Manhasset home to his Wall Street office, a 45-minute cruise. He would settle back to
“Grand Design” lured 18th century immigrants to a tragic end
In 1740, normally temperate Ireland felt the bite of the Ice Age. The River Shannon froze 18 inches deep. Potatoes were locked in the ground and disease spread across the land. Great Britain, which controlled all of Ireland at the time, was at war with France and Spain. This might seem remote from mid-coast Maine,