Working Waterfront

World War II-era tower is island family heirloom

You may be forgiven for thinking a 65-foot-tall tower on a Casco Bay island has something to do with warning mariners away from danger. But the tower in Brad Brown’s side yard on Long Island actually was built to harm mariners. Well, invading mariners, anyway. At any rate, it’s not… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The man is gone, but the story remains

I never met Stephen H. Robbins Jr., a legendary offshore lobsterman of Stonington who passed away in July of this year. However, I do know Randy Olson, a marine-biologist-turned-filmmaker, who made one of his first movies about Stevie and his family, nearly 30 years ago. I watched this film again… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Seaweed, shellfish aquaculture are thriving on Hancock County coast

Seaweed, mussels, and scallops—these are some of the farmed seafood products that are enjoying great success among small aquaculture operations off the Hancock County coast. And business owners continue to innovate as they look to expand markets, share their technologies and know-how with newcomers, promote aquaculture as a sustainable industry,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The melancholy season is different this year

Every year I experience a two-week stretch of melancholy that hits me in the middle of September. It doesn’t matter that it is one of the most beautiful times of the year in the Cranberry Isles. Even though it is part of the rhythm of the place in which I… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

One man’s seaworthy seagull companion

As a lobsterman who’s spent six decades on the water, John Makowsky knows the meaning of lasting relationships—with the sea, with his boat, with his crew, and with his best friend of 16 years: a seagull named Red Eye. Makowsky hails from Long Island Sound in Connecticut, where he grew… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Jane Crosen’s new, old Hancock County atlas

As far as I’m concerned, every map is a treasure map. In our first years in Maine, there were many Saturday mornings in which I’d pore over the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer, scoping out a minor road that might offer views of a bay or ocean. Later, I collected hand-drawn maps of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Leaving town, and unfolding its many facets

As a kid, I was obsessed with origami, spending what felt like a whole summer learning to make frogs, boxes, cups, pinwheels, and most of all, cranes. The engineer in me almost enjoyed unfolding as much as folding, fascinated by the simple geometries of the paper, the way many of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island life protects us from realities of racism

I am white. I am a female. I am from Long Island, in Casco Bay. I am privileged. When I moved to Long Island full time as a child, I felt welcomed and safe in the community. I loved the island school. I loved the freedom and safe feeling of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Behind the scenes on this first day of school

Most years, the Labor Day weekend marks the start of the school year. Teachers begin weeks earlier, preparing their classrooms, refreshing lesson plans, and creating an organized, welcoming space for their students. This year is different. Administrators and teachers started preparing months before the planned start of school. The work… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Warm currents feeding Gulf of Maine outpacing cold currents

A much-used statistic says the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 98 percent of the world’s oceans. While one might imagine the warming is due to a “Bunsen burner-like” effect in the gulf itself, it actually results from two sources of water that feed the gulf. The effect is… SEE MORE