JB Turner of Belfast's Front Street Shipyard speaks at the Island Institute's Waypoints Forum in Portland on Jan. 19. At left is the Island Instiute's Briana Warner. At far right is Mark Ouellette of Axiom Technologies

Working Waterfront

From patriarchy and matriarchy to process

On Jan. 19, the Island Institute hosted its second annual Waypoints Forum in Portland. (Videos of the presentations can be seen here.) The theme this year was “Waterfront Futures.” During a panel we called “Big Ideas on the Waterfront,” we heard from business owners who have placed big bets on the future… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Public ownership of Maine’s shore: courts got it wrong

By Orlando E. Delogu In my new book, Maine’s Beaches Are Public Property, I argue that the state’s highest court, the Law Court, got it wrong in its 1986 and 1989 rulings. The court should have concluded that title to Maine’s intertidal lands is not held by adjacent upland owners,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Three takes on making connections

A letter recently landed on my desk from a reader of The Working Waterfront. The man, who lives in New Harbor, receives the newspaper in his mailbox; we mail the paper to everyone on Maine’s 15 year-round islands, as well to all of Mount Desert Island, the Blue Hill-Stonington peninsula,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Phil’s road trip, part II

In the last issue, I wrote affectionately about my first Volkswagen camper, a 1966, and I ended that column with a reference to the 2002 Eurovan my wife and I now own and to the beginnings of our most recent road trip, which began on Sept. 29 of last year.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Carving the Maine coast

Members of the committee that helped bring the sculpture “Home and Away," by Robert Leverich, to Castine gather shortly after installation. Creating the Maine Sculpture Trail: Legacy of the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium, Donna Salisbury and Tilan Copson, editors From 2007 to 2014, sculptor Jesse Salisbury from Steuben and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The story of Serendipity is the story of wooden boats

Serendipity: The Story of Building a Dream Ship By Peter L. Murray Reviewed by David Platt Harvard Law School must not be as hard as they say. At least Peter Murray had the time and energy, while a student there, to build an entire 30-foot schooner. Before launching he’d even… SEE MORE

Work was underway in November to bring broadband-speed internet to Islesford.

Working Waterfront

Change in the air, and in the fiber optic, on the Cranberrys

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” —SocratesIn March of 2016, at the annual meeting for the town of Cranberry Isles, citizens voted overwhelmingly in favor of borrowing up to $1.2 million to “build a broadband… SEE MORE

The woking waterfront on Islesford (Little Cranberry Island) is busy

Working Waterfront

Decorum in D.C., as seen from inside (and above) the room

I’ve learned a trick that helps me move through high-pressure situations. I wish I’d been able to use this trick when I was competing in piano recitals as a kid. Now, when I walk into a room in one of these situations, I imagine zooming out and standing above myself—actually,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

November is a time of waiting

As I’m writing this column, October’s been over for two days. I must confess to feeling a little let down. October gave us unseasonable warmth, an unexpected continuing glut of fresh tomatoes, and photos on social media of friends taking late-season dips in various bodies of water. It also went… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A five day return to the 19th century

Oh, sure, the power will probably go out, for a little while anyway, so I suppose it would be a good idea to fill a few empty milk jugs with water for drinking and cooking, and I’ll put some in a spackle bucket for the ducks and chickens. And it’s… SEE MORE