If you are a lover of maritime history, you may want to rearrange your summer plans to fit in a trip to southern New England to catch a rare glimpse of a bygone era of working waterfront. After a five-year renovation at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan will sail to
Deer Isle hostel offers insight into homesteading
DEER ISLE — A hostel in Georgia where guests sleep in tree houses inspired a local man to establish the only hostel on the Maine coast. After visiting the Hostel in the Forest in Georgia, Surry native Dennis Carter decided his life’s calling was to open a more traditional type hostel in Maine. Carter was
Our favorite saltwater haunts
Leslie Bowman: “Raccoon Beach on Campobello Island: It is around the corner from Herring Cove Beach, which is really tied for first, as it is in the same local. The rocks, the tide pools and the incredible sky do not disappoint at anytime, year round.” Wanda Curtis: “My favorite saltwater haunt is a small quiet
Valerie Morton’s ‘canned art’ featured on Vinalhaven
VINALHAVEN — Sweetie, Valerie Morton’s calico cat, is 23 years old. Sweetie’s treat as a dowager has been sardines, and that left Morton with empty cans that needed to be recycled. One day several years ago, as she sorted metal from plastic to take to the dump, she flashed on an image of a
What’s working on the waterfront–and why
Twenty years ago, as Maine’s beautiful coast was “discovered” for the umpteenth time in the last 150 years, the narrow land perch from which marine resource harvesters worked was in danger of vanishing. The Island Institute launched this newspaper in large part to help protect that perch, the so-called working waterfront. Today, just 20 miles
Fishing in warmer seas: learning from Tasmania
Tasmania, an Australian island state 150 miles off the southeastern part of the continent, shares some surprising similarities with Maine. It has an important lobster fishery and, like Maine, is categorized as a climate change “hotspot” with waters also warming at a rate well above the global average. The Tasmanian lobster fishery targets the southern
Island organic garden enjoys natural amendments
Editor’s note: This series of blogs was written last year by Anneli Carter-Sundqvist about her and her husband Dennis’ adventures homesteading and running a hostel on Deer Isle. The entire year of blog posts are contained in the book A Homesteader’s Year on Deer Isle (see www.deerislehostel.com). Summer solstice came and went with the typical
New right whale rules put lobster gear at risk
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released in June new regulations designed to protect whales from being entangled in fishing gear by reducing the number of lobster buoys lines (vertical lines) in the water. The rules start to recognize the diversity of the fishery, but they also add to existing regulations, including a requirement
‘Sustain ME’ conference exhorts, focuses entrepreneurs
GREAT CHEBEAGUE ISLAND — The theme that emerged at the all-day Sustain ME conference on Saturday, July 12, was that building businesses in remote settings brings undeniable challenges. But that fact was contrasted with first-person success stories, so entrepreneurs may have left more buoyed and inspired than daunted and down. That was the hope of