Seas break over the main road on Islesboro in the area known as the Narrows.

Working Waterfront

Innovative infrastructure in face of sea-level rise

By Susie Arnold, Kate Tagai, and Allison Carmen Rising ocean levels and increasing storm frequency and intensity are already having an impact along the Maine coast. How we choose to adapt and improve our coastal infrastructure will determine how our communities succeed. Traditional approaches to improving built infrastructure include increasing the diameter… SEE MORE

Channing Boswell at the dock off Thompson Wharf in Belfast

Working Waterfront

Rolling on the river aboard electric-powered whale boat

Whether it’s aboard a restored schooner or a retrofit lobster boat, there are plenty of opportunities for visitors and locals to enjoy the sublime experience of being on the saltwater in Maine. It may be for a few hours or a few days, but businesses abound offering such outings. Channing… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

New family revives Abel’s in Somesville

By Laurie Schreiber LAURIE SCHREIBER Carmen Sanford shows off a pie she had baked. On a sunny June noon at a food truck called Ted’s Take-Out, Shae Stanley was taking an order for a chicken wrap from a frequent customer while her husband, Ted Stanley Jr., prepared the… SEE MORE

John Pearsall poses in the Portland offices of Elite Airways with a model of one of the aircraft his company flies.

Working Waterfront

Portland-based Elite Airways finds sports niche

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, 2.5 million people fly in and out of U.S. airports each day. Though the airline industry is dominated by large companies, a clever entrepreneur can find a niche to serve within that volume of passengers. John Pearsall is that clever entrepreneur. Pearsall owns and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Trapped on film in ‘Trap to Table’ promotion

“Trap to Table” is a four-part web-based video series by the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative to promote new ideas for new shell lobster. My husband, Bruce Fernald, was one of four fishermen paired with a chef for a day of fishing, cooking, and eating. You can see the video on… SEE MORE

The Islesford Dock restaurant is in its second season under new owners.

Working Waterfront

Restaurant reboot: Islesford Dock ready for another 20 years

At the Islesford Dock Restaurant & Gallery on Little Cranberry Island, co-owner Michael Boland is deep into his second season enjoying the unique nature of an island institution. “I love restaurants in general. I enjoy the interaction with the guests,” he said in an email interview. “It’s a pretty intimate… SEE MORE

An audience of about 120 listens to Beth Orcutt at Bigelow Laboratories for Ocean Science in East Boothbay.

Working Waterfront

Tech’s wave may rely on deep sea

Thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface, in the deep sea near hydrothermal vents, are increasingly coveted resources. As an international body met in mid-July to discuss how to manage these resources, members of the public met in East Boothbay to hear from a deep sea scientific researcher about what… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

New England village centers are worth protecting

I grew up on the south shore of Long Island, N.Y. When I was 19, a friend and I traveled to Cape Cod and then western Massachusetts on our college spring break. It was a trip that would change my life. Towns like Amherst and Holyoke in western Massachusetts and… SEE MORE

A drone view of the property the city has dubbed "Belfast Yards."

Working Waterfront

City wants development on waterfront lot

Like that of most coastal towns, Belfast’s commercial waterfront is a finite stretch of real estate. Mike Hurley defines it as the shoreline that extends from the Route 1 bridge south to what is known locally as the Boathouse. “There ain’t no more,” jokes Hurley, a city councilor and long-time… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How ‘the internet of things’ is changing how the world works

The Internet of Things, or IOT, is a way of describing an ecosystem of inter-related computers, sensors, or digital transmitters, each with its own unique identifier that can record and transmit information across a network automatically. The internet of things makes our lives more convenient—from booking a Lyft ride while… SEE MORE