Working Waterfront

Estuary Beat: Thinking about upgrading river, stream standards

Frenchman Bay Partners talk rockweed, red tide, clam flat cleanup Frenchman Bay Partners held its annual meeting on May 5 in Winter Harbor and covered several topics related to the intertidal zone. Since 2016, Hannah Webber of the Schoodic Institute has led a working group to evaluate the status and… SEE MORE

Some of the bones still show evidence of flesh.

Working Waterfront

North Haven students, teacher rebuild minke whale skeleton

In August 2016, something unexpected washed up on a private beach in Wooster Cove on North Haven island—a whale carcass. PHOTO: JOE STONE The whale’s bones are dug out of a sand pile, where they’d been left to decay. Just what caused the minke whale, a young adult female, to… SEE MORE

Fisherman George Curtis and retired fisherman William Leaman talk fishing (of course) outside of Leaman’s fish house in Owls Head in 1957.

Working Waterfront

Penobscot Marine Museum brings Kosti home

COURTESY PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM In the summer of 1951, Ruohomaa received a call from his friend Andrew Wyeth inviting him to join in fetching an antique hearse from Loud’s Island. Ruohomaa documented the infamous trip from start to finish. In this view, sawmill operator, Ralph Cline, ro “Kosti Comes Home,”… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islesboro’s Annika Rogers a two-sport standout

Annika Rogers has spent most of her life working hard to excel, both in school and in sport, competing locally in sailing and internationally in snowshoeing. The Islesboro Central School senior has been rewarded for her efforts with a $5,000 scholarship from the Maine Sports Hall of Fame. Rogers, 18,… SEE MORE

Colleen Francke aboard the lobster boat Linda Kate which fishes from Portland.

Working Waterfront

Sisters in recovery

By Kelli Park Planting and maintaining a garden can help those recovering from addiction. The recovering person learns responsibility while cultivating, nurturing, and investing time and effort, during which the individual grows along with the garden. Colleen Francke has taken this concept and adapted it to the ocean, planning an… SEE MORE

One of Fournier's tugs works alongside Maine Maritime Academy's State of Maine last summer.

Working Waterfront

Fournier family continues tug tradition in Belfast

If Belfast has an icon representing it to the wider world, it’s probably the three red tugboats docked at the foot of Main Street. As pretty as those boats are, with their clean decks and fresh paint, they are not props for tourism marketing. The Penobscot Bay Tractor Tug Co.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Legendary sea explorer Earle calls for respect for underwater life

Marine botanist Sylvia Earle opened her April 30 lecture at the University of Maine with a simple, but stunning fact—the surface of Mars, she said, is better mapped than the floor of the world’s oceans. Earle herself is stunning. She has spent 7,000 hours underwater, has lived under the sea… SEE MORE

Passengers disembark from the Islesboro ferry in Lincolnville Beach.

Working Waterfront

Ferry service is part of our civic infrastructure

Sometimes it’s important to begin by stating the obvious. Ferry service is not optional for island communities—they live or die by it. The allocation of resources across the islands served by the Maine State Ferry Service tends to divide, rather than unite communities. Islesboro is the clear loser in the… SEE MORE

The ferry departs Lincolnville for Islesboro.

Working Waterfront

Ferry service chooses rate increase plan, Islesboro hit hardest

A new Maine State Ferry Service rate plan will be implemented beginning May 21. The new fare structure eliminates the on-island discount in favor of a price consistent at both mainland and island terminals, and also is consistent among the six islands the state ferries serve: Frenchboro, Swan’s Island, Islesboro,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Port Clyde town landing plan subject of May 14 vote

On May 14, St. George residents will be asked to vote on a $2.6 million rehabilitation and development project at the former St. George Marine property at 10 Cold Storage Road in Port Clyde. The first phase of the project was completed in 2015 when the town purchased the property… SEE MORE