Bristol, R.I. Robert W. B. Kits van Heyningen, 62, died Dec. 14, 2019 in Boston, Mass., surrounded by his loving family. Born in Montreal, Canada, on April 4, 1957, he was the son of the late Arent and Josina Kits van Heijningen. He grew up in Newport, R.I., returning toRead More

Marion, Mass. Faith Alden Paulsen, who lived her entire life in Mattapoisett and Marion, Massachusetts, died Dec. 1 from complications of Alzheimer’s. Large portions of her life were spent at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church where she sang in the choir for over 30 years and served on the altar guild.Read More

Castine, Maine John Gardner died Nov. 21, 2019. He was 90 years old and lived in Castine, where he raised his family with his wife, Elaine, built exquisitely detailed models of yachts and working boats, and was a fiercely competitive sailor. Gardner spent part of his childhood in Castine, withRead More

Spruce Head, Maine Byron Andrew Crowe died peacefully in his summer home in Spruce Head, Maine, on Nov. 19, 2019. Byron was born in Mt. Vernon, New York, and grew up in Coventry, R.I. He graduated from Dean Academy, in Franklin, Mass., in 1949. In 1952 Byron married his firstRead More

Romance: a quality or feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life. I was in my mid-20s. A hopeless romantic. Alongside me sometimes stood a mailman or a UPS driver, sometimes both, by the pavilion on the right bank of the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota. Silent besideRead More

 “Low bridge, we’re coming to a town,” the old barge song continues, and these days many of those towns on New York’s Western Erie Canal and Seneca Lake are spellbinding waterfront villages. Aboard Weak Moment, our 32-foot trawler, we’ve now seen quite a few of them.

The first time I nearly died in a boat was an occasion of sublime and terrifying beauty. I was in Woods Hole aboard the research schooner Westward, about to go to sea for the first time. I had joined the ship in Gloucester to supervise the construction of the newRead More

By Tim Plouff For most Mainers, the name Saddleback has long been associated with the western Maine mountain near Rangeley that was a popular ski resort for decades before successive owners fell on hard times. While the ski trails remain closed, an effort to re-start operations is ongoing. For manyRead More

“The Outlaw Ocean” by Ian Urbana; Alfred A. Knopf, 2019; 544 pp.; $16.53. Book review by Sandy Marsters A decade ago, on a voyage from the Chesapeake to St. Thomas, on a very dark night, the watch spotted the lights of a ship. It was not a crossing situation, butRead More

Many years ago, in the late ’90s, I had an old Star that I loved in a way that was inversely proportional to the aggravation it caused me. One of my top-five epic sails was aboard this boat, as was one of my top-five epic fails. The epic fail wasRead More