Keeper's House and Light Tower at Matinicus Rock

Historic Island Structures Receive Needed Maintenance

1/10/2012 - The Maine Coastal Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex is responsible for maintaining five lighthouses and their accompanying structures. Four of these are on the National Register of Historic Places and must be maintained to historic preservation standards. Major maintenance was recently completed on the three of the four. At Matinicus… SEE MORE
Corea Harbor, circa 1910. Rise of gas engines still over a decade away. Probably a seine boat at left

Scenes of Corea’s Steadfast Working Waterfront

1/6/2012 - Corea Harbor has not succumbed to the decline of Maine's working waterfronts, with a lobster fishery that thrives to this day (the Corea Lobster Co-op was founded in 1970). This tiny town, which today boasts a population of around 330, is located on the Schoodic Peninsula near Prospect Harbor. Corea… SEE MORE
MATTIE (formerly GRACE BAILEY, and today once again sailing under that name) headed homeward to Camden on Sept. 9, 1978.

A Few of the Camden Windjammers Throughout the Years

12/28/2011 - The Maine windjammer fleet started in Camden in the 1930s after an enterprising skipper named Frank Swift decided that vacationers might pay real money to sail on former cargo schooners. He was right, and the windjammer fleet has since expanded to harbors from Eastport to Portland. Here are a few… SEE MORE
The ALICE E. CLARK, built in 1898, soon after her demise off eastern Islesboro, July 1st, 1909. Note the dinghy at center.

Islesboro in the Steamship Age: Wrecks, Ferries, and Retreats

12/14/2011 - Islesboro, in Penobscot Bay, was a busy place during the steamship era. As motorized ships replaced schooners as the vehicle of choice for moving cargo and passengers, some skippers continued to work the bay under sail. Some of them, including the Alice E. Clark, met their end on the rocky… SEE MORE

Roman poet Lucretius quote

12/9/2011 - "Suave mari magno, turbantibus aequora ventis E terra magnum alterius spectare laborem." OK, scholars. What was this great Roman poet saying back in the first century B.C., and how is it relevant to our lives on the coast? SEE MORE
The Bex Brothers Circus is the centerpiece of a free exhibit at the Penobscot Marine Museum.

Searsport Museum Offers Free Winter Circus Exhibits

12/5/2011 - Penobscot Marine Museum will open its doors this winter with "The Circus Comes to Town," a free exhibit for "ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages." The centerpiece of the exhibit is the Bex Bros. Circus, a display of hundreds of miniature circus figures ranging from elephants and sideshow… SEE MORE
The Boston waterfront in the days before diesel engines and forklifts.

Boston Fish Pier As it Was

12/2/2011 - Long before the Big Dig and the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge came to Boston, the Beantown waterfront was a bustling place for fishermen and others who worked the sea. These images from the Atlantic Fisherman collection at the Penobscot Marine Museum give a taste of Boston's working… SEE MORE
Capt. John Foss stands aboard the tugboat Cadet, which he rebuilt over a 10-year period.

After 10 Years, Rebuilt Maine Tugboat Is Back to Work

11/28/2011 - Capt. John Foss couldn’t have asked for a more pleasant November day to launch Cadet, a tugboat that Foss has spent the past ten years rebuilding. With a crowd of friends, family, and schooner crews in attendance at Journey’s End Marine in Rockland, Maine, Foss’ restoration project slipped into the… SEE MORE