Working Waterfront

Nothing more expensive than a free boat

Last summer I finally succumbed to sailboat ownership after decades of heroic resistance. I’ve sailed my whole life, but always on boats owned by other people, which is the best kind of boat. I had just returned to the island after months hiking the Appalachian Trail in the claustrophobically forested… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Big Jim,’ an iconic Maine sign, finds temporary new home

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 later towered over the Stinson Canning plant in Prospect Harbor, is lying in a paint shed at Belmont Boatworks this… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Love and art: a gift to Monhegan

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 Love: The Susan Bateson and Stephen S. Fuller Collection represents what museum director Jennifer Pye in the exhibition catalog calls… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Creating a bigger table

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 his table seemed to grow larger as he grew older. At 90, he reluctantly agreed to let us host what he insisted… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Matinicus refreshes its power generation

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 storage system. Matinicus, easily 20 miles offshore from Rockland, first offered grid-style electricity to homeowners in the mid-1960s, when our… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cushing nears purchase of publicly accessible waterfront

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 in March by a 211-81 vote, providing a strong mandate to continue with the project. If successful, it would create… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

April can be the toughest month on a Maine island

“The sun was warm but the wind was chill./ You know how it is with an April day/ When the sun is out and the wind is still,/ You’re one month on in the middle of May./ But if you so much as dare to speak,/ A cloud comes over… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Colby College taps new director for Port Clyde center

This announcement has been condensed and lightly edited. Nichole Price, a senior scientist, marine ecologist, and community leader who has dedicated her career to working alongside Maine’s coastal and rural communities to adapt to change and plan for the future, will become Colby College’s inaugural director of the Center… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A Maine island stressed by climate threats

Matinicus Isle Plantation, located 20 miles out in the Gulf of Maine, is the furthest offshore year-round settlement on the East Coast of the U.S. In recent years, threats linked to climate change—sea level rise, accelerating erosion, and intensifying winter storms—have begun to push the community’s limits. [gallery columns="1" size="large"… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Tales from a Town Meeting moderator

Our annual Town Meeting is March 14 at the Islesford Neighborhood House. I’ve attended more than 40 of these and no two are alike. Some wrap by lunch. Others go on and on. Some are contentious, others drama-free as we handle the business of a small town spread over five… SEE MORE