Otter Cliffs (Acadia): Getting to base of cliffs w/o lowering or rappelling?

Not needed. 

Here’s a vid of our setup. youtu.be/QWG3py9dA94

If you are careful your rope won't get wet. If you aren't careful maybe a few feet get wet. You can peer over the edge to see when the end of your rope touches the ground. I lower it to the ledge the climber is going to start from. Obviously one would be tied into a bomber anchor when doing this. You can wash your rope if it gets salty.

I wouldn't use a dry rope. You have to run the rope over the 90 degree edge to have a comfortable belay. All of that rubbing will make that dry treatment wear. Dry treated ropes are significantly more expensive. That being said it is your rope and they are meant to be used.

There is very little fixed gear. The fixed gear there will probably be taken unless you arrive very early. Even if you get the fixed gear it severely limits what you can climb.

I would bring gear to build gear anchors. A long static can be good for slinging large boulders. Trees are not allowed to be used as anchors.

If you are confused or don't know what to do hire a guide. Many people arrived at the cliffs completely unprepared. A summer camp was using all of the fixed gear for a full day of climbing. A few parties showed up literally not knowing what to do and having nothing to climb.

Lowering people in is going to put a lot of wear on your rope if you're running it over the 90 degree edge. Rappelling is the only option I would entertain. Also the tide changed pretty quickly when I was climbing in the morning. There was no safe approach from the ground that I am aware of. It is literally a sea cliff...

If your newbie has not rapped before you should setup like in Gregory's video. The belay strand and rap strand are separate. You keep the belay strand a bit looser than the rap strand so it doesn't get thrashed. If they rap way to fast you can catch them with the belay strand.

Always pad the edge. You can use something cheap to do so (piece of carpet for example). It will save your rope from some wear and save your life if you found a particularly sharp edge...

I typically bring an older rope  that I won’t care if it gets wet and that I won’t care if it gets abraided, even though I do pad my top edge.

Check out great head. Specifically the routes Crustacean and Barnacle. Easy to set up a TR and walk down. Many fun 5.7 to 5.9 lines if you want to get creative.