DoryWoman Rowing

DoryWoman Rowing Row a traditional-style wooden dory in beautiful Belfast Bay with an experienced open water rower and licensed Maine Guide!

Now this was fun! The Belfast Police did their annual   for Special Olympics Maine.Coming right off a row, I couldn’t mi...
03/14/2026

Now this was fun! The Belfast Police did their annual for Special Olympics Maine.

Coming right off a row, I couldn’t miss this! And with these officers braving the elements for this good cause I couldn’t resist offering Chief Bobby Cormier and his crew an opportunity to warm up after in my sauna!

Winter came back yesterday with cold temps in the morning and a stiff breeze. It didn’t take much convincing to come over to the sauna!

It was fun to have a sauna full of officers! Some whom hadn’t done a sauna before. This space is for everyone! It’s a space of community care, connection and wellness. Of fun. A place to take care of yourself, your loved ones, your colleagues, your staff.

I loved meeting Chief Cormier and his team. Congrats to the Belfast Police Dept. for the $$ and awareness they raise with this fun winter event!

Hope to see y’all back in the sauna!

#

Look at who I saw yesterday! A juvenile harp seal cruising down the Passagassawakeag on a bergy chunk of ice!I didn’t ta...
03/11/2026

Look at who I saw yesterday! A juvenile harp seal cruising down the Passagassawakeag on a bergy chunk of ice!

I didn’t take these photos, but have permission from the photographer Mike Bonney to share them. Thank you Mike for these wonderful photos!

I was watching the seal, feeling irritated that I didn’t bring my phone with me to capture the moment. Sometimes it’s good to unhook from those devices!

The seal was floating through the upper bridge section of the river. All of a sudden, there was a camera with a very long telephoto lens right next to me! That was Mike!

We watched the seal float by and continue downriver. It was a beautiful magical thing to witness. And surprising! It was in the mid 60s yesterday and here is an Arctic seal basking in the sun on a chunk of ice!

I honestly did not expect to see another “Ice Seal” as Harps are known, this winter. I wrote about Arctic seals in Belfast this winter in a story for the The Bangor Daily News a few weeks ago. Here's the link: https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/02/27/outdoors/outdoors-contributors/arctic-seals-belfast-harbor-joam40zk0w/

It is so nice to see what appears to be a happy healthy seal hanging out in Belfast! We’ve had some good activity here this winter. I like knowing that seals find our sweet harbor and watershed a place of rest and refuge. If you see any other seals like this, please keep your distance and report your sightings to Allied Whale at the College of the Atlantic. They are the very wonderful organization that tracks seal sightings and manages seal strandings. Consider supporting them with the donation!

Wishing this young harp seal safe travels back to its homeland in the Arctic after its Maine stay!

On my morning row yesterday, we saw a large grey seal! They're coming back!

I had a really full day yesterday, with no space to post about   But I was thinking about it all day!In the past, I’ve p...
03/09/2026

I had a really full day yesterday, with no space to post about But I was thinking about it all day!

In the past, I’ve posted a lot about women rowers who have inspired me over the years and their immense contributions. I could post again about that. I learn of women rowers every year, past and present, that have done amazing things in this sport. Their stories are important and need to be told.

This year, I’m thinking a lot about women sauna keepers. And I want to acknowledge them. I just watched a moving presentation about this very topic, hosted by part of National Sauna Week. The presentation focused on women’s role past and present in creating a space of community care with sauna. So much history, tradition and rich values with Finnish sauna, with women at the center. Acknowledging here the work of Becky Pelkonen and Dalva Lamminmaki.

And I think of the women sauna keepers here in Maine. The ones I’ve learned from and been inspired by. There are numerous women sauna operators in Maine who are all doing amazing work creating healing spaces, spaces of community, “third spaces” as Becky refers to in her presentation. These spaces are more important than ever.

The women at truly embody these values and are the sauna keepers I’ve been so inspired by and had the honor of collaborating with, at last year’s Ice Fest. It was that collab that set me on the path I’m on now, becoming the keeper of my own sauna.

I want to express warm gratitude to these women and encourage you to visit their sauna and all other sauna keepers in Maine!

Today, I head to in Newcastle. I can’t wait to experience their sauna!

A belated Happy International Women’s Day to you!

Resharing the link to the presentation in my stories! Watch it!

Photo by

mainesauna

Special combos for you the weekend of March 20-22, involving rowing, sauna, Maine maple syrup…and ICE CREAM! 😋🍁Check it ...
03/05/2026

Special combos for you the weekend of March 20-22, involving rowing, sauna, Maine maple syrup…and ICE CREAM! 😋🍁

Check it out on my DWR website! I’m offering only a few sessions of these babies, so book soon! Special pricing for 2-3 people.

One week ago today, I announced that I had won a contest to take a trip to Finland to attend the World Sauna Forum in Jy...
03/04/2026

One week ago today, I announced that I had won a contest to take a trip to Finland to attend the World Sauna Forum in Jyväskylä!

I submitted a short essay with my entry, which apparently was optional. Little did I know that I would be randomly selected from over 1100 entries by a program! 😳

Even still, I thought I would share the essay with you. Maybe the program didn’t read it, but I feel certain that the sauna gods and goddesses did!

Feeling pretty damned lucky! And so very excited for this trip! I hope to spend a few weeks in Finland!

A shout-out to my friends at who I learned about this contest from, from their post about

Looking forward to working with who are my guides in planning this trip, as well as co-sponsors with and

So grateful!

Ice Row No. 3. Jean & Garen. Aren’t they the cutest?FINALLY, the wind had calmed down enough to head out in the bay. How...
03/03/2026

Ice Row No. 3. Jean & Garen. Aren’t they the cutest?

FINALLY, the wind had calmed down enough to head out in the bay. How richly we were rewarded.

The most sublime light. Clearing skies, revealing the setting sun. Everything glowing. Water that was both calm and voluptuous, flooding in. The moon, almost full, rising above the clouds, makes an appearance.

Two people rowing together for the first time, water lovers both, loving every stroke.

Beach landing. No surf! The cutest couple of the year head off to the sauna.

Under that moon, for the third time that day, I rowed my boat back to the dock, tucked her in and took a moment to pause and breath and feel gratitude for such a fun-filled, boat-filled day.

Then, off to the hearth, to soak in some heat with a group of lovely people. Heart full.

I kicked off my Ice Row + Sauna + Dip combo with this group of bad ass women! Seasoned water women, all of them! Rowers,...
03/01/2026

I kicked off my Ice Row + Sauna + Dip combo with this group of bad ass women! Seasoned water women, all of them! Rowers, paddlers and divers!

And did we ever have an adventure! We rowed upriver and checked out the ice and then back out into the harbor, crushing it on some serious swells! A perfect surf landing like a cherry on top and then parted ways with these adventurous women so they could enjoy their post-row wood-fired sauna! They sure earned it! From what I understand some serious dipping and yelping were part of that experience!

I feel so grateful to have booked all three Ice Row combo experiences yesterday. Each one was special and beautiful and so I’ll be sharing a post for the other two, as well!

Ice Fest is still on in Belfast today! No Ice Rows because it’s too windy but I have two sauna sessions available at 12:30 and 2pm. If you’d like to book, contact me directly. DM or 207–323–3932.

though it’s quite windy today, I’m happy about that for our beautiful eye sculptures in town, which froze up again last night. Come to town and check ’em all out, including the ice seal at my sauna!

Video of Mel & Bethany and photo of me by

ICE SEAL IS IN THE HOUSE! I’m so delighted to have this sweet Harp Seal (aka Ice Seal) perched on the porch of my sauna!...
02/28/2026

ICE SEAL IS IN THE HOUSE! I’m so delighted to have this sweet Harp Seal (aka Ice Seal) perched on the porch of my sauna! The seal is a homage to the Arctic seals that have visited Belfast harbor this winter.

You can also read my story in the about Arctic Seals in our harbor, which went live yesterday! Here’s the link: https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/02/27/outdoors/outdoors-contributors/arctic-seals-belfast-harbor-joam40zk0w/

I’m proud to be sponsoring this ice sculpture with two other great Belfast businesses and Spring Street Eatery! SSE will be set up at the sauna offering hot beverages and sweet treats for sale today!

Come down and see the seal during today’s ICE FEST! My sauna is located in SoFro, south Front Street (I just invented that), right alongside the harborwalk!

Better yet, book a community sauna session! I’ve got seats open at 12:30, 2 and 3:30pm! Sessions are on the calendar for tomorrow, Sunday 3/1, as well! Pair it will a row—or not! I have two sessions of my Ice Row + Sauna + Dip sessions available tomorrow. Book your row/sauna via my DWR site!

Visit to see the whole lineup of ICE FEST activities! Its going to be a GREAT weekend!

02/27/2026

WHAT A DAY FOR THE START OF THE BELFAST ICE FEST! LOTS OF ICE & SUN & FUN!

Come out for an Ice Row + Sauna + Dip
Or just a sauna! Wood-fired heat, right on the Belfast waterfront!

Book your row and sauna at dorywomanrowing.com

Check out for the whole weekend line-up!

I’ll be back a little later to show you the ice sculpture I’m sponsoring this year, along with and Spring Street Eatery!
Baked goodies and hot beverages will be offered by Soring Street at my sauna!

it’s going be a really fun weekend! 🧊🌞❄️
Hope to see you! Stop by the sauna and say hi!

The last Full Moon of Winter! Experience it from my boat! Warm up in my woodfired sauna after!Full Worm Moon Row & Sauna...
02/26/2026

The last Full Moon of Winter! Experience it from my boat! Warm up in my woodfired sauna after!

Full Worm Moon Row & Sauna is Monday, March 2! The row is at 4pm. Sauna is at 6pm! You don’t have to row to sauna! It’s pretty great either way!

Book at my DWR site!

Address

Belfast, ME

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 4pm
Tuesday 8am - 4pm
Wednesday 8am - 4pm
Thursday 8am - 4pm
Friday 8am - 7:30pm
Saturday 8am - 4pm
Sunday 8am - 12pm

Telephone

+12073233932

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when DoryWoman Rowing posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to DoryWoman Rowing:

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram