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B e s u r e t o s h o p l o c a l l y ! M a n y o f t h e s e s m a l l b u s i n e s s e s n o t o n l y r e l y o n y o u r p a t r o n a g e , b u t h a v e i t e m s u n i q u e t o t h e i r o w n s h o p . a D e l i c i o u s s p e c i a l t y f o o d s a O r i g i n a l a r t w o r k a n d c r a f t s a B e a u t i f u l l y d e s i g n e d j e w e l r y a U n i q u e m a t e r i a l s f o r i n s p i r a t i o n a D i v e r s e s e l e c t i o n o f m e r c h a n d i s e a G r o c e r i e s a n d l o c a l b a k e d g o o d s a Q u a l i t y c h i l d r e n ’ s c l o t h i n g a n d t o y s a C l a s s i c a n d c o n t e m p o r a r y f u r n i t u r e

. Saint James Jill McGowan Cambio Ilse Jacobsen Mahi Gold Kinross . and other fine designers

BOUTIQUE

135 Main Street Northeast Harbor

207.276.3300 kimballshop.com Northeast Harbor Port Directory - 5

local hands reachinG out

This is the fifteenth year that the Port Directories have put a spotlight on a local organization that “reaches out” - be it reaching around the world or around the corner. This year the focus is on a community-based boatbuilding program for children ages 7 to 97 situated on Little Cranberry Island, Maine. All photos in this article are used by permission of Islesford Boatworks.

The mission of Islesford Boatworks is to build opportunity, community, and a sustainable future for Maine’s working waterfront. Located on Little Cranberry Island, part of the Town of Cranberry Isles, we work with children, youth and adults to teach traditional wooden boatbuilding skills, an appreciation of forest and maritime ecology, and responsibility for maintaining the integrity and health of maritime livelihoods. All the boats we build go to serve the local community or the working waterfront. Since its founding in 2006, Islesford Boatworks has steadily grown from a youth summer program, serving approximately 30 children, to a community organization that reaches all generations of the Cranberry Islands. We now offer a variety of ways to get involved in boatbuilding, from “wee works,” which introduces the safe use of basic tools with kids under age seven, to our sum-

Cont’d. p. 8

SWEET PEA

CONFECTIONARY CHILDREN’S BOUTIQUE 5 Sea Street, Northeast Harbor, Maine

mer programs for youths, young adults, and adults, to our year-round school programs, and our older volunteers who work behind the scenes or mentor our youth. As a community organization, we strive to hear and respond to the needs of our island.

In 2018, Islesford Boatworks moved into its new home on the shore, The Blue Duck. Through the wonderful support of the U.S. National Park Service, we’ve entered into a long-term lease of the building to bring our programs and services literally to Maine’s working waterfront. The Blue Duck (named after the blue duck decoy mounted on the door frame) was built around 1852 as a chandlery (marine hardware store) for the Hadlock family, who owned a thriving business that included fish wharves, smoke houses, farms, a sawmill, a store, and a small fleet of schooners. After a stint as a local history museum, a small apartment, storage facility, and public restrooms, by the 2010s, the old store had seen better times. Doors and windows were boarded up and debris and junk had accumulated in the attic and rooms. Through the generous support and encouragement of the community, Islesford Boatworks was able to renovate the Blue Duck and breathe new life into the old island store. Moving into the Blue Duck has allowed Islesford Boatworks to grow into a

more established, community organization. We have reestablished a chandlery, honoring the original function of the site, while also running programs for youth and adults. This summer, all of our programs will work together to launch two boats to add to our working waterfront. The first is a 15-foot coastal dory for a local lobsterman to use to set fish traps, catching bait to support island lobstering. The second boat will be a “Victor White” skiff, a project to continue the legacy of a Great Cranberry boatbuilder by copying an original boat that was nearly rotted away and would soon have been lost forever. Working under the guidance and sponsorship of Ed Gray of Newman and Gray Boatyard, and relying on his years of boatbuilding expertise, we are particularly excited about the ways that building the Victor White skiff preserves an island craft while connecting our youth to the islands’ history and heritage. Cont’d. p. 10

N Lisa Hall Studio

Jewelry, Gifts & Art

Northeast Harbor

www.LisaHallJewelry.com

Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar Tasting Rooms

Bar Harbor | Rockland | Freeport Brunswick | Portland Lewiston | Brewer | Ellsworth

We’ve engaged over 1500 individual students and volunteers in our 15 years of building boats. That number is both humbling and encouraging. It makes us so thankful for what we’ve accomplished but leaves us eager to do more, to reach a wider audience, and to continue our mission of building opportunity, community, and a future for Maine’s working waterfront. If you’d like to learn more or support our organization, please check out our website at: islesfordboatworks.org – or stop by the Blue Duck!

Hunters Beach Trail - 0.6 mile, out and back, moderate walking trail Directions: Take Route 3 from downtown Bar Harbor and head through Otter Creek. Shortly after the Blackwoods Campground entrance and the trailhead for South Ridge Trail of Cadillac, you will take a left onto Cooksey Drive. Very shortly after turning onto Cooksey Drive, you’ll see a little parking lot and trailhead on the left. The trail is short and sweet, Hunter’s Beach but it leads to one of Aca- © Katie Dyer dia’s precious hidden gems! Perfect walking paths, rocks and roots, foot bridges and more. The trail eventually meets up and follows the Hunters Brook as it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The beach is comprised of various sized rounded and smoothed by the ocean pebbles of all kinds. Enjoy the solitude of the little cove, watch the waves, skip some rocks, and enjoy nature and the Park in a lesser known spot. Perfect for hikers of all ages and abilities.

10 - Northeast Harbor Port Directory

www.visitnortheastharbor.com

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