Working Waterfront

Logistical challenges of shipping off-island

I relish the November energy of the island “getting ready” for winter. On the dock and on the roads visitors from tour boats have been replaced with trucks and trailers loaded with traps as fishermen start to bring in their lobster gear. Caretakers have closed most of the summer houses… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island autumn and birds on the wing

The birds aren’t the only thing migrating these days. From shallower water the lobster traps start to either come ashore or get moved out to deeper water... SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Hosting a lobster party for a cause

On July 8 I received an e-mail from the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA) asking if Bruce and I knew someone who would be interested in hosting an informative fundraising cocktail party on Islesford in August. The federal government is threatening the Maine lobster fishing industry with escalating regulations that will… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Sorting out the meaning of summer

It’s the middle of summer on Islesford and while COVID is not yet off our radar, the month of July has been bursting with activity. This hectic pace throws me off balance but there is something reassuring about how normal the discomfort feels. The islands are once again full of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island travel logistics rely on kindness

Are you headed to the mainland today? Most of us on the islands have a “going off” ritual of checking for car keys, wallet, water bottle and phone right before we leave the house. Quite a few years ago I was halfway to Great Cranberry, on the ferry, when I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Looking for balm in wake of violence

Oh how I wish our country would do what New Zealand did after its last mass shooting, in Christchurch, in 2019. What if our government would reinstate its ban on military-style semi-automatic weapons and install an immediate program to buy them back? Funds that are already earmarked to buy weapons… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Running the regulation gauntlet

My husband, Bruce, launched his lobster boat at the end of March and was setting traps by the first week of April. He spent the winter painting buoys, repairing old traps, and building new ones. By the time he was ready to set out again, 600 of his 800 traps… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Poetry sprouts from shift into spring

The busy season on the island begins. Lobster boats are being launched after their winter on dry land and the harbor starts to fill with familiar names and colors. All around the island stacks of lobster traps, either new or repaired, are ready to hit the water in the weeks… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Celebrate Ashley Bryan by making art

No matter how you feel about Facebook, one thing the social networking site does well is to connect scattered friends in times of celebration and grief. On Feb. 5, less than 24 hours after his death, it did not feel to me that Ashley Bryan was gone. It seemed more… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A wintry slice of island life

It’s the afternoon of Jan. 6 and I’m in my studio on Little Cranberry Island, wondering if I have an island tale to tell on the day before my deadline. I usually have some idea by now, but not this week. I would have started writing this morning but I… SEE MORE