Filmmaker Laura Hamilton interviews Capt. Matt Ridgway general manager of the Chebeague Transportation Co. PHOTO: SUSAN STRANAHAN

Working Waterfront

An island lifeline at 50

CTC operates 4,000 regularly scheduled trips a year. In addition to transporting islanders, off-island workers, summer residents, visitors and school students, CTC also provides 24-hour emergency service, working closely with Chebeague's volunteer rescue squad. SEE MORE

Colby Adolphsen with “Harbor Town” PHOTO: COURTESY COLBY ADOLPHSEN

Working Waterfront

Colby Adolphsen’s LEGO harbor town

The detail is astounding, from a wall of hardware store tools and a diner grill to a lobster boat in drydock. Fishermen work on the wharf, a girl walks a dog, a boy fishes off the bridge. Vintage dollhouse stickers provided the aesthetic Adolphsen wanted for the signage: “Town Talk Bread,” “Burdan’s Ice Cream,” “Princes Lobster,” etc. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Talking scallops with Sam Belknap

NAME: Sam Belknap TITLE: Director of Island Institute’s Center for Marine Economy FOCUS I direct work aimed at protecting and sustaining Maine’s working waterfronts, as well as advancing the use of electric outboards for our commercial fleet, and expanding aquaculture businesses. IN THIS PHOTO: Seen at far right, I’m moderating a… SEE MORE

A view of the harbor, framed by trees. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

When life gives you a library

Now the library is poised for a new chapter. It holds over 15,000 volumes and finds its home in a spacious and modern facility that would never have come to be without the 2008 tragedy. After many successful years as “just a library,” we feel like we can dream bigger. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Thanks for the gift of island life

My cousin Gail, the eldest of five of us, spoke at my grandmother’s funeral in 1992. What I recall most vividly is her saying, “Without Nanny, we wouldn’t have Islesford.” I’ve had the privilege of spending summers on little Cranberry Island, also known as Islesford, my whole life, as did… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Art appreciation

The striking thing about these poems is their down-to-earth, conversational atmosphere, couched nonetheless in precise diction and tightly made speech rhythms heightened into the music of poetry. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An old salt spills the fish guts

Most of his career was spent on shore, primarily as a seafood buyer at the Portland Fish Exchange for Foley Fish, and later as a salesman for Foley. Much of his book is devoted to his years on the Exchange and serving on the New England Fishery Management Council. SEE MORE

Former apprentice Matt Czuchra, left, and current apprentice Kelly Morgan sort oysters at Bombazine Farms. The image is from Maine Aquaculture Association’s Tending the Tides documentary, courtesy Maine Aquaculture Association.

Working Waterfront

Aquaculture apprenticeships accelerate workforce growth

Kelly Morgan moved from California to Maine to work on an oyster farm. By way of the Maine Aquaculture Apprenticeship Program, she landed a job on the New Meadows River in Brunswick farming oysters with Bombazine Oyster Company. SEE MORE

An image from the Boat School's early days.

Working Waterfront

Downeast boat school sees revival

To fund the first phase, the Friends won a $675,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a $120,000 grant from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, both of which enabled the replacement of the main building’s roof and asbestos removal, work that began in late spring. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island Institute welcomes new leaders

Island Institute is pleased announced three new leadership appointments across operations, policy, and philanthropy that will strengthen the organization’s ability to deliver its mission: to boldly navigate climate and economic change with island and coastal communities to expand opportunities and deliver solutions. SEE MORE

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