Working Waterfront

Small, island-town values play well in big world

Benjamin Stevens of Islesford (Little Cranberry Island) graduated this month from Maine Maritime Academy in Castine. Every year, people from Maine’s islands buy all sorts of things. We buy clothes and shoes, tools and supplies, fuel and electricity, and groceries. Every island resident knows how challenging it is to get their… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Saving community underpinnings means recognizing them

A friend of mine once wrote that fishing villages came in to existence once they began to disappear. Once seaside villages were lost to other forms of development, nostalgia over their loss emerged, giving rise to the term “fishing villages” in the early 19th century. Most of the time, it… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Tales from the boatyards

Boatbuilding on Mount Desert Island By Laurie Schreiber The History Press, 2016 In a small, once-isolated Maine community like Mount Desert Island, before it became a destination resort, boatbuilding was a necessity. Everyone lived on an island; roads were few or nonexistent; water was the way to get around the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

…And counting

"In God we trust; everyone else, bring data." —Michael Bloomberg For better or worse, we live in the age of metrics. The jury isn't in yet, but I'm thinking it's better and worse. Probably the most colorful example of metrics-driven decision-making comes from the world of sports. A book and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Something old, something hewn…

The interior features new and old wood. “The great thing about something like this is that it solves any interior design issues, because it is the interior design,” said Tom Hitchins, the architect on the project. “The frame is the point.” From the exterior, the house, located in Winter Harbor… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island’s ‘water girls’

Lesley and Leah Ranquist of Swan’s Island, sisters in their early 20s, were first introduced to fishing when they were mere kindergarteners. Now they are among the 4 percent of women currently holding commercial fishing licenses in Maine. Lesley and Leah’s story isn’t just noteworthy because they’re young women making… SEE MORE

High school graduation on North Haven in 2014. The grads wore the colors that corresponded to the colors of their lobster buoys.

Working Waterfront

Reversing island ‘brain drain’ falls to locals

As a high school teacher, I spend some time each year talking with students about their next steps. At North Haven Community School, we have a healthy mix in each graduating class of students attending four-year colleges, community colleges or trade schools, entering military service, or choosing to stay on… SEE MORE

A view of Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park from Great Cranberry Island.

Working Waterfront

Hosting a national park is a complicated affair

The battle lines were drawn decades ago, but there were fresh hostilities in the Millinocket area when Jonathan Jarvis, director National Park Service, visited in mid-May. Jarvis was invited by Sen. Angus King to hear public comments about a proposed North Woods National Park adjacent to Baxter State Park. A… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Making sea salt while the sun shines

The process of harvesting sea salt isn’t all that complicated. At Maine Sea Salt in Marshfield, the biggest piece of equipment is the sun. Eighteen years ago, Steve and Sharon Cook learned about all the different ways to evaporate water. “And then we chose the most sound way to do… SEE MORE

The new transportation hub is a former marina in Winter Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Schoodic Marine Center to be transportation, visitor hub

The Schoodic Marine Center is opening soon for its first season and could boost visitation as well as facilitate on-the-water education and research opportunities in the less-visited part of Acadia National Park. The center, which is being developed at the former Winter Harbor Marine location, is expected to bring: increased ferry… SEE MORE