Working Waterfront

Has Maine’s high court issued a public invitation to the beach?

By John Duff Maine’s unique history and lengthy coastline create a complex environmental and legal shorescape. The state’s common law recognizes private property interests that extend to the low water mark. But even when private owners hold title to the intertidal area, certain public rights, including fishing, fowling and navigation, are… SEE MORE

Capt. Pam Parker of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection christens Friends of Casco Bay’s new pump-out boat.

Working Waterfront

‘Headmaster’ educates boaters on keeping a clean bay

More than 100 people gathered June 10 on Portland’s waterfront to cheer the christening and launch of the Friends of Casco Bay’s 26-foot pump-out boat, a specially-built vessel that siphons raw sewage from the holding tanks of recreational boats, transferring the wastewater for shoreside treatment. Capt. Pam Parker of the state Department… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Locking up, locking down’—Belfast mariner explores inland waterway

By Tom Groening John Worth is a salty guy. Saltwater may not run in his veins, but he certainly has spent a lot of time in, on, and around the sea. He attended Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. He and his wife Trish ran Belfast’s first excursion schooner, the Sylvina Beal,for… SEE MORE

Marine

A view of the Spruce Head Fisherman’s Co-op in South Thomaston. The co-op will benefit from funding from the Land for Maine’s Future Program.

Working Waterfront

Sustaining Maine’s working waterfront

The Land for Maine’s Future Board has selected six projects that will help protect and sustain Maine’s working waterfront. Through the Working Waterfront Access Protection Program, funds have been set aside to purchase development rights, through a legally binding agreement between the state and working waterfront owners, which will ensure… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Beaches are soft frontline in the climate change war

By Tom Groening The sunny, vacation-vibe we associate with beaches was doused like a pelting thunderstorm at the 12th Beaches Conference in Kittery on June14. Instead of swimming and sunbathing, the gathering addressed the dire realities of sea level rise, unprecedentedly big storms, and dying marshes. “Why invest in Main Street… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Airboats find a home in Maine waters

Story and Photos by Kelli Park Long a staple for the swamps of the South, airboats are now finding their way into Maine waters. The flat-bottomed, fan-propelled vessels have grown in popularity, and find practical use in shallow water. Airboat hulls are built with aluminum or fiberglass and are coated… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine Boat & Home Show showcases state’s best boats

Whether it’s to look at a boat or to buy one (or just spend a nice day out on the waterfront), the Maine Boat & Home Show, on the Rockland waterfront August 9-11, is the place to be. The show is the largest of its kind north of Newport, Rhode… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islanders and the shame of baggage

By Barbara Fernald It starts at the grocery store on the mainland. I hand my cooler and canvas bags to the cashier, who passes them to the bagger, and I start to unload a full grocery cart. I have an itching need to get the cart unloaded quickly so I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Casco Bay Lines responds to booming bay, city

By Tom Groening Portland’s waterfront is booming—new hotels, restaurants, pubs, a marina—so it’s no wonder the ferry serving Casco Bay’s islands is responding to that activity, says Hank Berg. Casco Bay Lines (CBL), for which Berg is general manager, has a lengthy history on the city’s waterfront, though recently, it’s… SEE MORE

Historian Renny Stackpole poses with some of the implements used in whaling.

Working Waterfront

The dirty details of whaling’s glory days

By Nancy Griffin Hunting whales, a practice now roundly condemned by most of the world, once was an important part of New England’s economy in many places—especially so on Nantucket Island off Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Whaling also was a romantic notion for many young boys who yearned for the… SEE MORE