From the Editor

Visit Castle Tucker & Nickels-Sortwell House

Wiscasset, Maine

For information, visit HistoricNewEngland.org or call 207-882-7169

$1 off museum admission with this ad

Est. c. 1930

For Men, Women & Children (800)414-5144 BOOTHBAY HARBOR 20 Townsend Avenue CAMDEN BATH 32 Main Street 66 Front Street timeless style for coastal living

The Catbird Seat

Jill Blackwood says, “We’ve been here for 16 years, but my husband’s parents built the house in 1990.” is spectacular spot on the Portland ship channel “used to be the old Cloyester Hotel, one of those old wooden classic Maine hotels.”

You mean one of the “summer ammables”?

“Yes! It was run down,” falling apart, unsaveable. Now, from this vantage point, Jill shoots pictures of yachts coming into port. “ is house, this property, looks down the channel between Portland Head Light and Ram Island Light. Everything comes by us.”

Just try and put one past her! She’s the former principal at Riverton Elementary (now Gerald E. Talbot Community School), and years before her husband, Bob Blackwood, rose to senior vice president at Norway Savings (retiring in 2009), he “was in the special forces.”

You mean he was a Green Beret?

“Yes.”

What was his rank?

“Captain. During Vietnam, he was assigned to ailand for a year. We were married in 1970. I was a camp follower. I had a job in ailand teaching English.”

How did you meet?

“My husband went to Bowdoin. I went to Mt. Holyoke. Two single-gender schools back then! We were introduced by a mutual friend.” e couple both received advanced degrees from the University of Southern Maine, where they've set up a scholarship fund. Bob earned his MBA from the School of Business in 1978 and a BS in Accounting in 1982; Jill earned her MSED in Literacy Education in 1983, according to the USM Foundation.

For this issue, we’ve asked Jill which glamour boats have been visiting Portland Harbor during COVID. Her reply is the stunning photography that lights up this issue (see “From the Catbird Seat,” p. 28). “ e pictures are taken from our dining room window.”

You guys really are in the catbird seat. What an extraordinary perspective! Do you know who’s aboard some of these yachts?

“Well, there’s the one owned by [tennis champion] Monica Seles. I think she was onboard! I blew it up so we could see her. (My husband’s camera is a Canon EOS 5D MarkII with a Canon L lens, 100–400mm zoom.) I certainly remember the stabbing incident. In other cases, it’s hard to tell who’s the owner. I got hooked on cyber-sleuthing for details. You can learn a lot in 30 seconds about statistics and ports of call, but it’s very hard to nd the real names, because o entimes the owners are distanced in the registration paperwork. You’ll see a yacht is owned by ‘Good Luck Finding Me, LLC.’” is is so much more than a hobby, and in so striking a location!

“My childhood bedroom looked over the faculty parking lot at my high school in Somerville, New Jersey. Nice town, but you can’t beat the Maine coast!”