Maine Boats, Homes and Harbors

Photos by Mark Pillsbury A self-tacking jib and a genoa set on a roller furler give Andrew Firth options to match sails with wind and sea conditions. On a Sunny mid-May morning, a brisk, cold wind blew across Camden Harbor, over water that was still in the low 40s, which helped explain why visiting sailor Andrew Firth had no trouble finding a mooring for his 36-foot 1984 Cape Dory, which he’d launched in New Hampshire a few days earlier.

Photos by Mimi Bigelow Steadman Boating on China Lake on warm, summer days has been a favorite pastime for generations. It was the first day of summer 2025, and things were bustling on the northeastern shore of China Lake. We’d stopped for lunch at The Landing, a waterside take-out stand that’s been a fixture here for decades. After placing our order at the window, we settled at a picnic table overlooking the dock to await our food and enjoy some people-watching.

This lapstrake Cottrell Whitehall—a symphony in three colors, cedar, mahogany and oak—is a sailing model with a spritsail rig. Photo by Alison Langley My friend Giffy Full—who spent years in the boating world, first as a yacht captain, and then as a well-regarded yacht surveyor—called me recently to chat about boats. He lives in Brooklin, Maine, but now spends the winter months at his daughter’s home in Florida.

Photos by Steve Cartwright The cape as the author found it: vacant, with rotten sills, rotten sash, and a leaky roof. As a summer kid in Tenants Harbor in the 1960s, I must have passed the vacant house on River Road countless times. Later in life, and now a year-rounder, I finally noticed the dilapidated gray cape, sitting forlorn on a discontinued piece of Route 131. The small windows and center chimney led me to think this could be one of the oldest homes in town.

Photos courtesy Helen Scott Morris A morning walk along the shoreline of Sandy Cove from the Ramble Site provides stunning views to the south,  with Height of Land (left), the Bemis Range (right), and Toothaker Island (center) all clearly recognizable.

Some of the John Williams Boat Co.’s 25 employees pose with the new owner’s Stanley 28 at its launching. In addition to new construction, the yard maintains close to 250 boats, including a fleet of IODs. Fifty-plus years after he started his eponymous boatyard in an old quarry on Somes Sound, John “Jock” Williams, 87, was ready to retire.

While building his cabin, author Jeffrey Ryan departed from the original plans and put his windows on the ends instead of the sides, and added a Dutch door instead of a solid one. Photo courtesy Jeffrey Ryan Some might say the small cabin that Henry David Thoreau immortalized in his account of the years he lived in the woods by Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, is the iconic tiny home.

By Earle G. Shettleworth Jr. Joshua L. Chamberlain’s desk and chair are on permanent display at the Chamberlain Museum in Brunswick. At the right is a bust of General Chamberlain by Maine sculptor John Adams Jackson. Photo courtesy Pejepscot History Center Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is one of the most revered figures in Maine history. His service in the Civil War, as governor of Maine, and as president of Bowdoin College have been the subject of books and movies.

Kady Bickel (left) and Mary Johnson baked up a 2026 gold medal-winning wedding cake. The CTE Statewide Skills Competition showcases student talent, professionalism, and technical ability. Photo courtesy Steven Watts At the Mid-Coast School of Technology, the sweet scent of proofing dough and melting chocolate isn’t just a byproduct of a classroom project, it’s the aroma of a high-value professional career in the making.

Strong is devoted to early morning light. “Sunrises in Maine are sublime,” she writes. Sunrise over Owls Head, 2024, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches. Photo courtesy Karin Strong Karin Strong is devoted to the outdoors. She is, she writes, “a deep appreciator of beauty in landscapes,” including the wildlife outside her window. Part of that appreciation comes from spending time painting en plein air.