Building Community
2021 Crate Races and Blindfold Dinghy Race
Saturday August 7, 2021
The annual Cundy’s Harbor Crate Races and Bilnfold Dinghy Race were a great opportunity to bring the community together and have some fun on the water! Thanks to all who participated, watched, and cheered on as our participants took on the challenge.
Harpswell Anchor photos from the race are available here.
Video of the Blindfold Dinghy Race is available here.
Video of the Crate Races coming soon!
Harpswell Boatbuilders
Kids Build Skiffs in Cundy’s Harbor
Ann Flannery joined the board of the Holbrook Community Foundation (HCF) in 2017. As a lifelong woodworker, cabinetmaker, wooden boat enthusiast, and teacher, she felt moved to contribute to the HCF and its mission of preserving our working waterfront and its history. This is the 4th year that she has led a group of local youth in building a small boat. Building a boat together naturally creates an opportunity for kids to learn skills, work as a team, and build self-confidence. Launching their own boat in the working harbor offers lifelong rewards.
We have continued during Covid by limiting each class session to 4 students in the shop at a time, spread over 3 times a week. There are three regular volunteer teachers plus two student teachers that help me with the classes.
We are currently building a 12’ Riverside Work Skiff. It is a rugged little boat that can be rowed and will accept a small outboard motor. We tentatively plan to launch the new boat the weekend of June 12-13 at Holbrooks Wharf in Cundys Harbor. The boat is for sale for $3,400. A pair of handmade oars are included. If a buyer does not come forward, we will raffle the boat (raffle tickets will be $100 each). All proceeds from the sale of the boat will go to the Holbrook Community Foundation. For more info contact Ann Flannery: annieflann@gmail.com or 207-751-9589.
Supporting Commercial Fishing
In 2009, Holbrook Wharf was rebuilt by HCF. Last renovated in 1945, the wharf was in poor condition with rotten pilings and decking. A new structure was built for use by commercial fishermen. This space is available for lease to 4 – 5 fishing-related businesses. The all-tide deep-water wharf accommodates commercial fishing boats for loading and unloading. The new ground-level section of the wharf provides direct access for trucks. Check out our commercial floats and hydraulic lift! For more information, contact Property Manager Bill Mangum at 207-837-8384.
Commercial fishing enterprises that have used our wharf and/or bays include a maker of lobster traps, a local fisherman, a builder who repairs and builds moorings, wharves, floats and boats, a seaweed operation, lobstering, a herring fisherman and a tuna business.
Aquaculture Cooperative
Collaboration with New Meadows Aquaculture Growers
In 2019-20, HCF Board members worked with aquaculture growers on the New Meadows and provided financial assistance to enable them to form a cooperative. In March 2020, the New Meadows River Shellfish Cooperative was officially formed. Mackin Pulsifer, a member of the HCF Board, was invited to join the Board of the Coop.
Aquaculture Boat Trip
In 2019, HCF received funding from the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership to organize three boats trips on the New Meadows River to visit aquaculture growers and learn about their work. The goal of this project was to engage, inform and educate key policy makers and members of the community about oyster aquaculture in Harpswell, Brunswick, West Bath and Phippsburg. The boat tours were guided by Peter Milholland, Captain of the Pamela B of Seacoast Tours of Freeport. A third tour was offered by sea kayak by Registered Maine Guide Alicia Heyburn.
Information about oyster farming in Maine is available on the following websites:
National Fisherman article on Maine oyster harvest
Partnership with Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association (MCFA)
In 2017, HCF provided financial support for a need’s assessment study of Harpswell’s commercial fishing community which was conducted by MCFA. We hope that this study will facilitate the Town’s and HCF’s future efforts to develop and support programs which will benefit commercial fishing in Harpswell. See the full report, Beyond the Bow: A Fisheries Needs Assessment of Harpswell 2017 on the MCFA website.
Water Quality Testing
The Casco Baykeepers of Friends of Casco Bay have developed an extensive water monitoring program for Casco Bay. In March 2020, they approached HCF about the possibility of installing a water monitoring device at Holbrook’s Wharf. The device will be one of three in Casco Bay. https://www.cascobay.org/our-work/science/
Holbrook Public Pump-out Station
In 2012, the Town of Harpswell with assistance from the Maine DEP purchased a pump-out float to be moored in Cundy’s Harbor. Holbrook Community Foundation maintains the float for the Town. Please pass along the word to boating friends on their way to and from the Basin and beyond who might be looking for a spot to pump out. The pump-out is free but donations are welcome. The untreated sewage from 2 recreational boaters in one weekend puts the same amount of bacterial pollution into the water as does the treated sewage of 10,000 people.
Other FREE pump-out stations in Harpswell:
Dolphin Marina (Potts Harbor): 24/7 self-service float: 207-833-5343
Great Island Boatyard (Quahog Bay): 207-729-1639
Quahog Bay (boat to boat): 207-522-1105
Crate and Dinghy Races
On the first Saturday in August, HCF sponsors crate and dinghy races from the Holbrook Wharf. Children and adults race along lobster crates tied together to see who run fastest and stay on the crates without falling into the water. Prizes are given to the winner in each age group. In addition, Dinghy rowers who are blindfolded and their companion pilots race against each other around an obstacle course in the harbor for a prize.
Labor Day Breakfast
On Labor Day, the Board of HCF and community volunteers make and serve a buffet breakfast at Holbrook’s Wharf to raise funds for the work of the Holbrook Community Foundation.
Fiscal Sponsor for Harspwell News, Harpswell Aging at Home and Cedar Beach
HCF serves as fiscal sponsor for the Harpswell Anchor and Harpswell Aging at Home (HAH), which are currently not official tax-exempt non-profits. Under this arrangement, Harpswell Anchor and HAH supporters make their tax-deductible gifts to HCF, which then disburses funds to their accounts. HCF is serving as the Harpswell News and HAH’s Treasurer. See https://harpswellanchor.org/ and https://www.hah.community/. HCF also served as a fiscal sponsor for the Friends of Cedar Beach for several years. See https://www.facebook.com/Friends-of-Cedar-Beach-239904739361535/