One of the tubs Steve and Miranda Batiste craft at their Swan's Island business.

Working Waterfront

The lap of luxury is water in a wooden tub

In Steve and Miranda Batiste’s home in Vermont was an old claw-foot, cast iron bathtub. It was something to look at but when in use left much to be desired. The heat radiated right out of the cast iron. Tired of chilly baths, the couple decided to resurrect an idea… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Arts booster finds Eastport ‘stunning, mysterious’

In September, Tarah Waters began work in Eastport as an Island Fellow through the Island Institute (publisher of The Working Waterfront). Waters is a Colorado native and graduate of Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I. with a B.A. in international studies. SEE THE SLIDESHOW Her work is focused on Eastport’s… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

John Denver: No longer a guilty pleasure

Back in October, I took my dad to see the Portland Symphony's tribute to John Denver. We were celebrating his birthday a little bit early before he went back to California, where I grew up, for the winter. Thanks to my dad, I have been a lifelong John Denver fan,… SEE MORE

The interior of North Haven's Our Lady of Peace Church.

Working Waterfront

North Haven Catholic church sold to summer resident

For 97 years, Our Lady of Peace has provided a spiritual home for North Haven's Catholic community. It was built and consecrated to attract domestic workers from Ireland to the island, and has since hosted a transient Catholic population, largely made up of summer residents. But due to the declining… SEE MORE

Ashley Bryan holds a copy of Beautiful Blackbird

Working Waterfront

Ashley Bryan reminds us: ‘Beautiful are the souls of my people’

The award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Ashley Bryan from Islesford (Little Cranberry Island) often concludes his storytelling performances with a remarkable recitation of Langston Hughes’s poem “My People,” asking his audience to repeat the lines after him. Everyone goes away with the last line echoing in their heads: “Beautiful,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Phil Crossman’s Vinalhaven Observations is history and opinion

Phil Crossman has a new book out called Observations: A Maine Island, a Century of Newsletters and the Stories Found Between the Lines. His name and writing will be familiar to readers of The Working Waterfront and Island Journal over the years as well as his popular book, Away Happens… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island designer explores intersection of art and function

When Christine Dentremont finished the industrial design program at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., she relocated two days later to Swan’s Island, where she would spend the next few years as a sternman on a lobster boat. Fishing was never going to be her ultimate career move, but she found… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bemused by an island

Reflections on Martha’s Vineyard William A. Caldwell, Edited by Tom Dunlop Vineyard Stories 2015, paperback, $19.95 After retiring to Martha’s Vineyard in 1972, William A. Caldwell wrote a weekly column for the Vineyard Gazette called “Reflections of That Man Friday,” now skillfully edited into a book by islander Tom Dunlop.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Birchbark canoes making a comeback

The full-sized, birchbark canoe on display at the Peabody Museum in Cambridge, Mass. is both rare and old. Purchased from Penobscot Indian Francis Sebattis in 1912, it was most likely used to guide sportsmen along Maine’s waterways. These canoes once were ubiquitous in Maine, and they were an integral part… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors show this weekend in Rockland

In addition to nearly 50 new exhibitors, the Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors Show has assembled a varied flotilla of new events and displays for the 13th annual event, which runs Aug. 14-16 on the waterfront in Rockland. While regular attendees have come to count on displays of fine boats in… SEE MORE