Working Waterfront

Learning to give as a family lesson

When I was young, my experience of giving was watching the circular bottom of a wicker basket as it passed above my forehead, hand to hand, down the aisle at church. A few years back I became interested in figuring out how to engage my children in discussing giving, based… SEE MORE

Sailboats and people on Chebeague Island shore.

Working Waterfront

Public support needed to preserve public access

As Maine’s coastline changes hands, access to the shore becomes more contentious and litigious. Access is controversial, and this is especially true on islands. What happens when legal claims clash with local traditions? While the Colonial Ordinance—the document on which current law is derived—allows for fishing, fowling and navigating in… SEE MORE

Fallen leaves pile up between two cottages in Bayside

Working Waterfront

It’s time to share our little secret

Ask Mainers about their favorite season, and most would probably say it’s autumn. One of the reasons for that choice, some might say, is that most of the tourists have gone home and so traveling along Route 1 is easier, as is stepping out for a meal or a beer.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Islands and the zombie apocalypse

I once read a book that began with the author flying over the Amazon for the first time. While he hadn’t yet set foot in this part of the world, he had been there many times by reading, looking at maps and absorbing magazine photographs. In fact, the Amazon rain… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Financial hacks for fishermen

A version of this column first appeared in Landings, the newsletter of the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance and is reprinted here with permission. Thinking about a new boat? Knowing how to pay for it is important. To help fishermen better understand financial management, the Vinalhaven Coop brought some experts from… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Guests find motel romantic, fisherman- and mink-friendly

I customarily do an end of year wrap up of the summer’s high points at the Tidewater, the motel on Vinalhaven I own and operate. It’s a great business to be in. Almost without exception, every visitor is delighted to be here, happy to be on vacation, relieved to be… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Art of Acadia—The Little brothers on Mount Desert Island

By Edgar Allen Beem The natural beauty of Mount Desert Island has inspired artists for centuries. In the 19th century, some of those artists’ romantic visions inspired tourists and rusticators to plant the summer colonies that flourish on the island to this day. The art history of Maine’s most renowned… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Recipes made immortal in vintage cookbook

Sometime in the 1930s, the members of the Islesboro Women’s Club spent hours typing out recipes they collected from their membership and neighbors and assembled it into a cookbook that they covered with canvas. Embroidered on the front were the words “Cook Book” and a figure of what appears to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Making a living from a changing sea

By Heather Deese, Ph. D. This summer I had dozens of conversations about the changing Gulf of Maine and how these changes play out in our local fisheries. Many conversations took place in community halls and theaters during evening “A Climate of Change” events featuring four short films produced by the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Sometimes, the gulf left by loss must remain

Much has been written about the way loss resonates in small communities. The way grief echoes in the empty space where a friend once was. How not one person is unaffected by the lack of balance. North Haven experienced such a loss at the end of the summer. Greg Quinn,… SEE MORE