The boats to and from the Cranberry Isles are crowded in summer.

Working Waterfront

The real question is, ‘What’s island living like in summer?’

The Cranberry Isles get a ton of visitors in July and August. And why not? The islands are a beautiful place to wander and wonder about. It is not unusual to be asked, “Do you live here year round?” Most of the time a positive response is followed by the… SEE MORE

Tracie Martin instructs a group of middle level students about how to don a life jacket while in the water at Lawson's Quarry

Working Waterfront

Forty years of swimming lessons has been island lifesaver

It is a well-known irony—at least along the coast—that many fishermen don't know how to swim. According to Leonard "Buddy" Skoog, it was this paradox that drove Vinalhaven's Lions Club to begin a Red Cross swimming program on the island 40 years ago, when he estimates some 70 percent of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Ubuntu education fund: lessons from the grassroots

I am because you are. How the Spirit of Ubuntu Inspired an Unlikely Friendship and Transformed a Community. By Jacob Lief, with Andrea Thompson. New York City: Rodale, 2015. 210 pp. Hardback. $24.99 Starting a nonprofit to address the educational needs of an impoverished population is one thing; starting one… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

God bless the weeds

Islanders are lucky because they have a weed habitat—saltwater shoreline—that inlanders don’t, but no matter, we all have plentiful weedy places on which to graze. Like mainly our gardens. Well, maybe you don’t have a weedy garden but, Lord help me, I do. As luck would have it, the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Bridge project delayed, locals unhappy with ‘highway’ appearance

NORTH HAVEN — Frustrations are mounting for all involved parties as the Pulpit Harbor Bridge renovation, scheduled to begin in January, has been postponed for at least a year, according to Maine Department of Transportation senior project manager and project engineer Michael Wight. After acquiescing to community concerns over a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cranberry Isles hopes to coordinate patchwork ferry system

CRANBERRY ISLES — On a sunny summer day, the ferry from Southwest Harbor to the Cranberry Isles is packed with day-trippers and year-round and summer residents. The day-trippers carry sunscreen and cameras, the residents lug groceries. The captain’s mate slings a couple of bikes on the roof of the pilothouse,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Winds of change blow through island schools

A mom who owns a small business arrives just in time, having raced home from her store to help get dinner on the table and then raced off again for a school board meeting. She joins her fellow board members, who include two other parents, a lobsterman grandfather, and a… SEE MORE

An older Cape Cod house on Isle au Haut's shore.

Working Waterfront

Hosting visitors helps bring island back in focus

Editor's note: Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront, and AmeriCorps. Meghan Cooper works with the town office on Isle au Haut. As islanders know, summer is hectic.… SEE MORE

Members of the Friends of Fort Gorges and volunteers gather for a group photo.

Working Waterfront

Portland’s Fort Gorges hits its 150th birthday

SEE SLIDESHOW Whether you’re out for a stroll on Portland's Eastern Promenade or cruising on a boat on Casco Bay, you can't miss Fort Gorges, the stone sentinel that sits on a tiny island in Portland Harbor. Construction on the fort began in 1858 and it was completed in 1865.… SEE MORE

The USNS Washington Chambers photographed from a helicopter.

Working Waterfront

Flying over the Great Barrier Reef

The morning dawned warm and clear. The waters around the USNS Washington Chambers were treacherous, even in this good weather. The shoals around Australia and the many reefs make the sea a dangerous place to travel. Between Australia and Papua New Guinea, there is a stretch of ocean only a mile… SEE MORE