Working Waterfront

A letter from an island in winter

Dear friend—How was your winter? It wasn’t too bad staying here on the island, but February was kind of rough. Days and days of temperatures below 20 degrees and a lot of wind. Ferries seemed to be canceled one or two days every week. That was hard on everyone; both… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Winter’s highs and lows

“What is winter like on the island?” We’re back at that time of year that summer visitors ask about the most. My standard answer is, “Pretty quiet. We often get rain when the mainland is getting snow. It can get pretty windy, causing boat cancelations and power outages.” I don’t… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fernalds’ fall firewood ritual

The islands are pretty active in October as most of us get ready for winter. This year, summer lingered beyond September and we’re off to a gorgeous beginning of a chore-filled month. The weather is so beautiful that there is no hardship in being outdoors to do the fall jobs.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

That end of summer feeling

COVID caught up with a lot of people I know during the summer. Some of them for the first time. At the beginning of August, when an abundant summer was hitting its peak, I came down with a sore throat and headache. Two days later I tested positive for the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Raspberry bounty leads to recipe

Seven or eight years ago I asked my neighbor Mary, who was off island at Surry Gardens to buy some plants, if she would pick up three small raspberry bushes for me. It has always been my dream to have a raspberry patch in my own yard, one that would… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Package delivery across the water

Comments overheard at the town dock on either of the Cranberry Isles on almost any given summer day: “The shed is too full!” “These boxes are a mess!” “Did you see a package in there for me?” “Darn. I got an email that said it was delivered, but I don’t… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The comforting sounds of the season

I love the quiet I experience from living on Little Cranberry Island. I remember a visit from Dutch friends when their mouths dropped open upon reaching our house. I asked what stunned them and they replied, “The quiet! There is so little noise!” That’s what I like. I also appreciate… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Those who served at back of the boat

I’m reposting an abridged version of a column from May 2012. I smile thinking of all the different people Bruce and I recalled and what fun we had doing it. On Little Cranberry Island sternmen stories abound! Most of the lobster fishermen in our area take an extra person or… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Indulging in doughnuts

The March 23 storm caused icing and power outages along the Maine coast and dumped two feet of snow in the western part of the state. In the Cranberry Isles we got about five inches of snow before the rain took it all away again. By Sunday the trees were… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Human loss and devastating damage

On Jan. 5, five days before a storm would wreak havoc along the Maine coast, the town of Cranberry Isles suffered the unexpected death of one of its citizens. Cory Alley collapsed in his skiff on the way out to his mooring. As his wife, Cari, and their youngest son… SEE MORE