Working Waterfront

Fathoming our tides

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. The coast of Maine and neighboring Maritime Canada are extraordinary in many ways, but there is one way in which we are truly unique on the planet—the height of our tides. What are tides? Scientists define tides as the back… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island home helps me grieve great loss

I keep my cell phone in one corner of the kitchen, touching a window, where it receives a one- to two-bar signal frequently enough that the battery will go for a few days before it needs to be recharged. The signal might not be strong enough or steady enough to maintain… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The world is watching our coast

Stockholm, Sweden, located in the midst of 14 islands, is home to the Resilience Center. Guided by island thinking, the Swedes are considering how to deal with a planet whose resources are overtaxed, and they are taking an approach to this challenge called resilience. What is resilience? It is a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Camping as career prep

For nearly 20 years, North Haven Community School's high school students have ventured into the woods for a week each year, usually in the fall. They canoe, hike or occasionally bike, most often breaking and making camp each day in a new spot. The trip, our fall expedition or fall… SEE MORE

Looking north from the western shore of Islesboro

Working Waterfront

Yes, it is ‘so much work’

"You make your own bread? That's so much work!" "Look at your garden. That takes a lot of work." "Cooking a meal takes a lot of work." And so it goes. As if making an effort was not entirely worthwhile. As if we each were somehow entitled to ease and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Kelp as the new kale, and a possible carbon fix

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. “Blue carbon” is a term you might be hearing more often. It refers to marine vegetation that has an inherent ability to sequester carbon and mitigate the consequences of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Vegetated coastal habitats including seagrass meadows, mangrove… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Busy town agenda coincides with busy island life

By Phil Crossman Vinalhaven is usually governed by a five-member board of selectmen, but this year—this month, anyway—we only have four. There were no candidates for the two vacancies in the May election and so the top two write-ins were invited to take office. I had 20-something write-in votes because,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Town meeting time on the islands

Town meeting is a celebration at best, or a tense endurance test at worst. Sometimes, it's both. It really depends on what seat you're in. Emerging island leaders find themselves working alongside selectmen who've held their seats for decades. Each person in the audience has a personal relationship to every… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Planning to fish is difficult, but necessary

If you ask a lobsterman if he works from a business plan, the response might be something like, "I'm trying to get through next week," or "I take it year by year." Some will say that they used to have one, but they stopped when the timing of the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Oil price dip is Alaska’s pain

Sitka, Alaska is firmly anchored to the western shore of snow-capped Baranof Island. At just under 9,000 people, it is the fifth largest city in a state of 750,000. Alaska's rural libertarian character echoes Maine's. A welcome dinner invitation immersed me among community members who had come together to share… SEE MORE