Articles
Latin American visitors learn from a coastal river and the people who live near it
How do you get people to realize our natural resources are in deep trouble? The problem, said Dirk Francisco of the Belize Audubon Society, is, “they don’t think about tomorrow.” So, overfishing goes on in Belize as it does around the world, and the delicate coastal ecosystem that supports the local economy gets closer to
Shorelines haiku, haibun, and tanka
Black Cat Press $15.95 Poems to sip like blackberry wine Kirsty Karkow of Waldoboro has done it again. This sailor-paddler-poet has turned out a second slim volume of Japanese-influenced poetry, using the traditional haiku, haibun and tanka forms. The first book was Water Poems; now we have Shorelines to dip into for a special treat,
Needed: Shore Base for Island Access
Merchant’s Landing at Spruce Head is for sale, and a woman who has used it for years to reach her island home is hoping there is some way to save the place so that fishermen and others have access to the sea. The 2.5-acre property, including a house and deep-water dock, is listed at $1.4
Relics of a Waldoboro-built schooner located on Stellwagen Bank
Friday the 13th really can be unlucky. That’s the date, in June 1913, that the Waldoboro-built five-masted schooner PAUL PALMER, a collier, set sail from Rockport on an ill-fated voyage. The 276-foot schooner had earlier unloaded a cargo of coal in Bangor, and was headed southward. Two days later, the PALMER caught fire off Cape
Boothbay physician launches his second career
Andre Benoit’s patients admire him not just for providing care, but also for painting pictures that are giving the physician a second career. But Dr. Benoit isn’t quitting his day job. The Boothbay Harbor doctor this spring mounted his first major show at Bowdoin College, and he sold several paintings right away at an opening
Riverside Boat Company thrives on tradition
Nat Bryant is the sixth generation of boat builders on the family’s original property on the Newcastle shore of the Damariscotta River. Riverside Boat Company is operated by Nat’s parents, Paul and Linda Bryant, and Nat has joined them, keeping up a family tradition. The yard is busy, even in the depths of winter, and
Maine Cat takes a new tack
Sloop-rigged Maine Cats are sailing the world, but now you can also motor a Maine Cat. The latest design for the Bremen boatbuilder is the Maine Cat P-38, a twin-hull cruiser powered by diesel-electric. The Ossa Powerlite engine, built on the West Coast, is almost noiseless and far more fuel-efficient than conventional diesel or gasoline
Grand Design goes musical: Newcastle theater to present a gritty saga
A 1700s shipwreck in the Bay of Fundy has family connections to Lincoln County, where a few hardy survivors settled after finally being rescued. The Heartwood Regional Theater Company of Damariscotta will present the gritty saga of the Irish ship Martha & Eliza this spring, in musical form. It’s the story of affluent Scots-Irish Presbyterians
Vegetable fleet puts to sea
“There is nothing, simply nothing, like messing about in–pumpkins?” (with apologies to Rat in Wind in the Willows) But pumpkin boats? It’s true. Right here in mid-coast Maine, adventurous farmer-sailors grow Giant Atlantic pumpkins, only to slice them in half, hollow them out and put to sea in their veggie coracles. A recent pumpkin regatta
Matinicus Playground a Magnet for Kids
A community-built playground on Matinicus is getting a lot of use these days from the next-door students at the island school, both at recess and after school. Natalie Ames, mother of three young children, led the effort to create a sturdy, safe and creative playground for all island children and any visitors who want to