Working Waterfront

Capt. Spear joins ferry fleet

[caption id="attachment_26421" align="alignright" width="450"] The view from the catwalk.[/caption] PHOTOS BY MICHELE STAPLETON The Capt. Richard G. Spear, the Maine State Ferry Service’s newest vessel, was launched April 9 at the Washburn & Doughty yard in East Boothbay where it was built. The ferry, 154-feet-long and 38-foot-wide and able to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The weight of Memorial Day settles on island

How interesting that Memorial Day should occur in spring. North Haven observes the day with a somber procession through the village, from the American Legion Hall to the ferry ramp. Community veterans, some in and some out of uniform, oversee the presentation of cedar-and-poppy wreaths in memory of North Haven’s… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island high school grads back in gear

Three islanders graduating from high school this month are moving forward into more education and experience, undeterred by the pandemic: [caption id="attachment_26379" align="alignleft" width="350"] Cameron Todd[/caption] Cameron Todd of Chebeague Island graduated from Yarmouth High School and will study cybersecurity at Thomas College this fall. During the past two… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Robert Indiana’s Maine misadventures

The Isolation Artist: Scandal, Deception, and the Last Days of Robert Indiana By Bob Keyes Born Robert Earl Clark in Newcastle, Indiana, in 1928, the famed “Love” artist changed his name in 1958 not long after moving to New York City—a way to pay homage to his home state, but… SEE MORE

The former pilot boat before being refitted.

Working Waterfront

Island freight business finds its Northern Star

Even before the pandemic, online ordering made getting goods shipped to Swan’s Island and Frenchboro increasingly attractive—often more so than heading off for a trip to mainland stores. The past year of sheltering in place accelerated that trend. Who handles all that freight? Brian and Kathy Krafjack, who own The… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Doctor recounts 30 years of island practice

Go By Boat: Stories of a Maine Island Doctor By Chuck Radis (Down East Books, 2021) Dr. Chuck Radis provides a front row seat to what life is like for a practicing doctor living on Peaks Island. Although he now practices rheumatology in Portland, he and his wife have lived… SEE MORE

From left are seventh graders Lola Gahan and Hannah Frothingham and fifth grader Lucy Lombard of the Cuttyhunk School. The students built satellite models after the virtual NASA field trip. PHOTO: MICHELLE CARVALHO

Working Waterfront

A field trip to space

In February, students from Maine’s outer islands met virtually for a field trip to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Students and teachers from the one-room schools on Cliff, Monhegan, Isle au Haut, Frenchboro, Great Cranberry, Little Cranberry, and Cuttyhunk (in Massachusetts) islands met on Zoom with NASA educators to learn… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Caring for our elders: A call to action

Maine’s getting old, faster than any other state. Now is the time for “policymakers and lawmakers to think boldly about how best to address Mainers’ needs for long-term care services.” That call to action was issued more than a decade ago. The 2010 recommendations by experts convened by the Maine… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Reviving Rachel Field whose muse was Cranberry Isles

The Field House: A Writer’s Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine She Writes Press Early in The Field House: A Writer’s Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine author Robin Clifford Wood asks, “Why has no one told her story?” The “her” is Rachel Field,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cruel April twice experienced

April has always been a month that plays hard with my emotions. The weather has intense mood swings and suddenly there are a million things to do, not enough hours in the day to accomplish them all, and dinner is always later than I planned. The busy-ness of it wears… SEE MORE