Bliss Woods and the Olins - Beal Farmland

The Freeport Conservation Trust as well as other conservation minded people were able to preserve nearly 100 acres from being turned into a subdivision back in the mid 1990's. In fact if you walk into the woods, you can still see surveying tape on some of the trees. My wife and I owned a lot on Bliss Woods way several years ago. We sold it to a couple who used Michael Welsher as their builder. It is one of the most attractive new homes in Freeport.

Across the street from Bliss Woods is one of my favorite farms owned by Olins and Beal. They own 36 acres of lovely pastureland. Although it technically isn't in conservation, 21 acres is in a "farmland" classification while the remaining 13 acres is in "tree growth". Tree growth classification is a way you can reduce your property taxes. The South Freeport community and visitors from away benefit hugely from having this buccolic open space.

South Freeport Post Office

The South Freeport post office is a daily community gathering spot. Home delivery isn't an option in the village. Larry Welsher, a well known builder in the area, owns the South Freeport Post Office. He in fact built it back in 1980. The U.S. Postal Service rents this space from Welsher. (I'm crediting Down East: The Magazine of Maine for this information) If you need a good builder, contact Larry's son, Michael Welsher, who does exquisite work. Larry taught him well!

L'ecole Francaise du Maine - South Freeport

Bonjour! Comment ca va? Ok, I'll switch to English. Who would have known that a French immersion elementary school would choose to locate in South Freeport village several years ago? The school occupies a building that formerly served as the early childhood program for the Freeport-based Merriconeag Waldorf school. I believe I'm correct in saying that the Province of Quebec and the French government support the South Freeport French immersion program in some way. There is a strong French Canadian connection here in Maine as many French Canadians immigrated to Maine over the years, especially during the heyday of the woolen mills. Simply open the phone book in any town in Maine and you will easily find French last names names. There is a Franco-American center Lewiston which occupies a former church building. Fifty years ago you would have heard French spoken on the streets of Lewiston/Auburn or L/A as the locals refer to that area. L/A is only 40 minutes away from Freeport. Brunswick maine which is just to the north of Freeport also had a very strong French Canadian population.

Harraseeket Yact Club aka HYC

With a prime waterfront location on the Harraseeket river, this is a community yacht club without the sense of prestige and exclusivity. All members pitch in to run the club whether it be organizing the dingy dock or managing the sail training for kids. The club offers opti's, 420's and laser boats for their summer training program. The program starts at "recruits" and moves on to "mates" and the highest level is "skippers". All three of my kids have participated in sailing lessons at HYC. My wife and I wanted to make sure each child learned the ropes of a sailboat which was sort of "mandatory fun" in our family. I enjoy the Wednesday evening races during the summer where I sail on "Milady" a 34' Sabre. Our skipper and crew are very competitive in the summer series of races. This Saturday the docks were hauled in for the winter. Alas, the onset of winter is just around the corner.

Mitchell Ledge Farm - 132 acres put in Conservation

Roughly 20% of town land is in conservation. People generally move to Maine to have a home and a lifestyle that doesn't look like it did in their suburban or city home "from away". Locals are equally concerned to keep Maine from being spoiled by sprawl and homogenous, cookie-cutter subdivisions.

In last week's edition of the Forecaster, a weekly newspaper that covers the Portland north area, I learned that the Freeport Convservation Trust completed a 2 1/2 year effort to preserve the 132 acre Mitchell Ledge Farm on Flying Point Road. The funds to preserve the land came from a variety of sources including the Freeport Land Bank Fund, the state program called Land For Maine's Future, and a Federal grant. There were also roughly 100 local contributors to this worthy project. Soon I hope to take a walk on the new hiking trails that will eventually connect to property on Maquoit Bay.

We have had some amazingly warm October weather which is about to come to an end. When you move to Maine and work with me to find your dream home, you will be amazed how wonderful it is to sail here in September and October. My boat which is featured here in the photo is scheduled to be hauled out of the water any day now. The forecast for the next few days is for the thermometer to head south to more seasonal temperatures.

This adventure into becoming a reporter for the South Freeport and Freeport area has been a good one. I was speaking with Mary at Brewer's the other day to let her know that I had a new blog. She noticed my picture which was taken on Monhegan this fall. Mary said that she and her husband Curt love Monhegan. She also said that her husband who is soon to retire as a fisherman was shipwrecked when his scallop boat caught fire and sank back in 1982. Curt apparently was in the water for 24 hours until he unknowingly washed up on the shores of Monhegan. At daylight, Curt had to hail a local fisherman to inquire what island he was on. Mary is going to encourage Curt to write his memoirs of 32 years as a New England fisherman. I'll be the first one to read his book!

Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster

Located in the heart of South Freeport village, this is the restaurant that draws tourists from around the country and around the globe. Our family often takes out-of-town visitors here so that they can sample a Maine lobster and see a slice of South Freeport harbor. The Coffin family of Freeport has run this highly successful business for years.

Down East magazine, the December 2005 issue, wrote a terrific article titled "The Other Freeport: The real village the outlet shoppers never see" I would encourage you to contact Down East Magazine to order the full text of the article. When I have tourists ask me what to include on their tour of Freeport, I always encourage them to visit South Freeport and then have dinner at Harraseeket Lunch and Lobster

A wonderful real estate media opportunity and more...

Today I was very pleased to have confirmation that WCSH channel 6 in Portland is featuring my listing at 12 Lower Mast Landing Road in Freeport on their "207" program this Friday, October 26 at 7:00. The property is listed for $635,000 and you can look at the house online today by logging on to http://www.realtor.com/ and use the MLS number 863531. The focus of the "207" program is how HomeCharmers of Portland (see their website listed on my homepage) has made this home a more compelling property on the inside and on the outside. The current owners worked in a collaborative way with their builder, Naoto Inoue. Naoto is a builder located in Arundel Maine who specializes in solar and green technology. My clients had the courage and the fortitude required to build a home designed for today; yet ready for the future's energy scarce world.

Today's Freeport sailing news included a visit to South Freeport harbor where I spoke briefly with Kristin who manages the dock staff at Brewer's South Freeport marine. I let her know that Minstrel was sitting comfortably in a slip at Maine Yacht Center while awaiting a new port stay for her mast. I also let Kristin know that I hoped to have Minstrel back in South Freeport harbor for an October 29th date to haul her out of the water. I'm naturally in need of a "weather window" so that I can sail safely back to South Freeport. Otherwise, I'll have Minstrel hauled out at MYC. By the way, I have been very pleased with Brewer's yard services and launch services over the past four or five years. You can check Brewer's out online at www.byy.com/

I also would like to recommend Michael Chasse who lives in Freeport. He has a business called Northeast Sailboat Rescue http://www.northeastsailboatrescue.com/ where he finds older boats that need new owners. Before I started my work day I had Skip and Chip from Six River Marine in North Yarmouth (http://www.sixrivermarine.com/) help me investigate a lovely old Cape Dory 25' sailboat that Northeast Sailboat Rescue has on its Freeport lot. This boat designed by Carl Albert would be a wonderful upgrade from Minstrel. I've decided for now that I will hold off on a boat purchase and Michael knows how to reach me when another boat comes along that might be a better fit for me. Sailing is my passion. As my wife knows, I'm not the kind of guy who loves puttering around with a project boat.

Steve on Monhegan Island

Fabulous Fall Sail

It was a glorious, clear fall day and in the 60's. I felt impelled to enjoy on the water as I was certain it was one of the last days of Indian summer here in southern Maine. I set sail on Minstrel, my 13.5' Cape Cod Bullseye from South Freeport harbor with the ambitious goal of reaching the Maine Yacht Center (MYC) www.maineyacht.com in Portland. One of my real estate clients, the owner of http://www.proper-yachts.com/ had his 6 metre sailboat restored by MYC back in 2006. The other sailor is someone who I use to work for in Boston at a company called Ocean Challenge. He had MYC modify his 60 foot French-built ocean racing yacht in preparation for the 2008 round the world race known as the Vendee Globe. You can learn more about this person at his site http://www.sitesalive.com/. So I figured that Minstrel should be in good hands should I decide to have MYC do the work of restoring her woodwork, including some fiberglass work to the hull. I passed by Pound of Tea island at the mouth of South Freeport harbor at 2:00 PM with a freshening westerly breeze of about 13 to 15 knots. I passed Bustins Island around 3:00 PM where I recently sold a wonderful summer cottage and a raw piece of land that had been in my client's family since 1947. I saw the sun set as I was off the coast of Long Island. The view looking back towards Chebeague island was stunning because the setting sun acted like a spotlight illumining the trees which were at their peek fall color. My wife called me on my cell phone wondering when I would be at MYC. I told her I would be there fairly soon, probably in an hour. Just after the call, I had a harbor seal follow me for several miles surfacing several times to make sure I knew that someone else was looking after me. My ETA to the MYC was off enough that I was soon enjoying a moonlit sail with the bay all to myself. As I have no running lights on Minstrel, I had to shine my flashlight into the sails every 5 minutes to alert nearby boats to stay clear. The trip was eventful in that I had an equipment failure near MYC when my port stay broke and the main sheet block system on the traveler let go. Suddenly, sailing was no longer an option! Sputtering and stalling, my aging 2 horsepower Evinrude outboard engine was about to give up the ghost. I almost had to hail the coast guard for a tow only 1/4 mile from MYC so that I wasn't blown into Mackworth island. Fortunately, my outboard engine came back to life after some desperate adjustments to the lean/rich dials on faceplate of the engine. Shaking her head as I climbed into the car, my wife was forgiving and a good sport with my high seas adventure. I only wish she could have enjoyed the moonlit sail.