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May 14
A new board game simulates lobstering in Penobscot Bay
Corker was developed by a Searsport couple
Lobster fishing is a blend of strategy, hard work, and good fortune. The right gear, the right timing, and the right places to set strings of traps can be no match for the weather, or the whims of the market, but fisherfolk persevere, and often end a season in the black. This mixture of luck and skill made lobster fishing…
May 14
‘Big Jim,’ an iconic Maine sign, finds temporary new home
Penobscot Marine Museum highlights industry, icon
Big Jim isn’t what he once was. At least for now. The iconic 40-foot tall sign that once welcomed visitors to Maine in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and…
May 14
Love and art: a gift to Monhegan
A review of the island museum’s summer show
This summer the Monhegan Museum of Art & History’s special show features an extraordinary gift: 91 artworks by some of the greatest artists associated with the island. To Monhegan, With…
May 14
Creating a bigger table
A father’s lessons on personal and community well-being
I’ve been thinking about tables lately. My father passed away in February after living his 96 years fully and generously. Creating a big table was his superpower. Everyone was welcome, and…
May 14
A threat to NOAA’s funding for states
Agency uses cooperative federalism to support local efforts
The White House recently released its 2027 budget proposal, a document that clearly signals the president’s priorities, though it could face substantial changes as it makes its way through appropriations…
May 14
Matinicus refreshes its power generation
Logistics are hard enough on an island—then there’s the paperwork!
Since summer 2025, Matinicus Island’s municipally owned electric utility has powered homes and businesses using a 160kW solar array, two new Perkins diesel generators, and a “hybrid supercapacitor” battery energy…
May 14
Cushing nears purchase of publicly accessible waterfront
Town eventually hopes to install a public boat ramp
Cushing is on track to buy one and a half acres along Pleasant Point Gut where local officials eventually hope to build a public boat ramp. Residents approved the purchase…
May 14
A history of rope in everything from seafaring to magic
Tying it all together
Clipper ships, splices, knots, cowboys, pyramid-builders, bridge engineers, tightrope walkers, executioners—this book has them all. Like Salt, Cod, and other thoroughly researched books about familiar things and their many lives, Rope considers the bundled…
May 14
A sea captain gets her due
The story of the first female captain of a U.S. merchant ship
Mary Ann Brown Patten’s name didn’t make it into the title of Tilar Mazzeo’s book about her, The Sea Captain’s Wife, which I find a bit ironic given one of…
May 14
Seeking peepers on a spring evening
Froggy night
It’s the first mild night of early April, and the peepers are screaming. Their shrill chorus is most noticeable from the car, where the Doppler effect magnifies their treble mating…
Island Postcards
EPISODE 10: Keep the Light Shining
Two ambitious young women swam around the entire Island of Isle au Haut during the summer of 2019 to raise money for crucial renovations to the lighthouse.
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