May is prime construction season at Star Island as we work to catch up on years of deferred maintenance. Much of our material is loaded by hand, but for the bigger loads we use a truck-mounted boom lift. The temperature approached summertime readings early in the month as we dockedRead More

The way I remember it, I was sailing solo through Salem Bay in a dry nor’easter that was building as the day went on. I was on a nice reach heading for Marblehead Harbor in our old Hopestill, a classic wooden Hinckley Pilot sloop designed by Aage Nielsen. The wavesRead More

Jack Farrell
A second major coastal storm in less than two months scoured the Isles of Shoals over an extended period on the second and third days of March.

Returning home to a flash-frozen New England following a family Christmas in a much warmer place, I picked up a copy of “Whale Warriors” at the airport bookstore. No matter where you fall on the radical politics of the Sea Shepherd Society, this chronicle of a 2006 voyage to theRead More

We hauled Star Island’s harbor launch for the season this November morning, in a gray mist. I’m always just a little anxious at haul-outs, especially when the season is late and the river is mostly deserted. It doesn’t help that the landing is called “Dead Duck” (the public landing rampRead More

I love the fact that our newest old boat is named Hurricane. After months of careful nursing and a lot of hard work, she is finally behaving like a graceful old lady should: no more mechanical drama, no bad fuel, no spurting garboard seams, no electrical shorts – just aRead More

In this column, I share stories from the Isles of Shoals and beyond. Some six miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Piscataqua River, this amazing place is host to a variety of interesting vessels, wildlife and people – a rest stop on the East Coast maritime highway. We finallyRead More

The summer is in full bloom at the Isles of Shoals at this writing, and with it has come the usual uptick in activity – most of it good, and all of it interesting. The summer help (mostly young people in or just out of college, and known locally asRead More

An early season heat wave hit the Isles of Shoals this week, and with it came the first big wave of visiting yachts and boats. The most notable among them was Paul Rollins’ lovely schooner Heart’s Desire. It felt like the middle of July in Texas this afternoon, as weRead More

The daffodils have come and gone, and the lilac buds are trying hard to open on the lawn of the Oceanic Hotel. A troupe of naturalists is set to arrive in a few days to chronicle the annual bird migration through the Isles of Shoals. Sugarloaf ski area closed aRead More