Rockwood man’s barge serves as ‘road’ for lake

ROCKWOOD – It’s a little strange looking, but the vessel that Chip Foster of Rockwood made and operates on Moosehead Lake is an example of Yankee ingenuity.

Foster has fashioned a barge out of discarded items, including four large oil drums that serve as pontoons. The craft can ferry up to 100,000 pounds of supplies from the mainland in Rockwood to Kineo.

New deck timbers located between the pontoons offer ample space to carry building supplies and propane used by seasonal homeowners along the lake, according to Foster.

What sets it apart, however, is the pilothouse. Foster painted an old oil drum white and installed it vertically on the barge.

A window carved out of the top of the drum serves as his lookout station while he makes the 15-minute trip propelled by a four-stroke Honda engine.

With no public road access to the peninsula, Foster affectionately calls his craft “The Road of Kineo.”