Category: Marine

The 785-foot-long cruise ship Ocean Rivieria arrived at Eastport's breakwater on Sunday

Working Waterfront

Oceania Riviera dwarfs tiny Eastport

Note: This story was updated June 16. By Tom Walsh//Photos by Leslie Bowman The June 14 arrival of the 785-foot cruise ship Oceania Riviera at its temporary berth on Eastport's downtown breakwater more than quadrupled the size of the Washington County city’s tallest buildings. "There are 131 souls aboard," said Chris Gardner, executive… SEE MORE
Marsden Brewer

Working Waterfront

From fishing to farming—scallops (and goats)

For some fishermen, Maine’s aquaculture industry has been a thorny subject that includes concerns like navigational safety and environmental health. But as a third-generation fisherman, Marsden Brewer of Stonington sees the development of a new scallop farming sector as an opportunity for fishermen to diversify their income streams, maintain a… SEE MORE
A Maine Department of Transportation dump truck pulls off of the Downeast Sunrise Trail

Working Waterfront

Machias confronts frequent tidal floods

By Sarah Craighead Dedmon State snowplows descended on Machias the morning after an April storm, but they weren’t there to remove spring snow. Instead, they plowed debris from the Machias River, deposited during a violent storm and spring tide. It was the second time in four months plows removed seaweed… SEE MORE
What may be the remains of the Defiance at Short Sands Beach in York.

Working Waterfront

Defiance may be making reappearance in York

By Jacqueline Weaver Time and again since 1958, fierce storms have peeled back an unusual amount of beach sand in York, temporarily revealing remnants of a 50-foot wooden hull thought to date back to an 18th century vessel. Maritime archeologist Stefan Claesson is hoping to conduct an archeological dig of… SEE MORE
The hands of Skip Collins at Spartan Marine.

Working Waterfront

Spartan Marine, stuck in the Bronze Age

Skip Collins in the Spartan Marine shop. Story//Photos by Kelli Park In a world churning with change, there is a workshop in a cove in Georgetown where the strength of bronze has withstood the test of time. Spartan Marine makes the case that there are some things better left unchanged.… SEE MORE
The Maine State Merchant Marine flag.

Working Waterfront

Maine has an official merchant mariner flag

By Tom Groening As the state celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, Mainers are reflecting on their history. And John Worth of Belfast, who has spent his life on the water, is investigating and highlighting the maritime part of that history. Some years ago, Worth learned that Maine is one… SEE MORE
A female right whale and its calf.

Working Waterfront

Lobstermen rally to fight right whale ruling

By Laurie Schreiber For lobster fishermen, today’s uncertainties revolve not only around a tightening market during the pandemic, but a legal situation that questions the industry’s ability to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. In mid-April, a federal judge ruled, in a case brought by four conservation organizations, that the… SEE MORE
Waves batter a road on Islesboro.

Working Waterfront

‘Blow the Man Down’ a salty, funny, Maine noir

By Jacqueline Weaver Movie tips in the time of coronavirus are like following crumbs through the forest, each promising some relief from the ennui of waiting for the confinement to end. Blow the Man Down, a film by directors Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, could not have been released… SEE MORE