Working Waterfront

It’s the people

After 17 years on North Haven, some elements of life have achieved a pleasant predictability. After the first heavy spring rain, the peepers will begin their insistent shrieking from vernal pools and roadside bogs. Dandelions and violets will be the first to bloom, followed by strawberry blossoms, thickest in the… SEE MORE

The Cranberry Isles Life-Saving Station photographed in about 1885.

Working Waterfront

When mariners in distress got help

Whether it is for work or play, anyone spending significant time on a boat knows that help is a radio call away, and that other beacons and signals can be relied upon to alert to the need for help. But how would that work if there was no one designated… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Keeping credit cards working on an island

At an April 4 event celebrating a federal award to expand Maine’s broadband access, Peggy Schaffer, director of ConnectMaine, put it best when she called establishing the high-speed internet a “team sport.” The $28 million federal grant would not have been awarded without community members, internet service providers, elected officials,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

String theory—violin lessons embraced by islanders

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. “Violin lessons at the Islesboro Community Center for all ages, free of charge! Sign up with Anne McKee by June… 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

Music to be melancholy by

Whenever I can listen and do whatever else I’m doing simultaneously, I tune in to At the Hop on WERU-FM (89.9) on Saturday afternoons. Host Rick Foster’s regard for the music and for those of us he supposes are listening, his ironic consideration of the mood and the music, are… SEE MORE

Bicycles on Chebeague Island's Stone Pier. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Navigating change focuses on relationships

For mainlanders like myself, a 15-minute ferry ride to Chebeague Island is a novel way to start a Thursday morning. The parking fee and the shuttlebus ride? Economic and logistical challenges faced by islanders every day, but a welcome change from my morning routine working from home in Portland. Throw… SEE MORE

Boathouses on Little Cranberry Island in late afternoon sun. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Island housing squeezes working people

Anyone who has lived, summered, or visited an island off the coast of Maine would agree that they are very special. They are incredibly beautiful, there is a strong sense of community, and they are physically separated from the chaos of crowds and cars on the mainland. Though most people… 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

We spoil our food with best-by dates

Hung in bunches in the cellarway, our onions sprout. Apples stored in spackle buckets soften. So do beets. Our carrots sprouted feathery tops but we ate them all before they had a chance to grow hairy rootlets. Keeping an eye on the potatoes means spotting white shoots before they get… SEE MORE