In mid-June Barney Balch, a scientist at Bigelow Laboratory in West Boothbay In Harbor, saw a nice few days forecast on the heels of a line of thunderstorms and an atmospheric cleansing northwest wind. So he made a round trip reservation for himself and two colleagues on the SCOTIA PRINCE , the Portland-to-Nova Scotia cruise
Community institution
At 4:30 a.m. on a muggy morning in June, Doug Scott swats at mosquitoes as he unlocks the building at Sea Horse Lobster in West Point, Phippsburg. The day doesn’t begin quite this early during the winter, but now, with the lobster season picking up, fishermen depend on Scott and his helper to be there
The Wooden Nickel
Boston: Little, Brown and Company 346 pp., hardback $23.95. A world of questionable coastal transactions The cover of William Carpenter’s second novel is a bit deceptive. In one of photographer Peter Ralston’s signature Maine coast seascapes, a lobsterboat motors across flat water, trailing a wake of seagulls. It’s a finest kind of day, the sky,
Foggy morning
(With a nod to E. A. Poe) Once upon a morning early, when the fog lay thick and pearly, I sat wond’ring whether Sam had opened up the store. While I sat there almost napping, suddenly there came a tapping. Who could come so early rapping, rapping at my fish house door? ‘Tis some early
Islesboro Central School graduates four
Commencement exercises for Islesboro Central School’s class of 2002 were held June 9. This year’s main speaker was John Mitchell, an Islesboro native who graduated from ICS 50 years ago and pursued a high-profile career in publishing before retiring to the island in 1990. Mitchell exhorted the graduates to appreciate their island history and community.
A pinch of salt
Take some sea water, wood, plastic, a lot of ingenuity and hard work. Add a pinch of salt — well, slightly more, say about 6,700 pounds — and you’re owner of a thriving business that is creating more demand than it can satisfy. After almost four years, that’s the story with Maine Sea Salt, the
Scholarship applicants, recipients set new record
This year a greater number of island students applied for scholarship support than ever before. As a result, the Island Institute awarded 66 traditional scholarships totaling nearly $35,000; 19 more scholarships than last year’s record number of 47. Institute scholarships are awarded for traditional college support with assistance from the Maine Community Foundation. Recipients of
Mosquitoes and browntail caterpillars: lobstermen monitor aerial spraying
State response to browntail moth and to mosquitoes that are potential vectors for West Nile Virus has residents polarized in coastal communities, especially in areas where browntail moth is thriving this year and where WNV- positive dead birds were discovered last fall. Any talk of spraying for either creates concern about unintended effects sprays might
Parliamentary committee: Canada should withdraw from international group
A Canadian parliamentary committee says that Canada should withdraw from the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization because of foreign overfishing on the Grand Banks. Federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Robert Thibault isn’t so sure. In a report presented to Thibault in June, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans recommended: “That the Government
More-than-you-can-eat restaurant survives and thrives
Many coastwise sailors have discovered Rockland is worth visiting after all, with its museums, shops, marinas, sailmakers and marine hardware. It’s a far cry from the old days, when earlier editions of Roger Duncan’s Cruising Guide to the New England Coast recommended skipping Rockland unless you were desperate. The place was pretty industrial — as