Working Waterfront

Leadership means having the seat with the view

The Passamaquoddy word for leadership is nihkanke. The literal translation of that word is “the one who paddles in the front of the canoe.” I clearly remember when I first heard this word and learned its cultural context. I was at a leadership seminar for island leaders, sponsored by the Island Institute. Linda Cross Godfrey, founder… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Kevin Waters, beloved pilot, dies suddenly

When ferries and private boats fail to deliver, islanders turned to Kevin Waters and his company Penobscot Island Air to get to the mainland or back home. And after Waters’ untimely death of a heart attack at age 62 on July 5, islanders turned to each other to share their… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Portland: Why ‘no one goes there any more’

Editor’s note: This is another response to the Rock Bound column in the April issue, “Will Portland choke on its success?” “No one goes there anymore—it’s too crowded.” As someone who has lived on the coast of Maine most of my life, including living on Peaks Island as a child,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Now, everyone’s an islander

Well, it’s May as I’m writing this, and we’re still staying at home. I’ve got deer fences up around the vegetable gardens for the first time and a greenhouse on the way, and classes are ending a little early for students. Nebo and Calderwood are doing takeout occasionally. So it’s… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Small business survival means building lifeboats

As a small business owner, particularly one whose business resides on an island overlooking the great Atlantic Ocean, thoughts about sinking ships are probably unavoidable just now. I find myself often comparing my efforts to keep New Era Gallery here on Vinalhaven open to those of the musicians on the Titanic—doing… SEE MORE

The view over Lunt Harbor on Frenchboro.

Working Waterfront

Let’s take a break (so we can get back to work)

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. By Natalie Hyde-Petersen There are a lot of big and important things going on right now, and at least for me,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘What’s goin’ on?’ is how ‘we’ solve problems

By Tom Groening We’ve seen, and maybe experienced first-hand, the conflict that comes when people have different ideas about safe public conduct in light of COVID-19. Recently, the issue was put before Judith Martin, aka columnist “Miss Manners,” on NPR, and I thought her response was enlightening well beyond the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

High school seniors undaunted by virus-tinged graduation

By Tom Groening Across the state, high school ended this spring with a whimper. Students graduated at the peak, or perhaps post-peak, of an unprecedented pandemic. And with graduation, they move into an uncertain and unknown future. But for three graduates in coastal communities—Peaks Island, Islesboro, and Eastport—the new normal… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Second, larger cruise ship bound for Eastport

By Tom Walsh A second massive cruise ship—the 11-deck Norwegian Sun—may soon tie up within the Bay of Fundy at a temporary berth being offered by the Eastport Port Authority. On June 14, the 785-foot cruise ship Oceana Riviera arrived from Miami without passengers, staffed by 131 crew members who… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Plague! Plague! Cholera! Go back!’

By Tom Walsh Like moths drawn to flame, artists of all stripes—painters, writers, sculptors—have been swarming coastal Maine for more than 100 years. Among painters, think Winslow Homer at Prout’s Neck, John Marin at Small Point, Andrew Wyeth at Cushing, and son Jamie on Monhegan Island. Among Jamie Wyeth’s fellow… SEE MORE