Today's Posts (OFF) | Unanswered Posts (ON)
| Forum: Maine coast diving |
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| Topic: Dive sites |
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Posts: 186
Registered:
November 2002
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Dive sites
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Thu, 27 April 2006 10:36
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I am currently updating our section of dive sites and would greatly apprecate info and photos of your favorites. Thanks in advance.
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| | Topic: Maine coast diving site traffic rates number 2 |
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Site Admin
Posts: 144
Registered:
December 1969
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Maine coast diving site traffic rates number 2
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Sat, 28 October 2006 18:04
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Thanks to everybody visiting the Maine Coast Diving section of this site. Your traffic has now eclipsed that of all other areas of the site except the forum. We promise those dive sites soon...
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| | Forum: Kayaking and camping |
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| Topic: Be seen! |
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Posts: 2
Registered:
November 2002
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Be seen!
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Thu, 14 November 2002 10:50
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You guys are low in the water. Go to any prop shop and ask how many props they see that have hit a log or some other flotsam. Kayaks aren't much bigger. Don't count on being seen!
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| | Topic: Suggestions For Scott |
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Posts: 11
Location: summer-York Me., winter-F...
Registered:
March 2003
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 Suggestions For Scott
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Wed, 19 March 2003 20:08
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One place on the maine coast that is the most beautiful, and seems to have a lot of kayakers is Merchants Row south of stonington. Last Summer we saw countless Kayakers there-and its no wonder- its such a great place to explore. I belive there are also numerous kayaking tour/guide companies for the area (but then again how would i know im not a kayaker :-) You just have to remember one thing if you are going to be small-boat exploring anywhere near stonington, WATCH OUT FOR SPEEDING LOBSTERBOATS MAKING HUGE WAKE! Hope you kayak expeditions are fun!
Will Hargrove
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| | Topic: Winnegance |
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Posts: 6
Location: Cousins Island
Registered:
November 2005
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Winnegance
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Sun, 20 November 2005 15:28
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There is an ancient portage (or Ahwangan, in Abenaki language) that crosses from Winnegance Creek on the Kennebec to Winnegance Bay in the New Meadows River. In the 70's the AMC published a route called the Downeast Canoe Trail that went west-to-east into Brighams Cove on Winegance Bay, stopped at Meadowbrook Camping and then crossed private land to access Winnegance Creek. In 1997 "Native Trails" published a series of portage trails (Wawenock Ahwangans) from Rockland to Merrymeeting Bay and reported this particular portage was not open to the public.
I will certainly respect this and follow an alternate route from Sasanoa River, up the Kennebec, across a portage to avoid the Chops and then on to Che'aguahadongonek (or Steven's Carrying Place) adjacent to Mustard Island to the New Meadows River in the tidal marsh above Thomas Point Beach. But, MAN, it would be cool to use the winnegansis instead. Anyone have local knowledge of this 1/4 mile of land?
Matt
PS, this is the continuation of a paddle trip from Riviere Du Loupe on the St Lawrence Seaway, through the heart of Maine and into Penobscot Bay. My goal is to continue that and on to Cousins Island, by canoe tricked out with an 8-pound marconi sailrig of my own design. Last year I traveled the Maliseet Trail from the Fredericton area on the St. John to Old Town, Maine.
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| | Topic: Wawenoc Ahwangans |
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Posts: 6
Location: Cousins Island
Registered:
November 2005
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Wawenoc Ahwangans
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Thu, 02 February 2006 10:47
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Me and a few friends are planning to follow ancient coastal canoe routes from Hampden on the Penobscot River to Cousins Island in Casco Bay. We'll be the idiots sailing our canoes or perhaps portaging them on carts down the shoulder of the highway. The first week of July 2006. Look for us and wave! Matt H
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| | Forum: Islands |
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| Topic: Islands forum introduction |
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Posts: 186
Registered:
November 2002
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Islands forum introduction
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Wed, 13 November 2002 12:20
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Fri, 18 October 2002 10:45
This Islands forum was suggested by Curtis Betts, a Maine island owner, as a way for island owners to communicate with prospective visitors to their islands and to discuss island-ownership issues with fellow island owners.
It will also serve as a place where boaters can ask other boaters about the status of particular islands: Is visiting allowed? Is camping? Who should you ask for permission?
Finally, for all of us who have an unshakable dream of owning an island, it will offer a vicarious glimpse into the reality of what island ownership actually entails.
Enjoy.
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| | Topic: Thanks |
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Site Admin
Posts: 144
Registered:
December 1969
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Thanks
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Wed, 13 November 2002 12:22
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Thanks, Curtis R for setting this forum up.
An island of your own is wonderful, difficult, time-consuming, and often expensive. It is an awesome responsibility. My family has owned islands for 100 years; my grandfather, who helped his parents build an island camp as a teenager, inherited a tradition of stewardship and conservation, and passed it on...
In recent years, the challenges facing island owners have changed. While we still have transportation hassles, finicky gaslights, erosion, and thieves, we find much less garbage washed up, and visible water pollution is gone. New concerns arise from the increased number of casual (and even commercial!) visitors, the well meaning restrictions imposed by governments, and the financial difficulty of minimizing development, even as taxes are assessed on the "best and highest use"
I guess it's natural that islanders are a bit isolated from each other; perhaps a forum such as this will help in working through some of our common concerns.
Curtis Betts
aka Sal's Dad (see "One Morning in Maine")
Marr's Island, in the Kennebec River
Sals_Dad@Betts-ORourke.net
"Out on the islands that poke their rocky shores above the waters of [the] Bay, you can watch the time of the world go by, from minute to minute, hour to hour, from day to day, season to season."
...Time of Wonder, by Robert McCloskey
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| | Topic: Stimpsons Island |
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Posts: 186
Registered:
November 2002
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Stimpsons Island
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Wed, 13 November 2002 12:25
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Mon, 21 October 2002 17:07
The owner of Stimpsons Island, at the eastern end of Fox Islands Thorofare, sent us the following:
In the latest edition of Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast on page 218, has the sentence "The easiest passage is between Stimpsons and Calderwood, providing a good daystop and beaches to explore". One interpretation of this would be that Stimpsons is a public island, but it is privately owned (we own it).
A better phrasing would be something on the order of "The easiest passage is between Stimpsons and Calderwood. Stimpsons is privately owned, but Calderwood provides a good daystop and beaches to explore".
Also, when anchoring between Stimpsons and North Haven, we have an underwater high-voltage cable running from North Haven which is not marked on the charts, but is indicated by yellow Cable Crossing signs on either shoreline.
I really enjoy your book and use it a lot. Thanks for a great product.
Thank you for this much more precise text. It is posted at http://www.coastguides.com/r4/4.39Littlethoro.html
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| | Topic: Private Island Newsletter |
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Posts: 5
Location: Marr's Island
Registered:
October 2002
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Private Island Newsletter
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Fri, 07 February 2003 10:10
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There is a need for correspondence among owners of property on private islands, to share concerns and develop solutions.
To this end, I have assembled a newsletter, to address:
> Stewardship concerns
> Visitors
> Government - regulations and taxes
> Logistics of island life
If you are interested, please send an email to islands@betts-orourke.net.
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| | Topic: OnIsland.Org Island Forum |
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Posts: 5
Registered:
February 2003
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OnIsland.Org Island Forum
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Mon, 17 February 2003 19:19
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A new forum (unrelated to this one) has been put up for anyone interested in the challenges of living on or maintaining Maine Islands.
If you,re interested, please see http://www.onisland.org.
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| | Topic: Marshall Island, Jericho Bay |
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Site Admin
Posts: 144
Registered:
December 1969
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Marshall Island, Jericho Bay
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Thu, 01 April 2004 11:49
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Maine Coast Heritage Trust completes aquisition of the East Coast's largest undeveloped and unprotected island: Marshall Island in Jericho Bay. The aquisition cost $6.3 million, with substantial funding from the Land for Maine's Future program.
Cruisers know the island's Sand Cove and Popplestone Cove.
For more information, see
http://www.mcht.org/news/021104.html
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| | Topic: Greer Island--and you thought owning an island might be fun |
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Posts: 6
Registered:
November 2002
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Greer Island--and you thought owning an island might be fun
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Sun, 10 July 2005 22:27
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Ask Elizabeth Ayer if owning an island is fun. And ask the town before you buy...
From the B a n g o r D a i l y N e w s 6/25/05:
VINALHAVEN - Elizabeth Arey believes the worth of her small, uninhabited island has been washed away.
A stone's throw from Vinalhaven's shores, the 5-acre Greer Island has been in the family of Arey's late husband, James Arey, for more than a century.
The lush, green land surrounded by a rocky shoreline has elevated building sites with a stand of tall balsam and spruce trees and wild roses and strawberries nearby. At the water's edge stands a small hut, a protected anchorage and a sandbar to Vinalhaven at low tide.
Until last fall, when the 67-year-old widow had lined up a buyer, she hadn't realized the town had tightened restrictions on certain areas, including Greer Island, for what it calls resource protection. So Arey was denied a building permit, and the prospective buyer backed out.
What Arey thought would be her retirement nest egg has been affected by those changes because, she argues, Greer Island is now virtually unfit for building.
Her attorney calls the town's actions an "unconstitutional taking" of land without compensation, but some town officials argue that so-called "spot" zoning is bad land-use planning.
At issue are the town's decisions first to place the entire island under what regulators call "resource protection," and later, to make the land-use regulations even stricter.
According to Vinalhaven assessor Wesley Robinson, the 5.1 acres are assessed at $186,900 as a "buildable" property in resource protection. It is considered "buildable," he said, because with zoning board approval the owner could build a 600-square-foot structure with no interior plumbing. Arey's 2005 tax bill is approximately $1,495.
Arey argues that prospective buyers want modern amenities and that to sell the property she would need a permit to build a "low-impact" two-bedroom house with indoor plumbing, which the ordinance allows in residential marine zones of 3 acres of more. She was asking nearly $900,000 for the island.
"Greer has been in use for centuries and is a strong, viable island that has survived the harshest of Maine winters for eons," Arey said. "There is simply no reason to deny me the right to build one small vacation home there. And the town has been taxing me and assessing me all these years as if it were a non-resource-protected island. My valuation has never decreased."
In March, Arey tried to have the Vinalhaven Planning Commission rezone the island. Her request was denied.
"The planning commission is not in favor of spot zones," commission Chairwoman Gigi Baas said. "The planning commission has never supported the idea of individual [properties] being taken out of a special zone category. It's not responsible land-use planning."
According to Baas, the resource protection designation has been in place since 1974. Some 20 years later, in 1993, some islands were removed from that designation, she said. But all the islands designated as Class A habitats - including Greer- remained in the "resource protection" category. In addition, the town toughened its land-use regulations.
Complicating matters, some maps have identified the property as "Green Island." Earlier this month, a referendum initiated by Arey sought to change the island's name to Greer, which her attorney said would have removed it from resource protection. Town voters rejected the measure by a 46-vote margin.
Baas, Town Manager Marjorie Stratton and the town's attorney said the island's name is irrelevant.
And the town officials wonder why Arey did not seek a zone change by voters.
In October, Keel Kemper, a regional wildlife biologist with the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, visited Greer Island and found it does not legally meet the state's criteria to be an essential or significant wildlife habitat.
"I'm sure it provides wildlife," he said, but it is not a protected area for seabirds or shorebirds. "I'm speaking from a legal standpoint. It may be a fine distinction, but it's an important distinction."
Kemper said Greer Island will never be a significant habitat because there are no mud flats.
Of some 3,000 islands in Maine, only about 300 are designated significant wildlife habitat areas, he noted.
Baas said she is sympathetic to Arey's predicament. Yet, she noted, in 1992 Arey obtained building and septic permits for the island that were never acted upon.
"If she had the presence of mind to get permits, she knew something was going on," Baas said. "All you had to do was pour some footings, and you were golden."
Arey said she thought the 1992 permits were "the proof it was buildable." Those permits expired.
Kemper, Brad Allen of DIF&W and Rich Baker of the state Department of Environmental Protection said resource protection is something each Maine town adopts from minimum standards suggested by the state.
The bottom line is: It's within a town's purview how a conservation plan's recommendations are used, Allen said.
If lawyers get involved, the town may have to revisit zoning criteria for all islands, Allen said. "That might be the responsible way to go," he said.
Arey and her attorney, Clifford Goodall, will seek a building permit from the Vinalhaven Planning Board on July 13. If denied, her case will go before the zoning appeals board. If rejected there, the next step is Superior Court.
Goodall didn't rule out trying for a zone change by referendum.
Given the overwhelming rejection June 14 of a stricter revised comprehensive plan for Vinalhaven, Arey said, residents may have a better understanding of her plight.
"At any time, I would much rather work with the town than fight it," she said.
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| | Topic: Eagle Island (Casco Bay) |
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Posts: 4
Location: Cambridge MA
Registered:
August 2005
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Eagle Island (Casco Bay)
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Wed, 10 August 2005 11:13
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I have visited Eagle Island a few times this summer and thought a short report would be a good idea for this forum.
Eagle Island is the one-time home of Commodore Peary, who is credited (with some dispute) as the first person to reach the North Pole. It is now a Maine State Park and run by the Parks commission. It has several moorings on the northwest approach and a nice dock and float. Keep your eyes open! There are many nasty ledges near the dock (to either side) although they are pretty much visible at all tides. Check your charts! The rangers monitor channel 9 and will pick you up from the mooring if you do not have your own dinghy.
Ashore there is the beautiful summer home of the Peary family, very well taken care of, and some really nice trails that provide a good view of the islands inhabitants, oh and a potty. Alas, despite the name, I have yet to see an eagle on Eagle Island (Osprey can often be seen if you cruise around Whaleboat - about 2 miles west/northwest), but plenty of seagulls. A short but pleasant walk around the island, but the outer trails are often closed in nesting season, which seems to be all summer.
The house itself has a lot of informationa nd newspaper clippings about Peary, his family and explorations. There is a beautiful library, much interesting information about the wildlife, some really friendly volunteers, several stuffed birds (Peary was an amateur taxidermist), etc. You really get a good idea of what the place was like around the early part of the 20th century.
On the northeast end (by the house) is a rocky beach that has a nice view of the breakers over the rocks but is quite protected for swimming (if you can stand Maine water temps). You can often see touring groups of kayakers there since it is a short paddle to Potts' Harbor.
You may see another house on the shore near the moorings, that is the Ranger's residence and should be left alone. Likewise landing anywhere else on the island is not only forbidden, but quite dangerous since the inside is surrounded by ledge and the outside exposed to the ocean swells and quite rocky.
Definitely worth the day trip from Portland, Freeport, etc.
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| | Topic: Cape Island, Cape Newagen, Southport |
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Posts: 186
Registered:
November 2002
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