Working Waterfront

My April Fool’s joke is a believable nightmare

I wrote the following April Fool’s column last month alleging that Gov. Paul LePage had decided to give the largest Vinalhaven ferry, the Capt. Frank Thompson, to Viking Cruise Lines to use as a gambling and pleasure venue: “Gov. LePage, claiming that the Maine State Ferry Service is unprofitable and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Growing up on the coast: ‘Adventures remembered enthusiastically’

The Stone From Halfway Rock: A Boy’s Adventures on the Coast of Maine By Peter Macdonald Blachly (published by Polar Bear & Company, 2016) The pages of The Stone From Halfway Rock should practically reek of salt air and ocean spray, so vividly does author Peter Macdonald Blachly, a writer… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island flying is different

Eva Murray lives on Matinicus year-round, where she writes, runs a seasonal bakery, volunteers as an EMT, and runs the island’s solid waste/recycling program. She is the author of three books, most recently Island Birthday, an illustrated book for children, which shines a light on the logistics challenges and the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Wulp’s poems prove wit, insight, reflection sharpen with age

Cormorant Time: A Madman’s Journal. Poems Written in a Time of Fever by John Wulp. Camden, Maine: Philip Conkling & Associates, 2016. 190 pp. “Can one man have been a United States Marine Corps honor guard at the White House, a photographer, a producer, a playwright, wait—a short-order cook, an… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An international trade deal that matters to Maine

The past four years have been rife with good news for the Maine lobster industry, as we’ve seen both the volume of the catch and prices paid to fishermen increase. In 2016, Maine lobstermen caught a record 130 million pounds for which they earned a record $533 million. Key to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The renewal of trust reminds me why I am here

I had a rough winter. A few unrelated events made me question, for the first time in a long time, my comfort level in the community I've called home for over a decade. The political climate didn't help. Things calmed down after a while, and the winter routine of blizzards,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Winter on the islands is unpredictable, and not so quiet

“Predictably unpredictable.” That’s my new answer for people who ask, in the summer, what it is like living on an island in the winter. I used to say “quiet,” which is accurate for much of the time, but it’s not so quiet when the wind is howling. It’s not even quiet… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Periwinkles an under-heralded seafood product

Life is rough in the intertidal zone. Barnacles with their heads cemented to rock and pilings wait for the tide to rise so they can resume combing for plankton with their legs. Rockweed collapses on boulders and ledges at low tide and wafts upright at high. Crabs root around in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Hooping on the island is a neighborly affair

Reflections is a monthly column 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. There are certain times on Swan’s Island when there are no cars on the road. When a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lessons for our schools

This issue of The Working Waterfront features three education-themed stories. Our editorial eye on the coast and islands tends to linger on other matters, but we know that healthy schools are the antidote to many of our economic and demographic challenges; their success will help sustain the rich quality of… SEE MORE