Working Waterfront

Being a messenger is risky business

I’ve been thinking about a play I saw on public TV many years ago, and believe it or not, my thoughts had nothing to do with the election. An Enemy of the People, written in 1882 by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, had been adapted by Arthur Miller, best known… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

This ‘God-forsaken rock’

When the deadline is looming for the next edition of The Working Waterfront, I reflect on what I’ve seen, heard, and shared in communities along the coast. Without fail, Tom Groening, our talented editor who has taken the pulse of the coastline for years, has said, “Write about your own… SEE MORE

C. Ronald Bechtle in his Maine studio, ca. 2002. PHOTO: COURTESY REID BECHTLE

Working Waterfront

A modernist visits Hinckley boatyard

Bechtle offered an intriguing assortment of symbols and shapes to represent the marine setting, including bright red pennants, a black cross, circles, and squares. SEE MORE

Lia Morris, center, on a mussel farm in Penobscot Bay. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

At the mussel farm with Island Institute’s Lia Morris

I spent the day on the water with members of local and state government and staff from Sunrise County Economic Council touring Marshall Cove mussel farm off Islesboro. SEE MORE

Andy Wyeth and the hearse in question being moved off Louds Island. PHOTO: KOSTI RUOHOMAA COLLECTION/PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

A misheard word led to iconic photo

A working waterfront is loosely defined as critical access to coastal waters for people engaged in commercial and recreational fishing, seafood processing, boat building, aquaculture, and other water-dependent businesses. The accompanying photograph of the pier on Louds Island pushes that definition a bit, but it was in fact a water-dependent… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fernalds’ fall firewood ritual

The islands are pretty active in October as most of us get ready for winter. This year, summer lingered beyond September and we’re off to a gorgeous beginning of a chore-filled month. The weather is so beautiful that there is no hardship in being outdoors to do the fall jobs.… SEE MORE

A seasonal house on Vinalhaven. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven nonprofit starts housing project

With the help of a $840,000 Maine Housing grant, the Vinalhaven Housing Initiative begins construction this fall on its first project to create affordable homes for islanders, year-round workers, and elders priced out of the housing market. “It’s a crisis,” said Dylan Jackson, the group’s project director. “Soaring housing costs… SEE MORE

DOT Commissioner Bruce Van Note speaks at the ceremony. PHOTO: ALEX ZIPPARO

Working Waterfront

New Matinicus boat commissioned

The new ferry is named after a heroic Maine veteran and member of the Penobscot Nation who served as a combat medic during the D-Day invasion of France in 1944. Private Shay saved many lives on Omaha Beach and was awarded the Silver Star and French Legion of Honor... SEE MORE

Sara Rademaker, left, and Anne Langston Noll, winners of the Phyllis Wyeth Visionary Award.

Working Waterfront

Herring Gut center honors Rademaker, Langston Noll

In August, Herring Gut Coastal Science Center honored two women active on the coast with an award named in honor of Phyllis Wyeth, founder of the educational center based in Port Clyde. The Phyllis Wyeth Visionary Award was given to Anne Langston Noll and Sara Rademaker. Langston Noll, as associate… SEE MORE

David Dewey working on site in Rockland. PHOTO: COURTESY OF ARTIST

Working Waterfront

David Dewey’s Rockland

As a painter of light, Dewey explains, watercolor is a natural medium. “It is all about light through the transparent layering of color pigments on white paper,” he writes. SEE MORE