MaineBoats Blog
New Casco Bay water taxi launched
Wednesday, April 26th 2017
Portland Sea Taxi has two dedicated boats in use and provides year-round water taxi service. In addition to basic water transportation, the Sea Taxi crew can perform ship launch services, short sightseeing trips, and can provide support vessels for ships on sea trials.
Meade Gougeon once again finishes first in grueling Everglades Challenge
Tuesday, April 25th 2017
Meade Gougeon, aboard his outrigger sail canoe ELDERLY CARE, placed first in his class in the Everglades Challenge on March 10, 2017. The grueling 300-mile race is sponsored by the Watertribe organization, and forbids the use of motors. At age 78, Gougeon was also the oldest challenger to finish the race.
Historic Maine-Built Schooner Comes Home
Monday, April 24th 2017
The historic schooner Mary E. arrived Sunday, April 23, at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. The Mary E. was built in 1906 on the banks of the Kennebec, just upriver on land that is now Bath Iron Works, according to the museum. Recently acquired by the museum, the Mary E is believed to be the oldest Bath-built wooden schooner, and the oldest fishing schooner built in Maine, still sailing. Mary E will be launched at the museum in spring 2018, and the museum will offer public tours and cruises.
Former Maine Seacoast Mission vessel found in Alaska
Thursday, March 9th 2017
This winter a fisherman in Ketchikan, Alaska contacted the Maine Seacoast Mission in Bar Harbor via Facebook with a photo of one of the mission’s former Sunbeams — since its founding in the early 1900s, the mission has had seven different vessels for spiritual, education, and medical outreach along the Maine coast and its islands, five of them named Sunbeam.
It’s March and that means boat show time in Maine
Thursday, March 9th 2017
The Maine Boatbuilders Show will take place from March 24-26 in Portland, but will be in a new location this year. The show, now in its 30th year, has moved to the Portland Sports Complex at 512 Warren Ave.
Maine’s 2016 Commercial Marine Resources Top $700 Million for the First Time
Monday, March 6th 2017
Maine’s commercially harvested marine resources topped $700 million in overall value in 2016. The total reflects yet another all-time high and an increase of nearly $100 million in value over 2015. For the second straight year, the largest single increase in value was in Maine’s lobster fishery.
Heidi and Cabot Lyman receive CCA award
Monday, February 27th 2017
Cabot and Heidi Lyman, founders and owners of Lyman Morse Boatbuilding in Thomaston, owners of Wayfarer Marine in Camden, and of the 250 Main Hotel in Rockland, have been chosen to receive the Cruising Club of America’s Far Horizons Award for 2016. The award recognizes a member CCA for a particularly meritorious cruise or series of cruises.
The Net Result: Our Evolving Fisheries
Monday, February 27th 2017
Penobscot Marine Museum will present The Net Result: Our Evolving Fisheries, a conference exploring whether innovation and technology have proven to be too successful for the health of our fisheries and our coastal ecosystem. The speaker line-up of scientists, historians, journalists, activists, consumers and fishermen will answer the question: How did this happen and what do we do now?
Southport Announces New Dealer Partnership in North Carolina
Monday, February 27th 2017
Southport Boats of Augusta, Maine has announced a new dealer relationship with Collins, Inc., of Smithfield, North Carolina.
American Rich Wilson sails to 13th place finish in grueling Vendee Globe
Tuesday, February 21st 2017
American Rich Wilson finishes grueling Vendee Globe in 13th place, setting a new American record for solo, non-stop circumnavigation
Science on Ice: Bigelow Team Studies Antarctic Phytoplankton
Friday, February 10th 2017
Despite the barren Antarctic landscape, the Southern Ocean is rich with life. For the last two months, a team of scientists from the Bigelow Laboratory in East Boothbay, Maine, were conducting field research on the phytoplankton that live in its icy waters.
Castine Classic Yacht Racers will honor Aage Nielson
Thursday, February 9th 2017
The 2017 Castine Classic Yacht Race to Camden will take place this summer on Aug. 3, kicking off three days of spectacular racing on Penobscot Bay. Event organizers plan to honor Aage Nielsen, a genius of 20th century yacht design, at an exhibition at the Town Dock and an Aug. 2 symposium at Maine Maritime Academy.
2017 Monhegan Residencies Open to Maine Artists and Teachers
Thursday, February 9th 2017
The Monhegan Artists’ Residency is accepting applications for its 2017 residency programs. Residencies are available to Maine-based visual artists during the weeks of May 27 to June 30, and September 2 to October 7. Also, a two-week residency is available to a Maine art teacher from July 2 to 14. Applications are now being accepted online at monheganartistsresidency.org through March 17.
American is headed toward finish in Vendee Globe
Monday, February 6th 2017
American sailor Rich Wilson, who has been racing solo around the world in the grueling Vendee Globe, crossed the Equator back into the northern hemisphere Feb. 5 after 91 days, 6 hours, and 14 minutes of racing. Currently he is in 14th place out of 18 boats still racing.
Karen Talbot calendar illustrations feature Maine's native sea-run fish
Tuesday, January 31st 2017
The Maine Sea Grant College Program at the University of Maine has produced a wall calendar featuring detailed scientific illustrations by Rockland-Maine artist Karen Talbot of Maine’s twelve native species of sea-run or diadromous fishes. The twelve species are sea lamprey, shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, alewife, Atlantic salmon, brook trout, rainbow smelt, American eel, Atlantic tomcod, striped bass, blueback herring, and American shad.
Community mourns loss of birchbark canoe builder David Moses Bridges
Thursday, January 26th 2017
Maine’s community of artists and boat-builders lost one its bright stars last week with the death of birchbark canoe master builder David Moses Bridges, 54, following a courageous battle with cancer.
New ownership for Islesford Dock Restaurant and Gallery
Thursday, January 26th 2017
Bar Harbor restaurateur Michael Boland and billionaire MDI summer resident Mitchell Rales announced this week that they have purchased the Dock Restaurant and Gallery from Dan and Cynthia Lief, who had owned and operated it since 1993. The restaurant will open June 1 and is expected to stay open well beyond Labor Day, the new owners said in a press release.
Tall ships headed to Nova Scotia
Friday, January 20th 2017
Tall ships will visit Canada to honour the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation in 2017. They are scheduled to stop at host ports in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.
Alden honored for grassroots fishery work
Friday, January 20th 2017
Robin Alden, the founder and executive director of Penobscot East, has been named a Hero of the Seas by the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards. The award recognizes Alden’s career working at the grassroots, engaging fishermen's knowledge and participation to build sustainable, healthy coastal fisheries and fishing communities.
Coast Guard to add mariner-controlled horns to seven more lighthouses in the Gulf of Maine
Wednesday, January 18th 2017
Boaters who count on the sound of lighthouse foghorns to help find their way should not leave home without a working VHF radio. The Coast Guard has announced plans to install Mariner Radio Activated Sound Signals this spring at seven remote lighthouses in the Gulf of Maine. Last year the radio-controlled horns were installed at 17 lighthouses.
