Working Waterfront

Isle au Haut gets new power cable

The Isle au Haut Electric Power Co. is most of the way through a years-long project to install a new undersea electric cable to the unbridged island. Over several days in late February, contractors came together to splice together six spools of cable in Belfast, then use a barge to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Longtime Waterman’s Community Center director retiring

The board of Waterman’s Community Center has announced that Christie Hallowell will retire from her role of executive director in October 2026, after 21 years of service. A search is now underway for her replacement. Information about the role and the search process will be available on Waterman’s website. Hallowell… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

From energy planning to project implementation

Name: Kate Klibansky Title: Senior Community Development Officer Focus: I lead the work of Island Institute’s Resilient Energy team on a federally funded program that supports improving energy reliability, resilience, and affordability for rural, remote, and island communities across the Northeast. In this photo: I am chatting with Alden Hathaway,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Port of Portland welcomes new harbormaster and vessel

Maine’s busiest and most diverse port has a new harbormaster as well as a new, 25-foot vessel for his office to use. Paul Plummer started as the Port of Portland’s harbormaster in mid-November after eight years in the same role in Harpswell. On the surface, Harpswell and Portland might appear… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Here’s how to save working waterfront

Many people and organizations in Maine, including the publishers of this paper, have rightfully sounded the alarm about the loss of working waterfront along the coast. What is obvious is that Maine’s coast has become a very desirable place to live, and many fishing families have been displaced from shorefront… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Leaning into fishing

For years, teachers and guidance counselors at the Charles M. Sumner Learning Campus in Sullivan worked diligently to give students who fish a broader outlook on possible occupations other than a life on the sea. But Whytne Crabtree, a career education teacher, decided to take a different tack. Crabtree oversees… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Phil Crossman, in memoriam

When a giant oak of a man is felled on an island everyone hears it instantly and feels the loss deeply and personally. Phil Crossman, Vinalhaven writer, raconteur, businessman, and activist, among his many other island roles and occupations, crossed the bar shortly before the turn of the New Year… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Daphne Pulsifer’s three-dimensional life on Monhegan

Twelve miles out at sea on Monhegan Island, sculptor Daphne Pulsifer often works in near solitude. In her peaceful, airy studio on Light House Hill Road, she shapes her pieces accompanied by her dog, Emma, and the visitors who occasionally stop in during open hours to peruse her work. Yet… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Saving a Little Diamond shore

In September, I visited the small community of Little Diamond Island in Casco Bay to witness something remarkable: a shoreline restoration project marked by new science and sheer community determination. Hosted by Island Institute, the event brought together island residents, representatives from neighboring Casco Bay islands, and others eager to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Saving Marshall Point

One of the Maine coast’s most recognizable, beloved—and accessible—scenes might have had another fate. In 1988, a rumor circulated through St. George—which includes the villages of Port Clyde, Tenants Harbor, and Martinsville—that the Marshall Point Lighthouse would be converted into a hotel and resort property. This is the iconic site… SEE MORE