Articles
Bucksport Boondoggle
To the editor: There’s more to the story of the new Waldo-Hancock bridge than was reported in December’s Working Waterfront. This $85 million project has something in common with the new span over the Kennebec River at Bath. And that “something” is the fact that neither bridge really needed to be built. The 1931 bridge
Helicopters serve islanders in distress
With warm southerly winds, it was a perfect August afternoon aboard a 43-foot sailboat, cruising near Metinic Island in Penobscot Bay. But when a sudden jibe caused a boom to slam Bob Monks in the head, his family and friends aboard thought he was dead. He had been knocked unconscious as he tried to rig
Boothbay Harbor Summer Colonies Talk Sucession
Bayville and Isle of Springs haven’t dumped tea overboard, but residents of these seasonal hamlets don’t want to pay the same taxes other Boothbay Harbor property owners have to pay. A century ago the Maine Legislature set up scores of village corporations across the state. They were legal entities – or oddities, depending on your
Jobs and the Coast – A booming coastal economy can be its own worst enemy
In one 800-foot stretch of waterfront at Spruce Head, on lobster-rich Penobscot Bay, the annual take from the fishery is estimated at $25 million. You might thereby conclude all is well along the working coast, but there is more to the story. In nearby Owls Head, where one of the most photographed lighthouses on the
Mass Transit: Excursions show what a coastal train would be like
Something new, something old. Maine Eastern Railroad is providing excursions between Brunswick and Rockland, with stops at Bath and Wiscasset along the way. It’s not a fast trip but the scenery is varied and appealing, at least on a sunny summer day. You ride in refurbished Pullman cars built in the 1940s and 1950s, before
Rebuilt island pier reserved for local fisherman
A granite pier in Damariscove Island’s narrow, sheltered harbor has been rebuilt by the Boothbay Region Land Trust. The pier, at least 150 years old, was showing its age – eroding and collapsing – a part of it submerged at high water. Now, with a $132,000 investment by the land trust, it has been restored
Small student-teacher ratio has appeal, but poses problems for an island school
Mary Tetreault likes working at the Matinicus school, where the teacher-student ratio is one to three and she can walk home for lunch. It can be a dream job to prepare lessons for just three young learners, but rock-bottom enrollment spells an uncertain future for the little school. Next fall, two of the three students
Rough seas, nesting birds thwart Matinicus Rock’s latest ramp project
Matinicus Rock, remote light and haven to protected puffins and other seabirds, is notorious for high seas and inaccessibility. So it’s no surprise that efforts to rebuild a boat ramp at the former U.S. Coast Guard station there have been thwarted by weather. For years the wooden ways on barren Matinicus Rock have been battered
What isn’t – thunderstorm the feeling in the air beforehand
I don’t know about you, but I can feel that storm coming, that adrenalin-rush we feel at different moments in our lives: the tension as you emerge on stage, the feeling before you meet someone you value. Yet you must bring that emotion to the surface. The poem doesn’t say anything directly about such feelings.
Insure That Island Home? Maybe, But Bring Your Wallet
Ron Ames and partner Emily Rantala of Matinicus say they’ve solved the problem of high-priced homeowner’s insurance. They don’t carry any. “If the house burns down, we’ll just move into another one,” said Ron, a fisherman. He said soaring premiums for insurance policies led him to just hope he’ll be lucky. “I’ve been fortunate, that’s