Working Waterfront

Minke whale skeleton finds second life

Photos by William Trevaskis Students, staff, and visitors to North Haven Community School are greeted by a new, impressive sight when they enter the school grounds: a 26-foot minke whale skeleton, mounted in a spruce timber frame. The display is the culmination of a years-long project, begun in 2016 when… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Deer Island marks 250 years of endurance

Editor's note: This story first appeared in The Quoddy Tides, and appears here with permission. Until as late as 1770, Deer Island—which lies between Eastport and New Brunswick, and is part of the Canadian province—is believed to only have been used by the Wabanaki peoples, primary Passamaquoddy, for hunting. In… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Family ties fray on a Maine island

The Guest Book By Sarah Blake; Flatiron Books, New York Toward the very end of Sarah Blake’s insightful novel, The Guest Book, one of the principal characters is collecting mussels on the shore of fictional Crockett’s Island, which lies just across a narrows from the real Vinalhaven. “The tide sucked… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Discomfort food

Hard times like this pandemic leave us hankering for comfort food: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, pasta, ice cream. Have you heard about Covid 15? That’s the weight we packed on while stuck at home. But what’s discomfort food? Food that hurts the cook to prepare. Like sharp points… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Moving through these mood-inspiring times

It’s Oct. 4 and we are about seven months (feels like 20) into this COVID pandemic. I don’t have much to write because there is not a whole heck of a lot going on. “What did you do today?” “Not much, you?” “I don’t really remember.” My moods are like… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cohabitating with the chickadees

I’m not an ornithologist but I do enjoy providing for and being entertained by birds, and I can count on that happening day after day as, ever accommodating, we monitor feeders on all sides from each kitchen window, nearly always mindful of our responsibilities. On those rare occasions when I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A new way to be alive, and live

A few months ago, my column focused on doing things differently, and having them still be good. Take out instead of dine in. Picnics instead of cocktail parties. Online events instead of in-person. I got some good mileage out of that attitude, but by the end of August, I was… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An upside for Maine—virus boosts school enrollments

Early in August, the Island Institute received an inquiry from a Southport Island community member: Are other islands facing unexpected enrollment increases this school year? How are schools responding to take extra care to physically distance when there is limited space for more students? Enrollment increases are often a late-August… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Community Fund grant helps island lighthouse

Fifteen years of restoration work on the historic Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station on Swan’s Island is approaching completion. One of the final steps is being made possible by a grant to the town of Swan’s Island from the Belvedere Historical Preservation Fund (Downeast) of the Maine Community Foundation. The… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A new bridge, and new beginnings

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. “Why would a young woman like you want to come here?” This was one of the first things said to me… SEE MORE