Category: Marine

Underway, at last.

Working Waterfront

Evidence of insanity: Black swans and B-O-A-T

I’ve been a boat owner for well over 50 years. So I should know something about the rocks and shoals that lie in wait for someone like me, right? The costs? The heartbreak? The disasters that lurk out there on, in or under the water? I thought I did—all of… SEE MORE
The approach to the Fox Islands Thorofare. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Mariners call for navigational aid maintenance

Lighthouses and buoys aren’t the only navigational aids on which mariners rely for safe transit. Structures known as day shapes or beacons, often built on ledges, also warn boaters away from danger, and some mariners have complained that as they deteriorate, the Coast Guard is failing to maintain them. Rep.… SEE MORE
Newschäfer at Lyman-Morse boatyard in Thomaston in September 2020. PHOTO: ROBERT MITCHELL

Working Waterfront

Solo sail around the world—for the win

On a solo round-the-world sailing race, Kirsten Neuschäfer had a teammate—her boat the Minnehaha. More than a tool, her boat was a partner in a race that takes incredible skill, determination, and a large dose of luck, she explained. It’s dubbed a race for “those who dare.” Neuschäfer dared and… SEE MORE
Aaron Bourassa, project manager overseeing the stabilization project at Fort Preble on the Southern Maine Community College campus. PHOTO: CLARKE CANFIELD

Working Waterfront

Fortifying Portland Harbor’s sentinel

  [caption id="attachment_38490" align="alignnone" width="700"] An aerial view of the Southern Maine Community College campus, built within the confines of Fort Preble. PHOTO: COURTESY SMCC[/caption] Workers have moved three-ton granite blocks and taken measures to mitigate erosion and improve drainage in an effort to stabilize Fort Preble, a historic fortress… SEE MORE
Aquaculture

Working Waterfront

Collins secures aquaculture funds

Sen. Susan Collins, vice chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced that she advanced $7 million in congressionally directed spending to establish an Aquaculture Workforce Innovation Center at the University of Maine in the fiscal year 2024 commerce, justice, and science appropriations bill. “Maine’s aquaculture industry has seen significant growth… SEE MORE
Artist David Hurley poses near his sturgeon mural on the Bayview Events Center, near Belfast’s harbor walk. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Mural honors Belfast’s sturgeon story

Let’s get the pronunciation lesson out of the way first. The river that flows into Penobscot Bay in Belfast is called the Passagassawakeag, which in the native Wabanaki language means, “Place where sturgeon may be speared by torch light.” It’s pronounced: puh-SAG-uh-sa-WAW-keg. There don’t seem to be many sturgeon in… SEE MORE