Stan Beal’s "Wharf, Beals, Maine,” (2022) collage, 18-inches by 24-inches. IMAGE: COURTESY LITTLEFIELD GALLERY

Working Waterfront

Mary Prince: On Stan Beal’s wharf

While attending St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, N.C. in the late 1960s, Mary Prince drove through Maine on a trip to St. Andrews, New Brunswick. “I felt immediately that Washington County was the place where I wanted to live,” she recalls. And live there she did: In 1983, the… SEE MORE

Visitors enjoy Popham Beach in Phippsburg in 1886. PHOTO: MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

Beach recreation is relatively new

The practice of beachgoing is more modern than one might expect. In fact, it wasn’t until the turn of the 19th century that a cultural appreciation for beachgoing gained solid footing in European society. Popular medical texts touted the benefits of ocean air and dips in frigid waters. At the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

They’re back—cruise ship season underway

Maine’s cruise ship season began April 23 with the arrival in Portland of Holland America’s Zaandam, carrying about 1,400 passengers. A smaller cruise vessel, the Ocean Navigator of the American Queen Voyages line has been in Eastport with crew only since April 10. A live, real-time schedule of cruise visits… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The tragic end of MDI’s Capt. Rumill

On the night of Oct. 10, 1905, John Taylor, captain of the Blanche King sailing off North Carolina’s Cape Fear, observed something that raised his concern. Taylor saw “a four-masted schooner, sailing erratically outside the usual shipping channel, with her red light hanging from its rigging.” What Taylor soon discovered… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Feds learn about community, in-person

Kathleen Billings, Stonington’s longtime town manager, articulated some deep truths to representatives of the Northern Border Regional Commission (NRBC) during a recent visit. “This is our home,” she said. “Once you are on an island, there’s a different culture to it. You have to be self-sufficient. You have to figure… SEE MORE

Kelp harvest underway. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

Working Waterfront

Aquaculture: A bigger picture

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector in the world. The United Nation’s sustainable development goals identify aquaculture as playing a key role in development that safeguards “food security, livelihoods, human dignity, and natural resources.” As we find ourselves needing to produce more food to support a growing population,… SEE MORE

The 2022 Island Institute Island Fellows.

Working Waterfront

Island Institute Fellows have front-row seats

Over the 24 years of Island Institute’s Fellows program, we have learned a lot about what it means to be a part of a community. Island Institute Fellows navigate a complex space where work and life often blend together because their job requires building deep relationships in their community. They… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Clam ‘garden’ sows sustainable future

Reflections is written by Island Institute 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. My alarm clock rings, I turn over and look at the time—it’s 4:48 a.m., still dark, very breezy, and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Working the Sea’ is Marine Museum’s summer show

[caption id="attachment_36904" align="aligncenter" width="375"] A dipnet full of scup, or porgies, rests on the trap boat gunwale as Tony Coccoro repeats the endless task of repairing tears in the weir net. PHOTO: MILSON MOORE, NATIONAL FISHERMAN COLLECTION[/caption] The Penobscot Marine Museum’s 2023 exhibit “Working the Sea” will feature photographs from… SEE MORE

Front Street Shipyard's multihull boat is still in the design process.

Working Waterfront

Will lobstermen ever embrace multihulls?

Along the Maine coast, spring arrives with an explosion of daffodils, the sound of peepers, and a pilgrimage of spotted salamanders crossing darkened roads. Life also returns to boatyards that provide winter homes to Maine’s lobster fleet, as fishermen ready their boats for another season on the water. To the… SEE MORE