The months of July and August are packed with opportunities for social and educational events on both Little and Great Cranberry Island. There are posters on the mail boat, posters at the town docks, and posters at the post offices advertising a feast of activities from which to choose. On Great Cranberry Island, the Cranberry
The Sloop from Bucks County, PA
Forty-five years ago Peter Sellers was a young mathematics professor with a dream. Specifically, he wanted to build a boat with the lines of a Friendship sloop. The project would combine two of Peter’s favorite activities. As a youth, he loved the small boat sailing he had done during summers spent on the New Jersey
Eastport Pilot: Lots of Planning, a Few Close Calls
At 11 a.m. on July 6, approximately a mile and half northeast of East Quoddy Head Light in the Bay of Fundy, Captain Robert Peacock stepped from the deck of the U.S.S. Hawes (FFG-53) onto the frigate’s pilot’s ladder. That step officially marked the end of Eastport’s Old Home Week/Fourth of July celebration – and
Finding the place that holds your loyalty and affection
#1. I’d begin with some disclaimer, some heartfelt admission by me that it is always dicey to write about something as if one boasts some insight, because any perspective is, no matter how well informed, limited by being highly individual. And I would confess that, as someone “from away,” it is an honor but no
From the Deck
On a warm summer afternoon, Mr. Alfred West, among several other sightseers from away, stood on the co-op wharf watching the two “quaint” lobster boats lying alongside the lobster car below. A faint smell of salt bait pervaded the scene. The boats were each about 30 feet long with high, sharp bows, a little coop
Harpoon: Into the Heart of Whaling
Heart of Darkness Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2008300 pp, $25.00 Fin, Right, Blue, Sperm, Minke, Humpback: one by one, chapter by chapter in this remarkable book, each species of whale reaches commercial or outright extinction, all the while “managed” by governments and the International Whaling Commission. Over the years there has been no lack of
Washburn & Doughty
When a shipyard like Washburn & Doughty burns down, a lot more is put at risk than a building and its contents. The East Boothbay yard isn’t old by Maine standards, but during its few decades of existence it has built a strong reputation in the exacting business of constructing heavy commercial vessels. It has
Two Portland islands could lose polling places
When the City of Portland’s fiscal year ends on June 30 it could mark the end of polling places on Cliff Island and Great Diamond Island. This is part of a $15,000 cost savings effort that will be voted on by the Portland City Council on July 21. The proposal to reduce the number of
Hit By Lightning!
The weather report that Friday night last August called for “thunder showers, ending by morning.” It also mentioned “possible lightning strikes.” Now I’ve always put lightning strikes in the category of shark attacks. You hear about them, but they rarely happen, especially to you. Suffice it to say that the lightning storm we experienced on