Island Journal

Island Gallery Owner is Buyer, Artist Matchmaker

Photos by William Trevaskis No one on Vinalhaven objects to thousands of pounds of lobster heading to the mainland each summer. After all, that export is the economic lifeblood of this island. But Elaine Crossman saw another export heading for the mainland and thought she should do something to interrupt… SEE MORE

Island Journal

The Island’s Star

PHOTOS BY SHERI ROMER In 1933 while he was in the first grade, Robert Clark created a painting for a beloved teacher. Forty years later, after his iconic LOVE image swept, un-copyrighted and thus less fulfillingly than might have otherwise been the case, through the graphic world of publishing, television,… SEE MORE

Island Journal

An Island Helmsman

While roaming from one end of the labyrinth-like yacht yard that bears his name to the other, Gabe Pendleton checks in with employees as they work. He’s soft spoken, but Pendleton’s voice carries over the power tools—even while wearing a mask. Whether it’s boat yard logistics or a simple hello,… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Sarah Brake – An Island’s Human Resource

When Sarah Brake first moved to Frenchboro in 2014, she didn’t think it was a good idea. At all. “I was terrified when I first moved to the island, didn’t think I was going to make it whatsoever. Island life isn’t easy.” Seven years and one pandemic later, Brake, 29,… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Building Boats in the Heart of Maine’s Boating Waters

Photos by Jack Sullivan “It’s a pretty small club, wooden boatbuilders. Maine is one of the hot spots,” said Steve White, a celebrated member of the club who presides over Brooklin Boat Yard, founded in 1960 by his father, the admired boat designer and builder Joel White, and known for… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Smiles, Hugs, and Hospitality

A confession: I never learned to hula hoop. Not enough to keep it from hitting the floor, anyway. It’s a late November afternoon and quiet on Islesford—also known as Little Cranberry, one of the five that make up the town of Cranberry Isles—and I’m about to get my first official hula hooping lesson from Anna Fernald. There are two things you need to hula hoop successfully, Anna says. A good beat and lots of space. After putting on her slippers, she pulls chairs to the edge of the living room and puts on a Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris album of duets. She cranks the volume so you can hear it in any room in the house. “OK,” she says, picking up one of her three colorfully striped hoops. “You’re counting on your body to hold it up, but you want to have the hoop cling to you and do the work.” SEE MORE

Island Journal

Making It Here: The Island Educator

The first time Monhegan Island’s teacher, Mandy Metrano, laid eyes on the island she now calls home, she was not impressed. In 1995, as an 18-year-old high school student on a visit to see her boyfriend, a summer resident, she saw Monhegan as “all ocean and dirt roads and nothing happening. The only evidence of nightlife was a bunch of kids playing Hacky Sack under the island’s only street light,” she remembers. A year later, her boyfriend had lined up a summer job waiting tables at Monhegan House, but Metrano had planned to spend her own summer break traveling to India with a friend. When the trip fell through, her boyfriend, Jon, suggested she work with him on Monhegan instead. This time, the island stole her heart the day she arrived. “We took the early boat and even when we got close, we couldn’t see the island because it was so foggy. We could hear the foghorn, though, and as we approached the dock in the fog I heard bagpipes. It was magical.” SEE MORE

man standing in front of house with scaffolding

Island Journal

Making It Here: The Island Caretaker

The phrase, “It’s all about relationships,” is an over-worked cliché in describing a job. But for Islesboro’s Lars Nelson, it’s ideal. Nelson, 66, has worked on the island as a caretaker for a handful of summer folks for 40 years. He’s a private, modest man, and the “relationship” idea emerges only through casual conversation, as he reveals the history he has had with families and with the island’s cottage-style mansions. Stopping on a late winter day at one of the houses he cares for—owned by a family whose name would be familiar to most Americans, but which he does not want to disclose—Nelson remembers sailing with the family along the Nova Scotia coast. He was working as a crew member, but it was an experience he remembers as a gift, especially since he was able to bring his son along for the voyage. This wealthy summer family has even purchased gifts for Nelson’s two children on their birthdays, a gesture that has touched him on a personal level. SEE MORE

Profiles

Island Journal

Making It Here: The Island Electrician

With a truckload of parts and a helper by his side, Trenor Goodell has kept Goodell Electric alive on North Haven for over a decade. Island life, while posing unique challenges, offers an interdependency that Goodell attributes to his success at making it here. “That’s one thing about islands—we support… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Making It Here: The Island Telecommuter

After decades of painstaking planning, Christopher and Caroline Loder moved to Chebeague Island in 2013, intending to work remotely and give their three children a life that wasn’t possible on the mainland. But they got a surprise on move-in day, when Loder picked up his cell phone to make a… SEE MORE