Working Waterfront

Salmon from a fish tank

On the Fourth of July, many a Maine family once sat down to a traditional meal of fresh salmon, garden peas, and new potatoes dug from the warm earth. A century ago, Maine salmon were known around the world as being among the best of seafoods. In the late 18th… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Reading the ‘priestess of nature’ who took on the ‘elixirs of death’

By Tom Walsh                                  If you don’t know much—or even anything at all—about Rachel Carson, here’s your chance. The Library of America recruited the help of editor Sandra Steingraber in recently publishing a new retrospective on marine biologist Rachel Carson and her seminal role in jump-starting environmentalism in post-World War II… SEE MORE
Bailey Island and Orr's Island in Harpswell are known for their scenic vistas.

Working Waterfront

Mythic summers on Bailey Island

… So that’s how it is out there in Maine. Be careful out there – Patricia Ranzoni, “Cultural Guide”   The southwest tip of Bailey Island is called Land’s End, for good reason. Just off the gift shop parking lot, the other side of Jaquish Island, is the open ocean.… SEE MORE
A couple enjoy the Maine State Ferry Service boat ride past Owls Head light on the way to Vinalhaven.

Working Waterfront

Angry words exchanged at ferry board meeting

Tempers flared at the July 12 meeting of the Maine State Ferry Advisory Board about, ironically enough, angry ferry passengers. The board serves as a citizen advisory group, representing the interests of islanders before ferry service managers. The service is operated by the state Department of Transportation, and serves Frenchboro,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Frenchboro couple built new lobster boat by kit

PHOTO: COURTESY KIM SMITH Andy Smith Frenchboro fisherman Andy Smith, his sternman Daniel Saxby, and local contractors were scrambling in late May to finish construction of Smith’s new Mussel Ridge 46 lobster fishing boat, Sylvia Mae. After all, Smith had already sold his previous boat, a Novi named Jacquelyn Mae, to a… SEE MORE
Rockland Harbor

Working Waterfront

Andrew Wyeth’s Rockland: Boats, planes and trains

When Edward Hopper (1882-1967) visited Rockland in 1926, he referred to it as “a very fine old place with lots of good-looking houses but not much shipping.” His watercolors from that stay represent a sampling from his repertoire, including a sea captain’s residence, a haunted house, and some waterfront studies of… SEE MORE