Rockland's Snow Marine Park on a spring morning.

Working Waterfront

Welcome home, Rockland

By David Wylie Down East magazine chose Rockland in 2018 as the best place to live in Maine. We have come a long way. From the plywood windows on Main Street of 25 years ago amid a stagnating fishing industry, Rockland has come into its own as a major tourist destination… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Southern Maine real estate market heating up

By Wanda Curtis Escalating listing prices, bidding wars, and low inventory characterized Maine’s coastal real estate market in 2018. This year, predicts Pete Harrington, president of the Maine Real Estate Association, listing prices and sales volume will begin to level off. One of the most active coastal towns last year was… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

One winter day in January

By Barbara Fernald Summer visitors often ask what it’s like to live here in the winter. For many of us, this is a much slower and quieter time of year, affording us the time to travel, to catch up on some projects or take a class. I dedicate the month… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Childhood memories, and valuable land, preserved

By Phil Crossman When I was a Vinalhaven youngster, I lived on the western side of Armbrust Hill. It seemed enormous. A little pond, the Trolley Puddle, was nestled under granite cliffs in a natural amphitheater on its northwest flank. It assumed magnificent proportions and fairies lived in and around… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Hello Sailor’ finds homeport in Newcastle

Hello Sailor T-shirt By Sally Noble//Photos by Michele Stapleton A happily married couple, they packed their memories of long, lazy summer vacations—like that of their first meeting, in 2003, at campcamp.com, a free-spirited gay camp in the Maine woods. Weary of their frenetic life in the Washington D.C. area, filled… SEE MORE

North Haven town administrator Rick Lattimer.

Working Waterfront

North Haven administrator returns to ancestral roots

By Courtney Naliboff Community engagement and the opportunity to be “out and about” on the job have made new North Haven Town Administrator Rick Lattimer’s transition from federal service to small town life a happy one. “I went to college, joined the Marine Corps, then got picked up on a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The ‘City Island Fellow’ finds new roots (and garlic)

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. By Nell Houde “Miss Nell, Miss Nell!” Two of my students were running towards me, yelling my name. “Miss Nell,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Blue Hill grows a second downtown

PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN An aerial view of the South Street commercial district, just west of Blue Hill village. By Laurie Schreiber The Blue Hill Co-op is on track to move from cramped quarters on a complicated downtown corner to a much larger and custom-designed space a mile to the east,… SEE MORE

Mixed use or conflicting uses? An early winter scene in Boothbay Harbor captures the fishing industry’s presence along with nearby tourism-related buildings.

Working Waterfront

The last fisherman?

Analysis by Edgar Allen Beem When it comes to the working waterfront, there always seems to be someone with a big idea that doesn’t quite fit with existing ordinances and practices. Recently, a pair of hotel proposals had residents of Boothbay Harbor and Portland wrestling with the endless challenge of… SEE MORE

A cruise ship at Eastport's breakwater pier.

Working Waterfront

And there are cruise ships, too, in Eastport

By Tom Walsh Cruise ship traffic can be both a blessing and a curse for Maine ports. Visitors who come ashore—at times thousands of passengers and crew—represent millions of dollars in local seasonal revenues. The same visitors can also overwhelm a small community, as has happened in Bar Harbor. Eastport’s… SEE MORE