Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors

09/24/2025

Way Back Wednesday: A crowd was on hand the day Rockport Marine relaunched the refitted yacht BOLERO, a stunning Sparkman and Stephens racing yawl.

Read about the restoration work here 🔗 https://buff.ly/hEUVHiD

09/23/2025

If there's a food vendor you'd like to see at the 2026 Maine Boat & Home Show let us know!

09/20/2025

Thanks Alison Langley Photography, that’s a fun video to watch!

09/20/2025

In classic style, photographer Jack Ledbetter hunts the perfect light with his giant wooden Deardroff Camera. He sets it up on its tripod and waits for the magic moment, you know the one —where the sky is like lace —and then he seizes the light.

Read about this talented photographer in our story at the link: https://buff.ly/Sb46uT0

Photo: Vermont-based photographer Angela Drexel took this portrait of Ledbetter on a photo field trip to Sedgwick. Jack Ledbetter with his Deardorff Camera, First Baptist Church of Sedgwick 1837.
Photo 2: Ledbetter borrowed a ladder to take his 8-by-10 Deardorff camera onto a roof to get this view of Frenchboro Harbor with the Mount Desert Island mountains in the distance. Frenchboro Sunset with Starburst.

09/17/2025

Thank you to the 2025 Maine Boat & Home Show educational presenters and demonstrators. It was a popular addition to the show. We're already making plans for next summer! Save the dates August 7 - 9, 2026!

09/16/2025

Polly Saltonstall captures Maine's most recent updates in our 'On the Town Dock' series. This issue it's all about Fares, Buoys, Bigelow, and A Boat Show.

📰 https://buff.ly/okMhXHW

Photo: The Harold Alfond Center for Ocean Education and Innovation. Courtesy of the Bigelow Laboratory

09/13/2025

In the belly of the Schooner LADONA, Chef Anna Miller is always cooking up something special. The Ladona has a rich history, having won the 1923 Bermuda Cup, patrolled for enemy submarines in World War II, and functioned as a sailing training vessel in the 1970s. Now she cruises in her retirement, offering three- to seven-night excursions from May through October along the magnificent coast of Maine. With a capacity for just 17 guests, the Ladona provides an all-inclusive, intimate, and personally curated vacation featuring thoughtfully prepared dining experiences courtesy of Chef Miller.

Meet the Chef and the Ladona here: https://buff.ly/IVbOtrb

Photo: Chef Anna Miller. Courtesy of Leigh Madeleine
Photo 2: Maine Windjammer Association

09/13/2025

It’s a sunny day in Maine. Go explore a lighthouse!

All lighthouses are open 9:00 am to 3:00 pm unless otherwise noted.

09/12/2025

A training flight in the air led Eva Murray to a family connection on the water. The derelict wreck used to be the ship COLUMBIA, she was the last of a generation of wooden draggers that bridged the gap between the age of sail-powered fishing schooners and the rise of steel ships. Murray's brother used to work on Columbia at the local shipyard. Murray said he often spoke about the people he worked with, some of whom had skills that seemed right out of the history books. The specialized lexicon of wooden boats and hand-tool carpentry became Ben's language, and his admiration for the skills of the older fellows was evident. Connecting a short flight over the wreck to her daughter’s kayak trip and then finding out that her brother worked on the construction of the boat would have been coincidence enough, but it seemed that the Columbia was still hankering for attention...

Find out more at the link: https://buff.ly/Fa4yYyy

Photo 1: Built by Newbert & Wallace in Thomaston, the Columbia is said to be the last wooden scallop dragger launched in Maine. Courtesy Penobscot Marine Museum
Photo 2: Removing a wreck and its associated debris can be a costly undertaking. Courtesy Eva Murray

09/11/2025

So you weren’t able to catch up on the latest news from Hinckley Yachts at the Maine Boat & Home Show in August? Head over to the Newport International Boat Show this week to see the premier of the new Hinckley 39 in the flesh. The Newport Show runs Thursday-Sunday. We saw this boat under construction this summer at the Hinckley yard in Trenton, Maine. You can read about our visit at https://maineboats.com/content/luxury-built-maine.

09/10/2025

The Great Gatsby II- pictured here in all her glory is a boat that lends greatness to a title already synonymous with grandeur. The level of finish on the Gatsby II is extraordinary. The custom hull color is the product of many trials and the same as was used on the earlier Gatsby. The interior finish is off-white, the house and trim are varnished; the decks are teak. This helps her turn heads wherever she goes!

Read our full story on this lovely lady at the link: https://buff.ly/5ZqYkOF

Photo: Viewed bow on, the twin outboard-powered Gatsby II might have been built at one of the famous boatyards that crafted yachts that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jay Gatsby might have seen on the waters of Long Island Sound. Photo by Nick Parson