Working Waterfront

My new favorite word reflects my new life

Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. Andrew May is working with the North Haven Community School, Southern Harbor Eldercare Services and Waterman’s… SEE MORE

Artisan vegetables: Sparkplug Farm at the Vinalhaven Farmers Market.

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven’s Sparkplug Farm seeks new operator

A bright October sun had me squinting at the landscape—almost a mirage with its fields of flourishing vegetation. Like summer, I was thinking. But to farmers John Wright and Sara Hodges, joining me in a long row of arugula, it was perfect weather for harvesting greens at Sparkplug Farm, situated… SEE MORE

Sailboats and people on Chebeague Island shore.

Working Waterfront

Public support needed to preserve public access

As Maine’s coastline changes hands, access to the shore becomes more contentious and litigious. Access is controversial, and this is especially true on islands. What happens when legal claims clash with local traditions? While the Colonial Ordinance—the document on which current law is derived—allows for fishing, fowling and navigating in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islands and the zombie apocalypse

I once read a book that began with the author flying over the Amazon for the first time. While he hadn’t yet set foot in this part of the world, he had been there many times by reading, looking at maps and absorbing magazine photographs. In fact, the Amazon rain… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Guests find motel romantic, fisherman- and mink-friendly

I customarily do an end of year wrap up of the summer’s high points at the Tidewater, the motel on Vinalhaven I own and operate. It’s a great business to be in. Almost without exception, every visitor is delighted to be here, happy to be on vacation, relieved to be… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Art of Acadia—The Little brothers on Mount Desert Island

By Edgar Allen Beem The natural beauty of Mount Desert Island has inspired artists for centuries. In the 19th century, some of those artists’ romantic visions inspired tourists and rusticators to plant the summer colonies that flourish on the island to this day. The art history of Maine’s most renowned… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Recipes made immortal in vintage cookbook

Sometime in the 1930s, the members of the Islesboro Women’s Club spent hours typing out recipes they collected from their membership and neighbors and assembled it into a cookbook that they covered with canvas. Embroidered on the front were the words “Cook Book” and a figure of what appears to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Sometimes, the gulf left by loss must remain

Much has been written about the way loss resonates in small communities. The way grief echoes in the empty space where a friend once was. How not one person is unaffected by the lack of balance. North Haven experienced such a loss at the end of the summer. Greg Quinn,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The bittersweet season is upon me

When I look back on what I’ve written for this column in Septembers past, the theme is regularly similar and the ache familiar, year after year. Do other people experience a September transition like I do in the Cranberry Isles? I’ve wished for something, gotten it and am not quite ready… SEE MORE

The Toll of the Sea memorial on Chebeague Island.

Working Waterfront

Chebeague dedicates ‘Toll of the Sea’ memorial

Islanders know first-hand the inherent dangers of living and working around the sea. Many have survived close calls on the water, but have also lost family and friends. So it is not surprising that more than 220 people turned out to attend the dedication of Chebeague’s Toll of the Sea… SEE MORE