The Fox Islands Thorofare in winter. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

A community recovers by realignment

I’m thinking about how communities cultivate collective endurance for longer-term issues like the risk of saltwater intrusion, aging infrastructure in low-lying areas, and supporting livelihoods affected by climate. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Giving Vinalhaven’s downtown its due

Historic Downstreet, a registered nonprofit on Vinalhaven, began in 2011 when a dozen concerned citizens embarked on an effort to save an archaeological historic Main Street structure on Vinalhaven from being lost at auction. The former Knights of Pythius Hall at 30 Main Street had been foreclosed upon by a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Food for the finicky feline

In the kitchen, on the floor next to the cookstove, Yandro finds his food. Before this pale orange, furry little being came here to live, he sat on a stool at a dining table, on which he was allowed to put his front paws, and only his front paws, to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Remembering Lonnie and the Gawker

A man possessed of a measure of resilience way beyond nearly anything the rest of us will ever have to muster, or need to, died on Sept. 29. Before that unexpected departure, however, Lonnie Morton and his devoted wife Kathy brought together and—for 20 precious and memorable years—sustained community and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cooking on wood

Last weekend we stacked firewood in the barn, collecting and piling small pieces separately for kindling. Over the 30-plus years I’ve cooked on a wood burning kitchen stove, I’ve gotten mighty fussy about firewood, and can tell just by looking at a stick whether it will fit the kitchen stove… 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

Cooking on wood

Last weekend we stacked firewood in the barn, collecting and piling small pieces separately for kindling. Over the 30-plus years I’ve cooked on a wood burning kitchen stove, I’ve gotten mighty fussy about firewood, and can tell just by looking at a stick whether it will fit the kitchen stove… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

New trails, new views

I’ve walked through Mullins Head park hundreds, maybe thousands of times in the almost 20 years I’ve lived on North Haven. The entrance is next to my house, the dirt road leads tantalizingly to five beautiful and often empty beaches. The 2.4-mile loop is an easy run, and the unplowed… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Isle Au Haut receives broadband with new sub-sea cable

Isle Au Haut installed its first subsea telecommunications cable Sunday, Nov. 10, establishing broadband access for the year-round island community. The 10 kilometer submarine cable connects Isle au Haut to Stonington on Deer Isle, which has terrestrial connections to the mainland. Axiom Technologies spearheaded the project and will provide services… SEE MORE

A seasonal house on Vinalhaven. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven nonprofit starts housing project

With the help of a $840,000 Maine Housing grant, the Vinalhaven Housing Initiative begins construction this fall on its first project to create affordable homes for islanders, year-round workers, and elders priced out of the housing market. “It’s a crisis,” said Dylan Jackson, the group’s project director. “Soaring housing costs… SEE MORE