Working Waterfront

From Castine to the world—again

Picture in your mind a cargo ship and an aircraft carrier, one 900-feet and the other 1,200-feet-long and both 20 stories tall, traveling through the ocean only 100 yards away from each other. Water shoots between them, causing suction and push forces that make the two vessels want to steer… SEE MORE

Ellen Cohill and Glen Charles outside Cohill's Pub and Inn in Lubec.

Working Waterfront

Deer Isle community ‘glad to help’

Ian Watkins is an Island Fellow, a participant in a two-year service program operated by AmeriCorps and the Island Institute, doing community development work on islands and remote coastal communities. Watkins works on Deer Isle and the Downeast coast with high school students. Close to two years ago when I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

I don’t play island favorites

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. This always happens. I'm telling someone what I do, how I work to lower the cost of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ferry service discontinues blood sample transport

ROCKLAND — Ferry captains and crew will no longer be able to carry blood samples to the mainland, a policy change that the director of Swan's Island's health clinic says will impact her ability to serve patients. The new policy was supposed to go into effect April 20, Donna Wiegle,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering the Vinalhaven ferry, circa 1920

The following was written by my grandfather Ted Maddox, a fireman aboard these ferries: On a brisk late spring morning in 1920 the Governor Bodwell was docked at Tillson's Wharf in Rockland and preparing for departure to Vinalhaven. Several capable deckhands wheeled dollies loaded with freight down water-slicked ramps… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A year in the life of a new family

A year on North Haven follows a predictable rhythm. For nearly a decade my husband and I have lived by that rhythm. We know which weekends to avoid the ferry and that it's surprisingly easy to leave for Thanksgiving, since most people stay. We look forward to the church coffee… SEE MORE

Donna Damon poses in front of a bulletin board in her classroom that reflects her life.

Working Waterfront

‘Public Servant One’ calling it quits

Let's clear this up at the outset—Donna Damon never proclaimed herself to be "Public Servant One." She does use that moniker in three different email addresses, and it might sound like she's tooting her own horn, like a politician running for office. The truth is her son, then in middle… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine cousins succeed with lobster food trucks

Maine natives and cousins Jim Tselikis and Sabin Lomac had customers lined up 50 deep the moment they began selling fresh Maine lobster rolls from their food truck in Los Angeles. A few months later, they were on television's reality investment show "Shark Tank," partnering with real estate mogul and… SEE MORE

Eastport City Manager Elaine Abbott with staff. From left: Abbott

Working Waterfront

Eastport: no glass ceiling here

In Elaine Abbott's first week as Eastport's city manager, the breakwater collapsed. "It has been a rough winter," she said, a deliberate understatement. Record-setting snowfall and the logistics of maintaining services only added to the responsibilities she has taken on since January. Coming up through the ranks of city employees,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Escaping winter in Italy brings ‘bump’ in the road

On Sunday, March 22, Bruce and I caught a windy 5 a.m. ride off island with Richard Howland on his fishing boat, Endeavor. We were flying to Italy on Monday night, but the weather forecast did not guarantee getting away from the island any later. It was just fine to have… SEE MORE