Working Waterfront

Power outage pizza party

By Courtney Naliboff It was a dark and stormy night. A blizzard was dumping several feet of sticky snow on North Haven, sometime in late 2008 or early 2009. I had gathered several friends at my house for dinner, including our new Island Institute fellow, and my plan was to… SEE MORE

A view of part of Vinalhaven’s Main Street

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven plans for downtown’s future

By Tom Groening Though it is 13 miles offshore, the island community of Vinalhaven functions much like a mainland coastal town. With a year-round population of 1,200, it is the most populous of Maine’s island communities, and it features a compact, attractive downtown. That downtown was the subject of community-wide… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Winners rise to top in decade of recipes

By Sandy Oliver Apparently, the average American household cooking repertoire contains something like 20 dishes which are the backbone of family meals, frequently repeated. I don’t know if that includes take-out fare or pizza, which are usually less common on Maine islands. Around here, the garden drives seasonal variations so… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island life teaches me the ‘focal’ way of understanding

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 Caroline Carrigan Swan’s Island is a place of true simplicity. There are just three to five main roads, depending on… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The joys of a quiet January

By Barbara Fernald Ahhhh! The month of January on Islesford is one of my favorites. It’s not because the island has so much to offer at this time of year, but because it gives me two things I’ve been yearning for since last spring: time and quiet. Ever since our… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A journey of infinite hope, faith, art—and prejudice

By Carl Little This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. As Lauren Katzenberg noted in the New York Times “At War” newsletter last August, “There will be many commemorations: the liberation of the concentration camps, Victory in Europe Day, the dropping of the atomic… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Secret Soul of an Island Shoe

By Christina Marsden Gillis Its sole gouged with holes, the leather top cracked and ripped, the shoe, a woman's, had been hidden in the west wall of an upstairs bedroom in our Gotts Island house. Nestled behind the plaster, it had endured Maine winters when the winds howled out of… SEE MORE

A Maine State Ferry Service boat rounds the Rockland Breakwater as a full moon rises.

Working Waterfront

How we get here: A history of Maine’s ferry service

The SS Governor Bodwell, seen here, was launched at Rockland on May 27, 1892, by the Vinalhaven & Rockland Steamboat Company. It ran between the island and Rockland from 1892 to 1924. PHOTO: COURTESY HISTORY PRESS/VINALHAVEN ISLAND’S MARITIME INDUSTRIES By Nancy Griffin The allure of living on an island includes… SEE MORE

Monhegan's meadow is part of the island's freshwater aquifer.

Working Waterfront

Water harvesting as a solution for island communities

By Robert Glennon As Maine’s island communities and coastal residents address water supply problems created by rising sea levels (see "Monhegan's water supply threatened," December/January issue, they may want to borrow a tool developed in the arid West. Water harvesting involves capturing precipitation, whether rain, snow or sleet. Saltwater intrusion into… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islander discovers the joys of backwoods snowmobiling

Making Tracks by Matt Weber Islandport Press, 2019 Review by George Smith This guy snowmobiles in all of Maine’s best places Even though I don’t snowmobile, I really enjoyed Matt Weber’s book, Making Tracks, published by Islandport Press. Although he lives on Monhegan, he snowmobiles all over Maine, and his… SEE MORE